Item 3.2

FINANCIAL MONITORING REPORT PERIOD 1 2023/24 – Presented by Lynn Brown

Members considered the paper which had been submitted to provide the Committee with an update on the financial position of the SPA and Police Scotland for period 1 of the financial year 2023/24. During discussion and in addition to the written report the following points were raised and discussed:

• Members considered a summary of the report and as it is not usual practice to bring forward a P1 Monitoring Report, it was explained the P1 report had been submitted to allow early committee scrutiny of the financial position given the challenging landscape. Members heard that given issues resulting from high inflation rates and assumptions for a 2023-24 pay award, there will be significant financial challenges for the organisation and these will require to be managed as part of the annual budget process.
• One area of specific focus is overtime and it was confirmed by the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) that, whilst an over spend is currently forecast, steps are being taken to address this which will see a reduction in the coming months. Members asked if the local commanders were aware of the need to closely manage overtime budgets and were assured by the CFO this message had been cascaded and he was seeing evidence of changed behaviours which will go some way to getting the budget back on track in the coming months.

Members noted the report.