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Budget
3.1 The Grant Aided Expenditure (GAE) level for 1997/98 was £57.9m and at the time of the Primary Inspection the force was approaching the end of the financial year with a major underspend. The 1998/99 accounts showed a vast improvement in this respect with a very small underspend. The GAE indicative for 1999/2000 is £61.088m and again the force has been funded up to this level by the Joint Board.
3.2 Despite this welcome support by the Joint Board it was noted that Grampian Police has the second lowest per capita expenditure on policing in Scotland (see Figure 4 below).
Figure 4: Per Capita Expenditure on Policing - 1999/2000
3.3 At the time of the Primary Inspection the force Finance Department was under staffed, written financial procedures were lacking, the procedures for setting service level agreements lacked rigour and delegation of financial management to the chief constable was limited in practice. The force's financial management and reporting system was inadequate and little progress had been made in terms of devolved budgeting. These difficulties had contributed to a substantial underspend of the force budget in 1997/98. As a result of the Primary Inspection findings HM Inspectors made the following recommendation:
Primary Inspection Recommendation 7
"HM Inspectors recommend that the Chief Constable prepares for the Joint Police Board a detailed plan to address the force's financial management and to include:-
Review Inspection Findings
3.4 This Recommendation has been discharged as follows:
Finance Department Staffing
3.5 Financial consultants Ernst and Young were commissioned by the force to examine the force's needs in respect of staffing and skill levels in respect of financial management within the force. A review was undertaken and assistance was subsequently given in respect of selection procedures for the new appointment of Head of Finance and IT. The post of Chief Superintendent, Headquarters Division is to be reviewed following this appointment and it is intended that this officer will be removed from the line management of the Finance Department. This addresses observations in the Primary Inspection Report regarding the lack of direct communication between senior specialist support staff and the force executive and the appropriate deployment of senior police officers (paragraph 5.33). The new Head of Finance and IT will report direct to the force executive.
3.6 The Finance Department was significantly understaffed at the time of the Primary Inspection with the Force Finance Officer undertaking the work of the force's financial and management accountants during their absence as well as her own role. Both accountants later retired. Both these posts were advertised during early 1998. Some difficulty was experienced however in attracting applicants at the level advertised and as a result, one post was upgraded to senior accountant and one was downgraded to assistant accountant. Both posts were filled in June 1998. The assistant accountant had worked with another police force and had experience of devolved resource management. The senior accountant had a local authority background. The appointment of these two members of staff has now eased the burden which was falling on the force finance officer and has allowed her to properly fulfil her own role.
Service Level Agreements
3.7 The force now has a service level agreement in respect of Property with each of the respective local authorities and a Finance service level agreement with Aberdeen City Council. The 1999/2000 finance agreement had not been signed off at the time of the Inspection but had been completed and was awaiting signature.
3.8 HMIC regards the development of these agreements as good practice and they now need to be regularly monitored and reviewed to ensure best value. The force has recognised this and the agreements are to be reviewed annually as part of the Best Value service review.
Financial Management System
3.9 The financial management system in place at the time of the Primary Inspection was a legacy system from Grampian Regional Council. It was not Year 2000 compliant. The system could have been upgraded but the cost was considered prohibitive and it would still not have provided the flexibility desired. A Cedar Data system was introduced at the start of the current financial year. The system was purchased and is owned by Aberdeen City Council who continue to provide the force's finance service under the above service level agreement. At the time of the Review Inspection the force had only one access point to the new system which was located within the Finance Department. This was to be addressed following the roll out of a new software system ongoing within the force at that time.
3.10 The system is considered to be a significant improvement on the old one and should enhance the quality of financial information available to the force. It is a pragmatic rather than ideal solution however and the force recognises that in the long term it may be beneficial for the force to have its own system. HMIC would support the force's view in this respect.
Chief Constable's Delegated Powers
3.11 The Chief Constable has still not received full delegation of the police budget from the Joint Police Board and as long as this situation continues there will be some impediment to the progress of devolved resource management within the force. Some recent progress has been made involving delegation of power over the force's contingency fund. HMIC sees this as a positive step by the Joint Board. The force is encouraged to pursue greater delegation and the new Board may now wish to consider taking this further.
