Key
points raised during the discussion:
- The Chief Finance
Officer introduced the report and informed the Panel the following
updates were a representation of the financial performance and
position up to month 6 for 2016/17 financial year.
- The Officer
highlighted that the OPCC was forecasted to achieve an under spend
of £455k at year end, as a result of the changes made by the
PCC since his appointment. The PCC would decide what happened with
this underspend in advance of setting
his budget for 2017/18.
- The Panel also noted
that Surrey Police was also going to reach an under spend of
£1.5M. The Officer advised that the main reason for this
under spend was the turnover of Police Officers leaving the force
at a faster rate than officers were being recruited.
- Members were briefed
upon the strategic saving programme, noting that there would be a
shortfall for this financial year. The Officer informed the Panel
that the remaining 19% of budgeted savings that were not achieved
will have to be included into the next financial year.
- A Member referred to
the under spend figures and recommended that more needed to be done
to increase recruitment and training opportunities. The PCC
explained the problem was with retention and losing Officers to
neighbouring authorities or out of the police service altogether.
The PCC and Chief Constable’s main focus was on alleviating
this problem and focusing on making Surrey a more attractive
employer although it was recognised that retention would always be
a problem, particularly with the high cost of living in
Surrey.
- There was a
discussion around the new joint finance service between Surrey and
Sussex Police Forces and Members requested further information on
this merger. The Officer advised that the merger involved two
finance functions which would deal with a significant combined
annual budget. The Officer stated that as this was a recent merger
teething problems existed, although he was confident the actual
spend figures to month 6 provided to Members in the reports was
correct, he felt that the year-end forecasts provided in the report
were not so reliable. In the future staff would require retraining
on one computer system.
- A Member proposed
whether some of the under spend could be put towards housing for
Officers, making it more attractive for them to stay in the police
service. The PCC noted this suggestion and assured Members that
there were a number of measures the Police force were considering
in tackling recruitment and retention issues.
- Members were
concerned with the references made of Police Officers leaving the
force and requested Officers to provide exact figures of
recruitment and turnover for better understanding.
A Member referred to Annex A and noted the spend on
Memberships was very high and sought more information regarding
this. Officers explained that the funds that were spent in this
area were for National Association membership costs. These
associations were non-profit and allowed officers to do research
and put forward joint responses to consultations. Going forward the
Panel asked that under membership costs, each association along
with the annual cost of this association was listed.
RESOLVED:
The Police and Crime Panel noted the financial
performance of the Surrey Police Group and the Office of the Police
and Crime Commissioner for Surrey.
ACTIONS/FURTHER INFORMATION TO BE PROVIDED:
R15/16- For the PCC to provide
the Panel with details of the number of Police officers recruited
from 1 April 2016 to 31 March 2017 (including the numbers that
subsequently left during this period).