Agenda item

The Panel was asked to consider the:

                   (i)        West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner’s (PCC’s) Proposed Budget 2023/24 and Medium Term Financial Plan 2023/24 – 2027/28;

                  (ii)         report of the PCP’s Budget Scrutiny Task Group; and

                 (iii)         provide a report to the PCC on the proposed precept, including any recommendations, outlining whether it vetoes the precept or not.

The PCC gave a presentation to the Panel on his proposed budget (copies of which had been circulated to the Panel). In doing so, the following main points were highlighted:

·         The precept proposal recommended to the Panel was to increase the precept by 5.94% for 2023/24, adding £14.84 to the annual Council Tax bill for a typical band D home. The PCC pointed out that even if the Panel approved the precept proposal, it wouldn’t solve the financial challenges for 2023/24 and a budget deficit of £11.2m would still remain.

·         The four pillars of the Safer West Mercia Plan (Putting Victims and Survivors First, Building a More Secure West Mercia, Reforming West Mercia and Reassuring West Mercia’s Communities) were at the heart of the proposed investments for 2023/24.

·         In terms of how success would be measured, a suite of key performance indicators (KPI’s) had been developed covering the four pillars of the Safer West Mercia Plan.

·         The PCC explained that he had never previously sought to maximise precept funding but on this occasion he believed that flexing the precept was the right thing in order to maintain service levels. Even with an increase close to the maximum uplift, there was still an £11.2m budget deficit and operational implications as a result.

The Lead Member of the Budget Task Group introduced the Report and thanked the Members of the Task Group and the supporting Officers involved for their hard work and commitment.  The following main points were made:

·         This year, the PCC ran the budget consultation as a two-stage process. The first part ran from the 27 April 2022 until the 11 July 2022 and was to understand the views of the public on local policing, contact and engagement and crime and anti-social behaviour issues. This was followed by the budget consultation which was launched on 6 December 2022 and closed on 6 January 2023. Members of the Task Group welcomed the earlier engagement in the Budget Consultation process this year and emphasised the importance of demonstrating in the Budget Consultation document the impact of the funding against outcomes.

·         The Budget Task Group had conducted a more rigorous scrutiny this year as could be seen from the Schedule of Activity detailed at Appendix 1 of the Task Group report.

·         Members of the Task Group had recommended that the Panel supported the PCC’s proposal for an increase of Council Tax to £14.84 (equivalent to 5.94%) providing that the Panel received a quarterly budget monitoring report which included key performance indicators (as detailed in Appendix 2) to monitor the outcomes against the Budget so that it was possible for the PCP to identify trends, service improvements and satisfaction against the commitments in the West Mercia PCC’s Safer West Mercia Plan.  This recommendation also set out to ensure that in future years base budgets have been maintained to maximise investment and flexibility.

During the opportunity for discussion, the following main points were made:

·         Whether the communities of West Mercia would be able to see the operational implications of the funding if the 5.4% precept proposal was not implemented, in particular the protection of the Force’s problem-solving capability and key organisational enabling services. The PCC advised that although the Police would respond to reports of crime, the proactivity of the Force’s response would be a casualty of not approving the 5.94% increase to the annual Council Tax.

·         The increase of the precept would allow for the bridging of the financial deficit as well as investment in services.

·         The Panel welcomed the KPI’s which would provide the Panel with the opportunity to monitor the outcome of the investment. When asked if the additional funding would show a significant improvement in KPI’s, the PCC reassured the Panel that improvements would be seen as a result of the investment made including improvements in public confidence and victim satisfaction.

·         A Member suggested that the Council Tax flexibility offered to PCC’s was as a result of poor government decisions and inadequate funding for Police Forces which left PCCs with no option but to use the flexibility offered to them and thus pass the increase on to taxpayers.

·         Although the PCC was not aware of every PCC’s precept proposal in the Country, most PCCs in the West Midlands were proposing to take advantage of the precept flexibility.

·         The increase in the precept would enable the PCC to fund 40 additional police officers and thus provide more visible policing across the Force area, which included the roll out of the Stronger Communities Programme.

Having considered the reports, the following recommendation as proposed by the Panel’s Budget Task Group was considered:

That the West Mercia Police and Crime Panel support the PCC’s proposal for an increase of Council Tax to £14.84 (equivalent to 5.94%) providing that the Panel receives a quarterly budget monitoring report which includes key performance indicators (as attached) to monitor the outcomes against the Budget so that it is possible for the PCP to identify trends, service improvements and satisfaction against the commitments in the West Mercia PCC’s Safer West Mercia Plan.  This recommendation also sets out to ensure that in future years base budgets have been maintained to maximise investment and flexibility.

This recommendation was agreed by Members of the West Mercia Police and Crime Panel by a majority vote of 8 in favour, 3 against the recommendation.

Following the meeting, a report from the Panel would be sent to the PCC.