3.12 In addition to Recommendation 7 above, the Primary Inspection also commented on the following:
Financial Awareness (paragraph 3.5)
3.13 The Primary Inspection Report drew attention to a lack of written procedures and low financial awareness throughout the force. It was highlighted that this would continue until the lack of resources within the finance department found at that time was addressed. Now that the staffing issue has been resolved the Review Inspection found that steps have been taken to improve financial awareness within the force and to address the lack of written procedures.
3.14 The force finance officer at the time of the Inspection was in the course of preparing a financial handbook for use within the finance department. This was a substantial document dealing with financial procedures such as debt recovery, charging, fees etc. which would be helpful to staff within the department rather than for general issue. A similar document of a less technical nature was intended for circulation on the force intranet for the more general guidance of budget holders or others in the force dealing with financial matters.
3.15 A distance based learning package had also been produced by the force entitled "Budgets for Police Managers" and senior officers spoken to said they had found this helpful. A Budget Monitoring Group has also been set up which will allow divisional commanders and heads of departments to meet on a monthly basis to discuss budgetary issues and this sharing of experiences and formal liaison with the Finance Department should offer practical assistance to budget holders in the effective management of their devolved budgets.
Internal Audit (paragraph 3.11)
3.16 The Review Inspection revealed that initial discussions have taken place with the Joint Police Board regarding the establishment of a sub-committee for the monitoring of Best Value and the review of areas proposed for audit. Decisions had been deferred however pending election of the new Board. Meetings had taken place in April and May 1998 with the Aberdeen City Council auditor to ensure meantime that the process of selecting priorities for audit was fair and objective and reflected the needs of the force. Auditors have suggested areas for audit recently following work in related fields for example the force procedure in relation to travel and subsistence claims was being audited at the time of the inspection following previous audits in respect of the private vehicle mileage scheme.
CCTV Funding (paragraph 3.12)
3.17 HMIC had expressed concerns during the Primary Inspection regarding the running costs of CCTV systems in Aberdeen and Moray being met from the police budget. The force accept this observation and discussions have been held with the Police Board about this situation. HMIC suggests that renewed efforts should now be made with the new Board to have these costs removed from the police budget.
Devolved Budgeting (paragraph 3.13)
3.18 The force is still at an early stage in terms of devolved resource management. Divisional commanders and heads of departments hold devolved budgets for overtime, stationery, minor equipment and more recently have received budgets for training and conferences and travel and subsistence. At the time of the Review Inspection there was a document in draft form relating to the proposed devolvement of support staff costs and heating and lighting costs in the future but the likely implementation date for this has not been decided.
3.19 What has been achieved by the force in terms of devolved budgeting is not particularly radical. Devolved budget holders are restricted in what can be done with the budgets which have been devolved and in the absence of devolved virement powers there is little incentive for effective or imaginative management. Reasons why the force has been hampered in its progress in this area include the lack of financial autonomy of the chief constable, old technology and the lack of a senior financial manager. There has been some progress however and the force should see the appointment of the new Head of Finance and IT and other recent developments as an opportunity to quicken the pace of that progress. HMIC would encourage the force's development of a strategic plan for devolved resource management and this may be an appropriate task for the new head of department to oversee.
Joint Financial Management Study
3.20 The Review Inspection found that the force has prepared an Action Plan in response to the joint study between HMIC and the Accounts Commission on financial management within the police service. Key issues referred to in the executive summary of the report "Credit to the Force" have been identified for action and the plan shows the person responsible for addressing each issue, the action to be taken and the date by which action is to be taken. It was found that in the main, timescales were being met and HMIC was encouraged by the positive response of the force in this important area.
Property
3.21 The force Property Strategy Group continues to meet and following comment by HMIC in the Primary Inspection report ( paragraph 3.18), the Group now includes staff association representation. The remit of this Group is to consider future accommodation issues arising for the force, determine an overall view in terms of strategy and make appropriate recommendations to the force executive. The addition of staff association representatives to the Group is a means of keeping staff informed about future plans and of bringing their views to the attention of the Group.
