Memorandum submitted by City of London
Police and the City of London Police Authority
1. The City of London's particular demographics,
with a small resident population but well over 300,000 people
arriving at work each day in the financial institutions, give
rise to particular challenges for the City of London Police. A
different style of policing is therefore required to that which
is found outside of much of central London. Given the concentration
of businesses in the Square Mile, a major focus of the City Force
is the protection of the reputation of London as an international
financial centre and the institutions that form part of it. Businesses
in the City experience the best of traditional British policing
style, together with a technological advantage in counter-terrorist
measures, and lead status in relation to financial investigations.
Although contained within a small geographic area, the Force reaches
across regional, national and international borders as a leader
in policing the international business environment.
CITY OF
LONDON POLICE
STRENGTH
2. Table 1 below sets out the City of London
Police's strength for the past five years and the projection for
2010. The Force's permanent complement has decreased by 7% over
the past five years as a result of a number of initiatives aimed
at delivering efficiency savings through reorganisation, workforce
modernisation, and improved operational processes (Operation QUEST).
The Force has worked hard over the past five years to achieve
significant efficiency gains through reductions in staff complement.
In order to meet medium term funding constraints, further savings
have been made by maintaining a number of unfilled vacancies.
3. Although the current Dedicated Security Posts
(DSP) grant is £11.3 million, and currently funds 133 police
and 22 civilian posts in the City Force, DSP funding is assumed
at £10 million per year for the period 2010-13. Any funding
withdrawn from 2010-11 will have to be compensated for by utilising
the Force's Reserves or reducing the Force complement, thereby
potentially affecting the quality of services provided.
POLICE SETTLEMENT
4. The three year funding settlement for
Police announced in December 2007 was intended to allow authorities
to plan on a more confident, longer term basis. At the time, the
then Home Secretary stated that there would an increase of at
least 2.5% for every police authority in England and Wales but
the vagaries of the grant system means that this is not the case
for the City of London. For the City the minimum grant increase
(ie the "floor") was only 2.0% in 2008-09, 1.75% in
2009-10 and will be 1.5% in 2010-11.
5. The settlement therefore represents an extremely
unfavourable position for the City in that the increase is below
the minimum level applying to policing activities. This is understandably
of serious concern and the City has argued that at the very least,
the City's Police funding should be in line with the minimum increase
applicable to other Police authorities. The City's police responsibilities
are considerable and this is reflected in the fact that the City
of London Police's status as lead force on Fraud in addition to
the work already undertaken in the Square Mile.
6. In the short term, the Force's efficiency
savings and income generation initiatives have compensated for
the poor settlement but any further future reduction will have
a direct impact on services on an already tight Force budget and
restructured workforce.
EFFICIENCY SAVINGS
7. The City Police has performed well against
efficiency targets set by the Home Office over the last five years
and figures are set out in Table 2 below. In some years, the City
has greatly exceeded the targets on account of the need for the
Force to deliver a balanced budget. Non-Cashable savings have
been utilised to enhance front line policing and achieve performance
improvements year on year for the past seven years. Cashable savings
have been utilised and set aside to mitigate a potential substantial
funding gap identified in the Force's Medium Term Financial Plan.
November 2009
Table 1
| Police Officers
| | | | Police Staff
| | | |
|
Possible Maximum Complement
|
Actual Strength | Temporary Police Officer Posts
|
Possible Maximum Complement |
Actual Strength | Temporary Police
Staff
Posts
|
Annual Vacancy Factor |
|
2005 | 880 | 881
| 7 | 357 | 309
| 28 | 47 | Current permanent polie and staff numbers
|
| 2006 | 880 | 869
| 8 | 391 | 324
| 18 | 78 | include 133 police and 22 civilian DSPs which
|
| 2007 | 885 | 858
| 3 | 428 | 355
| 15 | 100 | could be at threat as a result of the new bidding
|
| 2008 | 853 | 819
| 4 | 428 | 342
| 12 | 120 | process introduced by ACPO Terrorism and
|
| 2009 | 840 | 808
| 185 | 457 | 345
| 134 | 144 | Allied Matters (TAM) for 2010-11.
|
| 2010 | 858 | 813
| 1103 | 415 | 342
| 143 | 118 | |
1 The increase in temporary posts in 2009-10 is due to the national lead status awarded to the
Force in Economic Crime.
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Table 2
| Non-
Cashable |
Cashable | Non-
Cashable
|
Cashable | Non-
Cashable
|
Cashable | Non-
Cashable
|
Cashable | Non-
Cashable
|
Cashable | Total Non-
Cashable
| Total
Cashable |
| 2005
| 2006 | 2007
| 2008 | 2009
| 2005-09 |
| Home Office Target "£000" |
1.46 | 0 | 1.135 |
1.135 | 0.92 | 0.92
| 0.92 | 0.92 | 0.92
| 0.92 | 5.355 | 3.895
|
Actual Savings "£000" |
1.711 | 0.144 | 2.844
| 1.209 | 8.146 | 2.915
| 0.741 | 3.829 | 0
| 4.851 | 13.442 | 12.948
|
Surplus Savings | 0.251
| 0.144 | 1.709 |
0.074 | 7.226 | 1.995
| -0.179 | 2.909
| -0.92 | 3.931 |
8.087 | 9.053 |
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