The West Mercia Police and Crime Panel met to discuss the Police and Crime Commissioner's activity and performance, and to review the budget metrics. Councillor Barry Durkin, Chairman of the Panel, expressed disappointment that the panel had not been informed of budget issues in a timely manner. The panel agreed to set up working groups to look at the budget and digital services, and to invite the Chief Constable to future meetings.

Financial Performance and Budgetary Issues

A significant portion of the meeting was dedicated to discussing the financial challenges facing West Mercia Police. The discussion focused on a report from John Campion, the West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner, regarding activity and performance monitoring. The panel scrutinised the current financial position of West Mercia Police, which faces three tranches of savings totaling £27 million.

The three tranches are:

• £14 million of savings required as per the agreed budget.
• £6.5 million relating to an overspend from the previous financial year.
• £6.7 million due to inaccurate estimation of police officer pay, and over £1 million due to the cost of ill health retirement.

The inaccurate estimation of police officer pay was attributed to changes in how officers are remunerated, with shorter pay spinal points and larger jumps to the top of pay bands. This issue was amplified by West Mercia Police being an early adopter of uplift in officer numbers, resulting in a bulge of officers reaching the top of their pay spines.

Councillor John Gallagher questioned why these issues were not identified during the budgetary process earlier in the year. John Campion responded that the system works because it catches when problems arise, and that action is being taken to ensure the budget remains balanced. He also noted the financial pressures being faced by other local authorities, such as Shropshire Council, Herefordshire Council and Worcestershire Council.

Councillor Liz Harvey referred to the budget task and finish group, and the difficulty in sharing operational details at the time. She questioned what actions were being taken and where those were impacting operationally and strategically on the performance of the force. John Campion responded with details of slowing down capital funding, changes to force structure, slowing down digital investment, a voluntary redundancy scheme, and further control around overtime and on-call allowances.

John Campion stated that the approach of West Mercia Police has been to ensure wherever possible there is an addition of the police officer's warranted power in civilian roles. He noted that some choices were not those that the Chief Constable would ordinarily make, including using police officers in civilian investigator and control room roles. He said that the challenge to be ever more visible and accessible becomes harder, and that unless something happens in the future, the ability to manage within resources is going to be beyond their ability.

Councillor Rob Adams expressed the disappointment shared by the panel regarding the shortfall. He asked what efficiency savings had been considered. John Campion responded that it has been wide and deep, including reducing the non-police pay budget and slowing down the aspiration for investment.

Councillor Alex Kinnersley questioned the numbers being presented, and whether there was a £27 million gap in year. John Campion clarified that the £27 million was the totality of the savings that have to be made to balance the budget.

Councillor Vivienne Parry stated that West Mercia Police are one of the worst forces for morale, and asked for assurances that it has improved. John Campion acknowledged that the trend in the Federation morale survey is one that shouldn't be ignored, and that it weighs heavy on the Chief Constable.

Councillor Paul Davis asked how the continued government underfunding of the police is being challenged. John Campion responded that there is a fundamental unfairness in the way that police funding is distributed, and that a fairer funding model is unlikely to happen in the course of this Comprehensive Spending Review¹.

Councillor Roger Evans stated that the panel is independent of the partners, the councils and the chief executives, and that it sits with the Police and Crime Commissioner to look at the police budget. He asked what the role of the Police and Crime Commissioner is in obtaining information on the police spend as the current year proceeds, and whether he is prepared to share this with the panel. John Campion responded that he receives a monthly financial report, and a more in-depth quarterly report.

John Campion offered the panel opportunities around working groups to come and have a look at different things.

Performance Monitoring

The panel reviewed the budget metrics report, which set out an overview of the latest performance indicators (KPIs) which originated from the 2023/24 budget setting process.

Councillor Liz Harvey asked what sits behind the 31% increase in residential burglary that's being reported in South Worcestershire and the 11% increase in residential burglary that's being reported for North Worcestershire this year. John Campion responded that the Chief Constable is reassured that overall the trend for burglaries is in decline, and that the usual variations in those areas are not a concern.

Police Workforce Wellbeing and Culture

The panel discussed police workforce wellbeing and culture, noting that the most recent results of the Federation Pay and Morale Survey (2024) shows that West Mercia Police has one of the lowest levels of morale nationally.

Cyber Crime

The Panel received a report which provided an update on PCC activity relating to cyber crime. The PCC advised that he was seeing policing resources being restructured to be best placed to tackle the growing issue, and bodies such as Action Fraud being able to be as effective as possible, as well as improved collaboration through regional and national units.

Work Programme

The Panel considered its work programme. It was agreed that a report on rural crime would be added to the work programme, and that the review of the complaints procedure and the annual report on complaints were two separate reports. It was requested that a monthly report be provided to the Panel on progress on the actions from the HM Inspectorate reports, to include in particular Leadership and Force Management, and what actions were being taken to improve capture of data. It was also queried what data could be shared with local authorities to enhance partnership working. It was clarified that the item on hate crime would include race crime which was a category of hate crime. A member suggested that a targeted approach was needed, with current items being reviewed and prioritised.

The panel delegated authority to Councillor Barry Durkin and Councillor Rob Adams, the chair and deputy chair, to agree the scope of any task or finish groups that the panel has the power to set up, and to appoint panel members to it ahead of the next meeting.