Information

Attendees:

• PFCC Danielle Stone (DS)
• DPFCC Marianne Kimani (MK)
• Jonny Bugg (JB)
• Paul Fell (PF)
• Vaughan Ashcroft (VA)
• Louise Sheridan (LS)
• A/CC Ivan Balhatchet (IB)
• A/DCC Ash Tuckley (AT)
• Nick Alexander (NA)
• Suzanne McMinn (SMcM)

DS welcomed everyone to the new style Problem Solving meeting.

For discussion are the Chief Constable’s draft proposals for the Northamptonshire Police budget for 2025/2026. This will include requested investment proposals and required savings plans. The draft force budget paper was taken as read with NA providing additional commentary including a request for a £1m investment fund for the Chief Constable.

It was noted that £800k of investment proposals had been submitted alongside the draft force budget report.  A number of assumptions are currently in play whilst we wait for Government to confirm how funding will be distributed. The assumptions in the paper were all clear. NA confirmed that a zero-based approach has been taken to calculate the majority of budgets and budget holders have been fully consulted.

The MTFP has been updated to reflect any known developments. In 2025/25 the proposed budget creates a deficit of £2.4m which means that savings will be required or there will need to be a drawdown from reserves, or savings from elsewhere. Following a lengthy debate, the Commissioner was reassured by the realistic appraisal of the mitigations that were discussed. There are items in the capital budget that could be reduced if necessary.  VA confirmed that he is assured by the work that NA has been doing and detailed discussions have been had. There is no desire to increase capital borrowing.

There was a discussion on other income generation opportunities and funding streams. In concluding the discussions relating to the draft budget proposals it was agreed that the Chief Constable would be provided with an additional £1m each year for the purposes of innovation and transformation. This devolved responsibility will allow the Chief Constable greater flexibility around the timings of investments and the speed of their implementation. The money will be ringfenced so if isn’t spent he can roll it into future years.

Where additional savings are made the CC can add this to this budget. It was agreed that this would demonstrate a mature level of trust and the Chief Constable would be held to account for the way in which he spent these funds.  The £800k 2025/26 investments are part of £1m.

It is proposed that the additional £1m goes into the base budget every year with the Chief Constable providing transparency around how it is spent rather than seeking prior approval on what it is spent on. For additional reassurance JB asked the Chief Constable to consider, when appropriate, inviting one of the senior OPFCC team to his strategic planning board.

Following the decision to provide the Chief Constable with a discretionary £1m budget it was agreed that there was no longer a need to discuss the seven investment proposals tabled. However, having had sight of these, the Commissioner made the following observations:

• She liked the format, how the proposals had been presented, and how they tied into the safe and sound plan.
•  She is particularly supportive of additional investment into Occupational Health Services
•  She welcomed further investment into vetting and hoped this would reduce the length of time that vetting is currently taking. The Chief Constable confirmed that this would be the case.
•  She was supportive of the investment into police staff investigators.
•  She thought the request for CCTV in evidential property could have been funded from the base budget.

Decision – The Chief Constable would be provided with an additional £1m each year for the purposes of innovation and transformation.

To include:

• How we reach and maintain establishment levels for PCSO and Police Officers in a sustainable manner
• How we improve diversity and inclusion in our workforce
• How training best supports current and future growth in numbers.
• Lessons learnt from the recent national uplift programme.

SMcM gave an overview on officer numbers.  There was a discussion about the number of officers leaving voluntarily and the process HR have put in place to try and retain them. (Keep, Retain, Value). The process for dealing with and exiting officers who have been served a misconduct notice was explained. There was a discussion about Occupational Health and TRIM support. It was agreed that SMcM would send the Commissioner an info gram on Wellbeing.

Action – SMcM to send the DS an infogram on Wellbeing.

On ethnicity, DS asked for the actual numbers rather than percentage of workforce.  IB confirmed 5% is roughly 135 officers. IB confirmed the female officer workforce is currently around 37% and police staff around 50%.

There was a discussion on routes into policing. JB voiced his concern that the DHEP programme had been withdrawn. SMcM confirmed there was sufficient evidence to show that this pathway was not good for officer wellbeing given the increased education element. JB made the point that he would like to see as many routes as possible open for officer recruitment.

Applications were low and dropout rates and welfare concerns were high. Multiple other routes are still available. There was a discussion about Police Now.

Action – SMcM to share the feedback with DS and JB