3.22 The Primary Inspection report also suggested a need for the Group to concentrate its efforts on a few strategic property sites in Aberdeen (paragraph 3.19) and identified room for further rationalisation of offices in remote areas (paragraph 3.20). The force is constrained in its response to these observations in terms of funding and capital allocation but the Property Strategy Group continues to address these issues and pursue progress as far as finance permits.
3.23 Construction of the new divisional headquarters at Inverurie remains the major buildings project in the force. Completion is expected by the spring of 2000. The force accepts HMIC's comment about the need to concentrate on strategic sites within the city and following completion of the building at Inverurie the development of strategic policing sites within Aberdeen city will take priority. The force has difficulty progressing this beyond concept stage however as the capital allocation for 1999/2000 does not provide for anything other than the completion of existing projects.
3.24 The force has reponded positively to this situation however and in recognition of the potential delay in starting new building work, a lease has been acquired on property at Greenfern Road, Mastrick which will provide a short term solution to the force's needs in that part of the city. The property is strategically located within the community but does not provide a long-term solution and HMIC would encourage the force to pursue other options despite the uncertainty over future capital funding.
3.25 An extension to the headquarters accommodation in Castle Street, Aberdeen is due for completion by late 1999 and this should ease the cramped conditions found in some parts of headquarters and allow for some relocation of various headquarters units in order that different parts of the same units can be brought together.
3.26 HMIC's comment regarding rationalisation of police offices in remote areas is another focus of the Property Strategy Group and a programme involving the phased disposal of some small police offices in rural areas has now been agreed with the Board. One of these offices is the office at Echt which is no longer operational. It will be disposed of as soon as possible. Kintore Police Office was also due for disposal and HMIC was pleased to note that the force has obtained the use of a room at Kintore Town Hall to serve as a calling point for officers to maintain focus within the local community. HMIC acknowledges the force's thoughtful approach to this programme which should ensure that local communities are not disadvantaged by the changes.
3.27 The minutes of meetings held by the Property Strategy Group show a positive, forward thinking approach to the difficult issue of securing appropriate accommodation for the force for the medium and long term. Some of the ideas expressed are resourceful and imaginative and HMIC now considers the format and membership of this Group to be good practice.
Vehicles
3.28 Following comment in the Primary Inspection report about the need to ensure best value for money in light of the force's tendency to buy petrol as opposed to diesel cars (paragraph 3.21), the force has undertaken a review of its policy in this respect and has shown through its considered approach that future purchases will be made on a best value basis.
3.29 Similarly, in respect of HMIC's comment regarding the high number of four wheel drive vehicles in the force at the time of the Primary Inspection, (paragraph 3.23) this has also been reviewed. The number of four wheel drive vehicles has been reduced and again the considered approach by the transport manager reassured HMIC that future purchases would be on a needs basis taking into consideration the territorial terrain and operational requirements of the force.
Review Inspection Conclusions
3.30 Finance and funding is always a major issue for any police force or large organisation. In the case of Grampian Police, resource management will become an increasingly difficult issue and it has been highlighted in this Chapter that the force is already operating on a budget which provides lower levels of expenditure per head of population than most police forces in Scotland. This is also reflected in the fact that out of the eight police forces in Scotland, Grampian Police has a lower number of police officers per head of population than most Scottish forces. (Figure 5, page refers).
3.31 HMIC welcomes the introduction of three year budgets for police forces although at the time of the Review Inspection forces were only aware of the total budget available for Scottish policing as a whole for 1999/2002 and their individual Grant Aided Expenditure level for 1999/2000.
3.32 Notwithstanding this lack of precise local figures at present, HMIC recommends that the force should prepare a budget plan for the next three years based on a working assumption that its share of national expenditure will be proportionate to previous years in order to inform its strategies in respect of recruitment and other expenditure. The budget plan and its operational and staffing consequences should be reported to the Joint Police Board.
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Review Inspection Recommendation 4 HMIC recommends that the force should prepare a budget plan for the next three years based on a working assumption that its share of national expenditure will be proportionate to previous years in order to inform its strategies in respect of recruitment and other expenditure. The budget plan and its operational and staffing consequences should be reported to the Joint Police Board. |
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