Resources Committee

The formal minute of the public items of business will be available at the meeting scheduled for 19 June 2024. This will also be published on the SPA’s website.
A full recording of the public items of business taken at this meeting can be accessed at https://youtu.be/_U5ymmoKBjc

MAIN ITEMS OF BUSINESS
Financial Monitoring and planning
o Financial Monitoring Report P10 2023/24
o 2024/25 Draft Budget
o Estates Transformation – Engagement Overview and Update
o Estates Continuous Improvement Initiatives Update and Next Steps
o Three estates disposals
Procurement
o Contract awards x 3 (1 NCA)

KEY ISSUES RAISED
Period 10 finance report
• The Committee considered this and heard that that daily monitoring of the budget delivery is being undertaken and this will continue until the end of the financial year. This provided assurance over budget deliverability.
• Police Scotland do not now expect the £5m additional funding to be fully required and dialogue is ongoing with Scottish Government in this regard.
• Members recognise the significant effort made by both finance and operational colleagues to address the budget shortfall in year. A commitment was made to ensuring learning will be formally captured from the current financial year.

2024/25 Draft Budget
• The budget proposals were extensively discussed. The Committee commended the organisational wide involvement to develop the budget.
• Members considered: the financial impact of new legislation, potential emerging budget pressures, the prioritisation of capital and reform budgets and savings deliverability.
• Police Scotland provided assurance that the budget presented was realistic and deliverable. Whilst there are always unexpected occurrences that can emerge, there is confidence in the budget and how it has been allocated. Close monitoring will also be undertaken to ensure that lessons are identified and learned from this year.

Estates and disposals
A comprehensive update was provided in respect of the ongoing Estates Transformation consultation activity. Assurance that both quantitative and qualitative data is being used to fully understand feedback from the public was welcomed by the Committee and the focus on local conversations being used to share and explain future plans with stakeholders was encouraged by the Members.

Contract Awards
The Committee approved two contract awards and recommended a Non-Competitive Action to Scottish Government for approval.

CONCLUSIONS/ACTIONS REACHED
The 2024/25 Draft Budget and Schedule of Rates for Events and Other Services 2024-25 was recommended to the Authority for Approval.

A session to be arranged to discuss and agree how the SPA and Police Scotland will progress the strategic issue of financial impact of legislative change.

SPA to provide guidance on how benefits can be reported to the Committee in the future.

Members approved disposal of three unused former police stations surplus to operational requirements.