Agenda item

The Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) gave a presentation regarding the 2018/19 budget proposals, Capital Programme and Medium Term Financial Plan. (2021-2022).

The Budget headlines were:

·         £211m revenue budget

·         Sustaining Police Constable (PC) and Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) numbers where possible

·         Continued investment in transforming West Mercia Police

·         3.94% Council Tax increase (2p a day for typical household)

·         £4.7m drawn down from budget reserve in 2018/19

In the context of:

·       Recorded Crime being up 10%

·       RPI being 4.1% (at December 2017)

·       Pay increase double the previously anticipated level for officers and staff

·       Emerging threats to our communities

·       Further reform of policing

The proposals would be funded by:

·       Proposed 3.94% (£7.47) Council Tax increase +£1.6m revenue over existing strategy

·       Council tax base increase 17/18 to 18/19 1.66%, (future years 1.5% growth estimate)

·       Stable Government grants of £120m +£1.562m over existing strategy

·       £4.7m contribution from budget reserve in 2018/19 (compared with £9.7m in 17/18)

·       Balanced budget delivered in 2019/20

Councillor Sebastian Bowen, Chairman of the Budget Task Group, which looked at the proposed budget, MTFP and the Policing Plan, introduced his report on the proposals. He thanked the Commissioner and his staff for the clarity of their written and oral presentation, the other members of the group as well as Mark Sanders, Worcestershire County Council's Senior Finance Officer, for assisting them.  Reference was made to the Task Group's Report that had been circulated as part of the Agenda papers.

Subject to the results of the PCC's 2018/19 Budget Consultation which closed on 19 January, the Task Group was supportive of the PCC's financial strategy for the Budget proposals for 2018/ 2019 and the Medium Term Financial Plan through to 2021/2022 in context of the Policing Plan but would wish to be advised of substantial variations to the ambitious Savings Plans.

The Task Group felt the Government's settlement was encouraging and the PCC's reasons given for the proposed Council Tax increase of 4% in 2018/19 were fair.  They also welcomed the advance notice that in 2019/2020, a 3% increase would be suggested. 

The Task Group looked forward to the delivery of the improvements to the West Mercia estate particularly the modern police stations at Hereford and Shrewsbury, as well as the continued modernisation of police force and the maintenance of the numbers of PC's and PCSO's.  It was felt that adequate reserves should be set aside for new IT Systems.

The Task Group in its Report recommended that the Panel considered:

(i)    whether the Policing Plan supported by an ambitious transformation programme would be deliverable with the resources for the coming year and the expectation of the Medium Term Financial Plan: and

(ii)   in light of the Report provided by the Budget Task Group and taking into account PCC's Budget Consultation results, it would wish to approve the precept recommendation for 2018/19.

In addition, Cllr Bowen suggested that the Panel may also wish to consider:

(iii)  whether the level of reserves going forward were adequate for potential risks; and

(iv) the need to set aside a reasonable contingency for the budget for delays and uncertainty in respect of the purchase, installation commissioning and operation of SAAB, Athena and other IT services.

During the discussion the following main points were made:

• The PCC confirmed that he was confident of an increasing investment in vulnerable people
• The Budgets for the Community Safety Partnerships (CSP's) were determined by how much they had spent during the first year that John Campion was appointed as PCC and had been maintained at the same level ever since.  The Deputy PCC advised that there were some functions that the CSP's had been expected to perform but were unable to do so; the money had therefore been moved with the agreement of the CSP's to a more appropriate area.  There was also work underway in respect of a standardised analyst function across the CSP's.  The way in which the funding was allocated had also changed and CSP's requested the funding at the time they actually needed it and then it was allocated
• A concern was expressed that direct grant funding for domestic abuse was being reduced.  The Deputy PCC confirmed that this wasn’t the case for West Mercia Police, although some other public sector organisations may be reducing funding.  Moving forward, some of the smaller groups applying for funding had been asked to do so through the CSP's who in turn would request the funding from West Mercia Police, this would help ensure that the application for funding fitted with the strategic needs assessment and ensured that it was allocated to relevant projects
• In response to the suggestion that there were insufficient police in the Ludlow area, the PCC advised that in the first instance if the Police were not providing a good service, then contact should be made with the local inspector.  He further pointed out, that when over 10,000 calls for service were received each week, it was likely that not everyone would be satisfied with the service received.  Allocation of police staff was made according to the needs of the area from various teams
• It was confirmed that to sustain the numbers of PC's and PCO's and fund a 2% pay rise was going to be possible by removing some layers of supervision.  Visible policing was a priority.

Following consideration of the PCC's presentation and the recommendations of the Budget Task Group, the Panel unanimously supported the PCC's proposals to increase the precept for 2018/19 as set out in his report by 3.94% for 2018/19, adding £7.47 to the annual Council Tax bill for a typical band D home as set out in the Report.

It was agreed that that this would be confirmed to the PCC in writing.