Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Ellis this week presented his financial plan for Staffordshire Police at the Police and Crime Panel meeting. The Panel regularly meets to give views on the plans and decisions of the PCC.
The presentation gave an overview of the financial resources needed over the next five years to deliver the PCC’s objectives. Working with the police over the last 18 months has put the Force in a strong position. The focus has been on appropriate reform where needed and maintaining policing capacity, particularly on the frontline.
Big savings and improvements have already been made to the financial outlook by buying better, changing the way some support services are delivered and ensuring a strong focus on good housekeeping and value for money.
A further 11 strategic projects have been agreed with Staffordshire Police which will meet the majority of the savings needed for a £22.9m gap for 2015/16 to 2019/20. There are also more ambitious plans underway that will involve more joint working across the public sector in order to meet and exceed the remaining gap.
These plans are for a fully integrated system across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent where criminal justice and community safety services provided by different agencies and organisations are aligned towards common goals.
The financial plan assumes that the PCC is not going to raise the police element of the council tax at all in the next five years.
Mr Ellis said: “It’s my job to work with the police to make sure that Staffordshire is working as effectively as it can and giving the best value for money for taxpayers. The public sector has had a pretty easy time over the last decade or so, there has been plenty of money around and it’s my job to play my part in getting the housekeeping back on track.
“I think the police can spend money a lot better than they have done in the past. We’ve got 11 major pieces of work from estates through to technology, through to the way things are bought, all of which will save very significant amounts of money.
“As far as the identified savings are concerned up to 2017/18 we’re sorted but we’ve got some work to do 2018/19 and 2019/20 and that’s why I’ve chosen a 5 year plan, so we can start making progress early.
“My ambition is not to reduce police officers further and cuts previously planned to neighbourhood policing have been stopped. Decent technology that’s on its way next year, will free up an enormous amount of police time, about 5,000 hours a week of more front line policing in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent.”
Chief Constable Jane Sawyers added: “We have been working together with the Police and Crime Commissioner for some time to plan for an anticipated further reduction in funding. This is largely dependent on the outcome of the 2015 Comprehensive Spending review.
We have made excellent progress so far and the Force is in a secure financial position for the short to medium term.
“Our officers and staff have demonstrated a clear ability to focus on value for money and at the same time they have continued to provide an excellent police service to ensure our communities remain safe and feel reassured.
“We will take every opportunity that exists to ensure we improve efficiency but whilst finance is an important factor this is not the only driver in the way the force serves our communities”.
You can watch this week’s meeting at http://www.staffordshire-pcc.gov.uk/webcast/ and the plan can be viewed at http://moderngov.staffordshire.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=831&MId=5261&Ver=4
