Agenda item

This report provides information on the formal decisions taken by the PCC from June 2021 to the present and details of the Office’s ongoing Forward Plan for 2021/2022.

Witnesses:

Kelvin Menon - Chief Finance Officer (OPCC)

Alison Bolton - Chief Executive (OPCC)

Key points raised in the discussion:

1.      A Panel member referring to Appendix A - OPCC Decision Log 2021, queried what decision number 31: ‘Use of OPCC Reserve’ related to.

-        In response, the Chief Finance Officer (OPCC) explained that all reserves were under the control of the PCC so required a formal decision which was published on the OPCC website. Decision number 31 related to the use of the reserve to pay for the DPCC, an additional amount for property advice and for an analyst that the OPCC appointed who was focused on gathering data for grant applications.

-        The Panel member further asked for a breakdown of the £150,000 spend amount regarding decision number 31: ‘Use of OPCC Reserve’.

-        The Chief Finance Officer (OPCC) responded that the detail on the decision was published on the OPCC’s website.

2.    The Panel member referred to Appendix B - OPCC Forward Plan, noting that having compared the OPCC Forward Plan provided in the September agenda against that provided in the June agenda, he noted that decisions that he expected to see in Appendix A - OPCC Decision Log 2021 concerned the Concordat with the Chief Constable, the PCC to Approve Expenses schemes and the appointment of the DPCC - the publication of the Annual Report and approval of the Draft Financial Statements for 2020/21 were not included as he deduced that those were simply reports rather than decisions.

-       The Chief Executive (OPCC) responded that since the agenda item was published, the OPCC Forward Plan had been updated. She explained that the PCC is obliged to make public key decisions, the appointment of the DPCC was in the public domain via the Panel’s June minutes, so where that was the case the OPCC did not always publish a separate decision number, however going forward she would look at providing a definitive OPCC Decision Log.

-       The Panel member suggested that going forward to ensure completeness the OPCC Forward Plan should identify any key decisions which would then be included in the OPCC Decision Log.

-       The Chairman asked if an email could be circulated from the OPCC regarding what decisions are deemed ‘key’, such as those taken by the PCC as opposed to an officer.

-       The Chief Executive (OPCC) explained that the OPCC Forward Plan informed the work of the Office as a whole and not just ‘key decisions’ to be taken by the PCC.  She would look at the way it was presented going forward.

RESOLVED:

That the Panel noted the report.

Actions/further information to be provided:

1.    R31/21 - The Chief Executive (OPCC) will look at the way both the OPCC Forward Plan and the OPCC Decision Log were presented to the Panel going forward, providing an explanation to Panel members on which decisions and why are deemed as ‘key’; to ensure that key decisions identified on the OPCC Forward Plan are included in the OPCC Decision Log when necessary so that a definitive record is kept.