Executive Board Minutes – 26 August 2014

Minutes of the meeting held at OPCC, Harrogate,
at 3:00 pm on Tuesday 26 August 2014

PRESENT:-
In the Chair Commissioner Julia Mulligan (JM)
Officers: Deputy Chief Constable Tim Madgwick (TM); Assistant Chief Constable Ken McIntosh (KM); Commissioner’s Chief of Staff Will Naylor (WN); Head of Communications Louise Wood (LW); Chief Constable’s Executive Officer Nigel Costello (NC); Chief Constables Chief Finance Officer and Chief Accountant Jane Palmer (JP); Commissioner’s Chief Finance Officer Michael Porter (MP); Head of Organisation and Development Donald Stone (DS); Acting Deputy Force Solicitor Charlotte Clarke (CC)
Minute taker: Commissioner’s Chief Executive Officer’s Personal Assistant Sarah Goodwin (SG)

549. APOLOGIES

Chief Constable Dave Jones (DJ)
Acting Head of Legal Services Jane Wintermeyer (JW)
Commissioner’s Chief Executive Officer Joanna Carter (JC)

550. MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING

The minutes from the 19 August 2014 were approved for publication.

ACTION LOG
The action log was noted and the following updates provided:

1. Action 388: JM explained that the Police and Crime Plan was progressing.
2. Action 398: WN explained that in relation to the Police and Crime Plan a Copy Writer had been
   Appointed, Acceleris, Harrogate.
3. Action 410: JM explained this action was ‘in hand’.
4. Action 436: JM explained that she would be in a position to feedback on the Partnership Summit
   Summit after 27/08/2014.
5. Action 550a (i) and (ii): summary circulated. TM had a meeting and will liase with JP in relation to
   ‘revised plan’. JM requested that JN be invited to the Thematic on 14/10/2014.
6. Action 550b (ii): LW explained this would be considered shortly and she also confirmed that she
   had a meeting with Richard Abbott in relation to branding of vehicles.
7. Action 550b (iii): JP explained that revenue costs for vehicles would be in next years budget.
8. Action 550d: KM explained he had an employer benefits meeting with suppliers – DC Grey scheduled

551. DECISIONS REQUIRED

1. Delegated Decisions Item: This report provides notification of the use made of the authority delegated by the Commissioner. It presents the decisions made by the Chief Executive Officer, the Head of Organisation and Development and Commissioner’s Chief Finance Officer, the Chief Constable’s Chief Finance Officer and Chief Accountant and the Force Solicitor.

   Some aspects of the legal figures were discussed by CC. JM queried budgets as claims can run for many years. TM stressed that it was important to note that the organisation continues to develop and learn lessons from its claims experience.

   RESOLVED: The Board were content with this item.

   Action: JP to adapt future reports so that decisions relating to the allocation of Community Funding no longer feature. JP to liase further with JN and MP in relation to the adaption to future reports. CC to obtain share information relating to payments ordered by the Court so that it can be determined if such information is suitable and relevant for consideration by the Board.

2. Executive Board Performance Report: TM discussed the Executive Summary. He explained that this has also been in part been discussed at Command Team and compared to other forces. E.g. Durham, Cumbria and Surrey.

   JP discussed the Finance Overview and explained there would be a break even although it was very early in the year with 3 months worth of figures. JP explained that she would be seeing an under spend in non salary costs. KM explained that he had analysis activity underway in relation to resourcing levels particularly in relation to temporary and agency staff.

   WN confirmed to JM and JP that the OPCC budget was accurate. JP confirmed that the budgets were positioned within the incorrect area of the document. WN queried the Statutory Information Order requirements in relation to publication of contract details as JM explained that this was a risk and that it was important to be transparent with schedules. JP indicated that although funding had been allocated there had been some difficulty in allocating the appropriate resource to undertake this activity.
   Community Safety Partnership: JM took the opportunity to confirm that she would have tighter controls over this budget.

   HR Overview: KM discussed this area covering aspects of ‘temporary’ workers and career breaks. JM explained there needed to be clarity on what roles entailed. In respect of Decisions Made there was no further comment from JM. It should be noted that there is a larger piece of work in respect of ‘policy on career breaks’.

   RESOLVED: The Board were content with the Report.

   Action: DS to check progress in relation to the activity to publish contract details. JP to report back at a future Executive Board. WN to check schedules notes.

3. Treasury Management Report: JP discussed the Report and commented that there had been no borrowing in the first quarter with only one limit exceeded – the ‘prudential limit’. There were no plans to borrow in the future. JP explained that she would be attending a meeting in October 2014 with MP. In respect of Northern Base JP confirmed that financial adjustments would be made when final costings were complete. She explained that there is likely to be long term revenue savings.

   RESOLVED: The Board were content with the Report.

552. DECISIONS AND DELEGATED MATTERS TO NOTE

Decision Making Forecast: The Board noted the report and agreed several updates:

1. Funding for cyber training provision Report: TM discussed this area.
2. Estates Strategy Update: JM requested that this should be a REVIEW of the larger ‘Estates Strategy’: ACTION.
3. Pif Bids/Business Cases: ACTION: Business cases/plans to be developed in relation to successful bids and also consider in the context of revenue generation. DS
4. OPM Update: JM discussed savings.
5. Leadership Day: JM explained this wasn’t on the forecast. ACTION: LW and KM to follow up.
6. Communications Thematic: it was confirmed to LW that this should be 30 mins in duration.
7. Ethics: this was discussed and agreed that an update item would be added to the forecast for October. ACTION: meeting with KM to be arranged.

553. MATTERS ARISING FROM CORPORATE PERFORMANCE AND SCRUTINY GROUP

There were no items for discussion.

554. CONCEPTS AND/OR INITIATIVES TO BE DISCUSSED

There were no items for discussion.

555. NATIONAL OR LOCAL DEVELOPMENTS/CONSULTATIONS

APCC, HMIC and ACPO Updates and Communications:
The report was noted.

Events
The report was noted.

556. FORTHCOMING EVENTS OR COMMUNICATIONS

There were no items for discussion.

557. ANY OTHER BUSINESS

Estates Strategy: In respect of the forthcoming Estates Strategy item JM explained it would be helpful to have a Review at this stage. ILW explained that the accommodation requirement for the future will be influenced by and relationships/structure with other forces/partners . TM explained that there was a requirement to make a prompt decision in respect of the ‘data centre’ requirement as this would inform the plans that needed to be prepared.

FOI: LW raised FOI requests in relation to finances, both JP and LW would be working together to ensure that these were consistent with caveats to minimise any risks.

Action: JP to consider FOI draft end of year report and liase with MP.

Police Complaints/Discipline Review: JM explained that there were forthcoming meeting/s in relation to this subject area but that there were concerns that the two reviews were being conducted separately. It was noted that the ‘terms of reference’ had been established.

558. DATE OF NEXT MEETING

The next meeting of the Executive Board will take place at 10.00 am on Tuesday 2 September 2014 at Police Headquarters, Newby Wiske.