Value for Money Statement

08/10
10 March 2010
MPA briefing paper 08/2010

This briefing paper has been prepared to inform members and staff. It is not a committee report and no decisions are required.

In the White Paper ‘Protecting the Public: Supporting the Police to Succeed’, the Government set out its requirement that the police service deliver better value for money and achieve more front line delivery through improving its business processes, cutting unnecessary bureaucracy, deploying resources more effectively, reducing the amount spent on overtime and developing national frameworks for procuring goods and services. In order that the tax payer can see that Police Authorities are maximising every pound invested a Value for Money Statement must now be included in the Policing Plan, outlining the cashable efficiency savings and productivity benefits planned and actually arising from those requirements.

Metropolitan Police Efficiency Savings

The MPS has, over a number of years, pro-actively pursued value for money and improvement initiatives - there is an even sharper focus in the current fiscal context. The Policing Plan for 2009-12 was submitted to and approved by the Metropolitan Police Authority in March 2009. Overall the impact of the budget to London taxpayers was that the changes to the 2009/10 budget requirement equated to only a 1.74% increase over 2008/09 or a 1.18% reduction on the MPA element of the GLA precept. This is the lowest increase in police costs across England and Wales.
Between 2006/07 to 2009/10, the Metropolitan Police successfully met and exceeded the required Home Office target each year. The tables below show the figures for 2006/07 and 2007/08, when an in-year target of three percent of Net Revenue Expenditure was set by the Home Office. For the period 2008/09 to 2010/11, a cumulative target based on Gross Revenue Expenditure in 2007/08 was set by the Home Office. The table below shows cumulative savings for this period, and a forecast figure for 2010/11.
It can be seen that total savings achieved for the period 2006/07 to 2010/11 are £664.3 million. The cumulative target for this period set by the Home Office is £494.9 million. Therefore, savings have exceeded the target by £169.4 million.

A) Improvements in the deployment of officers and staff

Significant work has taken place over the past few years in improving deployment. Going forwards, the MPS Human Resources Directorate will be taking the lead in a number of initiatives to ensure that the MPS deploys the maximum number of warranted police officers on operational policing. Work will continue to reduce the number of days lost through sickness absence within the workforce and to improve the general levels of health and fitness of officers and staff.

Those initiatives relating to developing workforce diversity and increasing the number of black and minority ethnic and female warranted officers will continue, together with the programmes for increasing the progression of black and minority ethnic and female personnel. In order to build a workforce to meet the varied needs of London’s communities by reflecting its ethnic diversity activity will continue to encourage London’s diverse communities to participate in policing London and the 2012 Olympics and Paralympic Games, by joining the Metropolitan Special Constabulary.

B) Reductions in overtime spending

Expenditure on Police Officer Overtime has been controlled effectively in recent financial years and that the there has been no significant growth in expenditure despite a significant growth in officers. Since 2007/08, there has been an overall reduction in overtime expenditure per officer and there are further planned reductions in 2010/11 and 2011/12.

It should be noted that there have been a number of major unbudgeted Operations in previous financial years that have adversely impacted on the organisation’s ability to reduce expenditure in this area.

C) Programme of process improvement work and D) Reductions in bureaucracy

For business support services and process improvement value for money increases, we have in place a Service Improvement Plan to identify and drive projects that have the potential to generate significant savings and improvements across the organisation. The SIP incorporates existing programmes and projects being developed and implemented across the business groups as well as new proposals for efficiency savings and service improvement.

The major projects include:

• The Transforming Human Resources (THR) project, which will introduce ways to deliver better access to HR services for all staff, saving millions of pounds per year.
• Transforming Training - HR Learning Management identified areas across all training that could improve the efficiency of Learning and Development within the MPS. The project includes overhead reduction, a review of how training is provided and possible changes to recruit training.
• The Developing Resource Management (DRM) programme focuses on delivering efficiencies in finance, procurement and strategy.

Phase One projects include Contract compliance management, including a new control database; The development of Partnerships guidance and tools; Improving purchasing processes compliance through an online system that refers buyers to preferred vendors and enables better contracts rates; and an overhaul of Finance and Resource (F&R) to standardise product ordering, such as uniforms and equipment.

DRM Phase Two projects include: a Corporate Landlord approach to MPA/MPS estate facilities to improve utilisation and deliver significant cost reductions; Procurement initiatives; focusing on improving compliance and demand and supplier controls; SAP development to embed SAP as a corporate platform and implement a suite of specific systems; and F&R - Proposals are being developed to moving to a more centralised model for the delivery of F&R functions.

