The Policing Board has a role in negotiating the annual policing budget for the PSNI and for holding the Chief Constable to account for the spending of that budget.
The Chief Constable has delegated authority in relation to the day to day responsibility for the police budget, but he must report to the Board on how the money is spent. The Board has responsibility for making sure that the funds are spent in an effective and efficient manner and in line with the objectives outlined in the Policing Plan.
The PSNI monthly Management Accounts are tabled at meetings of the Board’s Resources and Improvement Committee, and the year-end Annual Accounts are presented to the Committee for its consideration and comment. Police funding is divided into several different categories, the largest category being for expenditure on salaries and running costs (revenue expenditure) amounting to £700.9m in the year.
PSNI also receives funding for expenditure on capital items such as land, buildings and vehicles, where benefit will be derived from the expenditure over a number of years. In the last year, capital expenditure was £40.7m.
There are still ongoing funding streams associated with the implementation of the recommendations coming from the Patten report, referred to as “Patten funds”. In the last year these amounted to £32.1m Patten voluntary severance funds (to assist with the move towards 7,500 officer number and 50:50 recruitment). The compulsory severance scheme for the Full-Time Reserve had a cumulative spend of £23.8m in relation to 279 officers leaving the service. There is also funding available for Patten non-severance activities, which is mainly concentrated on Information Technology changes, recruitment costs and work in relation to the new police college. The total amount spent in the last year on Patten non-severance activity was £21.3m.
The Committee also looked at spending on two small fund accounts – the Police Property Fund (disposal of seized or lost items) and the Police Fund (welfare for police officers and their dependents) – as well as, for the first time, being able to question the PSNI on Police Pensions. The Board itself has a role in administering some aspects of police officers pensions. The 2005/06 financial year was the second time that PSNI was required to produce Pension Scheme Accounts, and the Committee closely
questioned PSNI on the figures contained in the Statements. The balance sheets showed a net liability of over £3 billion relating to current and future pension liabilities. Although this figure is a huge sum, this represents the total liability rather than the annual cost of pensions. It is standard practice for those pension payment liabilities due each year to be provided for out of funding made available to PSNI. There is no threat to or any danger of frontline policing being affected by this overall liability, or any risk that pensioners will not receive their payments and lump sum gratuities.
A large part of the police budget relates to salaries (approximately 70%) and consequently, Board Members concentrate to a large degree on Human Resources elements of the Police Budget. There has also been more interest in 2006/07 on financial issues relating to the Police Estate due to the closure and sale of police stations.
As part of the comprehensive spending review, all Government Departments, including policing, were required by Treasury to consider future funding needs and identify savings. The Policing Board has been working with the Government and the PSNI on this. This is a work in progress and no decisions have been taken.
The Board has been concerned for some time about the future funding of policing and remains committed to securing the necessary resources to continue to deliver the best possible policing service.
