Approved Minute - 13 March 2024

1.1 WELCOME
Grant Macrae, Committee Chair welcomed everyone to the MS Teams meeting. Colleagues from HMICS and Scottish Government were also welcomed.

1.2 APOLOGIES
There were no apologies.

1.3 DECLARATIONS OF INTREST AND CONNECTIONS
There were no declarations of interest or connections.

1.4 DECISIONS ON TAKING BUSINESS IN PRIVATE (ITEMS 5 - 9)
In accordance with paragraph 20 of the SPA Standing Orders, the Committee AGREED to consider items 5 - 9 on the agenda in private.

2.1 RESOURCES COMMITTEE MINUTE FROM MEETING HELD ON 20 FEBRUARY 2024 FOR APPROVAL
Members AGREED the Minute from the Resources Committee held on held on 20 February was an accurate record of the meeting.

2.2 RESOURCES COMMITTEE ACTION LOG AND MATTERS ARISING
Members AGREED the Action Log and approved the proposed actions for closure.

2.3 DECISIONS SINCE LAST MEETING
No formal committee business was conducted between meetings.
3.1 FINANCIAL MONITORING REPORT P10 2023/24 – LYNN BROWN
Members considered the report which presented the financial position of the SPA and Police Scotland for period 10 of the financial year 2023/24. During discussion and in addition to the written report the following points were noted and discussed.

• An overview of the submitted report was provided which covered key matters in the year to date and forecast position for the revenue, capital, and reform budgets.
• Recognising the ongoing daily monitoring given the proximity of the year end, the Chair sought and received assurance there were no significant issues or areas of concern on budget deliverability.
• As the position at the end of quarter three (Q3) forecast was an anticipated overspend of £5m, an update was provided that no formal response had been received from Scottish Government regarding the additional funding and it was explained the approach to be taken regarding this funding would be agreed when the final outturn position was known. Police Scotland do not now expect allthe £5m additional funding to be required and dialogue is ongoing with Scottish Government in this regard. The Chief Financial Officer stated he was comfortable there had been no formal sign off on this and he was confident there was a clear commitment from Scottish Government colleagues in relation to the management of this forecast overspend.
• Despite the recruitment freeze that was put in place, staff costs remain an area of concern for this Committee and Members asked for details of what action was being taken to rebalance the organisation and create a more sustainable position in terms of staff costs. The Chief Financial Officer updated the Committee on the impact of the recruitment freeze and the forecast for the in-year savings to be reported. Going forward, staff costs will be further reduced through the ongoing VR/VER exercise and that the results of this work will be seen in future monitoring reports to the committee.
• The significant variance in forecast vs actual for Mutual Aid was explored and the Committee heard this variance was because of less Mutual Aid had been required for the World Cycle Championships than was thought. Members welcomed the assurance that learning from the planning for this even would be captured, shared and considered when future event planning is done.
• The Committee expressed disappointment to have, at the time of approving the 2023/24 budget, received an assurance from the Chief Constable that the budget was deliverable and this was identified as not being the case early into the year. To mitigate any repeat of this, Members sought an assurance that the valuable learning from the budget management during the year has been captured and will be cascaded through the organisation as appropriate. Both DCC Connors and Finance colleagues assured the Committee this was being done and the work would look at how the steps taken and mitigations had delivered and the impacts on the budget and delivery of policing.
• Members agreed this would be an important report for this committee to consider when it was available.
• In conclusion, the effort to deliver significant savings was commended by the Committee and assurance was provided by DCC Connors that the focus remains on meeting the challenges to deliver the budget.

Members noted the report.

4.1 ESTATES TRANSFORMATION – ENGAGEMENT OVERVIEW AND UPDATE – YVONNE JOHNSTON AND DAVINA FARRIDAY
Members considered the report which provided an overview of the activity undertaken to date to provide a co-ordinated and consistent approach to public, colleague and stakeholder engagement for the Estates Transformation Programme. During discussion and in addition to the written report the following points were noted and discussed.

• Discussion focused on how stakeholders, communities and individuals receive updates on the outcomes of consultation. It was explained that both quantitative and qualitative data is collected and the qualitative data especially supported work to provide a better understanding and clearer explanations to address specific concerns of these groups.
• Local Commanders also support work to link with local communities and interested parties, for example Local Authorities and Community Groups.
• An important lesson has been learned from the recent consultation work in Greenock and the sequencing of engagement will be better planned for other consultations so that communities would be aware of plans for how policing will be delivered in their area following the proposed change. This had not been done as successfully as it could have been in Greenock and had resulted in some public concerns being expressed due to a lack of clarity on what alternative arrangements would be in place to effectively support that community.
• Assurance was provided that the required consultation with the workforce has been considered as part of the project and this is being led by P&D.
• The Committee asked how feedback from consultation was considered in the solutions and what effort was made to make sure the public feel heard and can, where relevant, see their local needs reflected in the solutions. It was explained that the consultation is designed to be a accessible as possible and work was done with communications colleagues to improve awareness locally and nationally. Other elements of the approach include stakeholder conversations, local community conversations, review of data to ensure any underrepresented groups are considered and the sharing of feedback/views in real time to make sure it is considered by the project team at the earliest opportunity.
• It was explained that where the service has already been delivered in a different way for some time; and where buildings have been empty for some time already, the consultation period is shorter.
• DCC Connors assured Members effort was being made to ensure the public and individual communities understand what they will see and how policing will be delivered for them in their area. The DCC also confirmed that the ongoing estates transformation projects will be aligned to the Revised Model of Policing.

Members noted the report.
The following items were taken in private.
End.