• Territorial Policing Modernisation, which aims to realign activities to drive out better value for money, economies of scale, consistency in delivery and better performance – putting the community at the heart of delivery.
  Modernisation programmes are also underway in the MPS’ Serious Crime and Central Operations directorates.
• Transport Services - this project focuses on achieving improvements across a number of areas including vehicle replacement (procurement), current transport support contracts and allocation and ownership of the vehicle fleet.
• Corporate Real Estate - Through the implementation of agreed occupational standards based on commercial and industry standards, (such as open plan and desk sharing), the amount of accommodation required can be rationalised, with core functions (such as warehousing/training) being centralised, and any surplus space disposed of.
• Improving Police Information - This programme consists of a number of different delivery areas which, once integrated, will deliver a seamless, efficient approach to the management of policing information.
• Criminal Justice Programme - There are a number of strands including:

Diamond Districts is part of the wider Criminal Justice Programme implementing a multi agency response to prevent re-offending. The initiative is testing a new geographic approach to Integrated Offender Management to reduce re-offending and improve performance through collaboration, under the lead of the London Criminal Justice Board.

The Virtual Courts Pilot Project, being piloted with the Ministry of Justice, enables first court hearings to be heard via a video conferencing live link from the police station, reducing the average time between charge and first hearing.

The court operates for first hearings for both ‘in custody’ and bail cases and enables the electronic sharing of case information with HMCS and CPS.

The table below sets out the contribution the SIP projects are currently making to close the budget gap for the MPA/MPS based on the Mayor’s current budget guidance. This contribution (shaded area) is expected to increase as the SIP projects are progressed.

In addition to projects and programmes included in the SIP, the MPS is engaged in other process improvement work and reductions in bureaucracy.
The Service is also working to improve its procurement function by adopting leading edge strategic procurement tools and practices to drive out additional value. We are embracing benchmarking, total cost of ownership and intrusive supply chain management techniques, including supplier performance management and continuous improvement programmes, to generate further benefits.
We are also working to achieve further procurement process related value and efficiencies by continuing to adopt and embed purchase-to-pay as a working approach, together with a concurrent focus on intrusive contractual compliance and associated system controls.

E) Adoption of national frameworks for procurement

The MPS is already collaborating closely with other UK police forces to maximise the leverage of joint procurement volumes (such as Body Armour, Forensic Services and Mobile Telephony, for which the MPS is already leading procurement). The MPS is also working with the other functional bodies in the GLA group on a range of potential shared service provision projects, commencing with a pilot project with Transport for London involving office supplies, stationery and computer consumables.

F) Measures to achieve national convergence of information technology

The MPS is closely engaged with the National governance on the ISIS Programme and will ensure that all ICT developments are aligned with the strategy. In particular, the MPS will contribute proactively its requirements to any national/regional development to ensure that these meet MPS needs wherever possible. The MPS will also invite, through the NPIA, other forces to join in all its ICT developments and procurements to ensure that the economies that can achieved by the MPS can be shared and, if possible, greater economies achieved. We will also engage on the Future Communications Programme (for future police communications including the replacement of the Airwave service). The re-tendering of our information technology contracts with our technology partners will also address convergence and shared service opportunities with the GLA and NPIA.

G) Measures to streamline the support services

The MPS has been developing its approach to Shared Services (which includes both external and internal initiatives) with the GLA Group and with the NPIA, ACPO and other police forces, particularly for IT and Procurement. Due to its size, sharing services with Transport for London is a significant focus for our work within the GLA Group. Shared Services has the potential to deliver major benefits in terms of improved services at less cost for the MPS at a time of increasing fiscal constraints.

Internal shared service initiatives include the Support Services Review and TP Modernisation which are currently being scoped as well as the Transforming HR, Finance and Resources and Criminal Justice programmes which are already in various phases of implementation.

Specifically, Operation Herald is part of the wider Criminal Justice Programme which identified costs and savings in the budget, introducing a new custody staffing model that aims to deliver a new more efficient, safer custody environment.

The MPS aims to improve the management of detainee care and to make custody a more streamlined and efficient process by enhancing the role of the Designated Detention Officer to inputter and allowing the Custody Sergeant more time to supervise the whole custody environment. The recruitment of permanent nurses will reduce the reliance on Forensic Medical Examiners, enabling the MPS to streamline processes, saving both money and time.

Integrated Prosecution Teams is part of the wider Criminal Justice Programme which identified costs and savings in the budget. The project will bring together the pre-trial and case build functions of the Police and Crown Prosecution Service, eliminating or reducing duplication and improving performance by use of a single file process. It will result in the co-location of MPS and CPS staff in police stations to deliver a more effective service and speed up the preparation of case papers.

H) Reductions in overhead expenses

A number of measures have been taken to reduce overhead expenses within the MPS. For example, within the 2010/13 budget & business plan, a number of savings were agreed by Management Board relating to reduced overhead expenditure. These savings occurred on initiatives such as Transforming Human Resources, modernising finance and resource support, revisions to the corporate real estate strategy and improved training policies and procedures.

The cashable gains arising from such activities

The various areas within which cashable savings on overheads have been made are described above. As part of the 2010-13 budget & business planning process, the MPS is planning to deliver savings of £100.5m (2010/11), £139.3m (2011/12) and £164.4m (2012/13). Further savings will be required in 2011/12 and 2012/13 to reflect both the Mayor’s budget guidance and the increasingly severe financial constraints facing the public sector.

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