CASH reserves and a government bailout will be used to meet South Yorkshire Police’s daily running costs as a result of a £65m black hole, a review has concluded.
Members of the Police and Crime Panel are set to meet at Barnsley Town Hall on February 2 to discuss the next steps of the bounce-back plan after the deficit was uncovered 18 months ago when the former police and crime commissioner function was mothballed by the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA).
The errors found included repayments which had not been made for five years and upcoming repayments had been missed out of spending plans or wrongly allocated.
A review into the findings was subsequently started by the Chartered Institute for Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) which is nearing its completion, the Chronicle understands.
Plans - which originally set out a scheme to manage the £65m deficit over a 50-year period - were dismissed by panel members in favour of a 25-year term, after concerns were raised about the ‘potential burden on future generations’.
Policing Minister Sarah Jones MP gave the force permission to use up to £17m from long-term capital reserves, and said that without the exception, it would have been unable to police effectively.
However, fears have been allayed that Barnsley-based officers’ roles would have to be cut - and SYMCA have instead admitted that although ‘local savings’ have been made, its medium-term financial outlook had improved.
A report, compiled by SYMCA’s executive director of resources and investment Gareth Sutton, said: “Due diligence undertaken by SYMCA’s finance team, and validated by an independent specialist consultancy, identified that £65m of provisions were missing from accounts and the forward look medium-term resource strategy.
“In response to this, an independent report from CIPFA was commissioned to review how these errors occurred and what lessons
might be learned.
“This work has taken longer than anticipated but is now reaching its conclusion.
“It is proposed that CIPFA present their current findings to a joint session of the Police and Crime Panel before finalisation and publication of the report.
“To resolve the financial implications of this issue, SYMCA has secured support from government and undertaken local exercises to generate savings and efficiencies.
“This work remains ongoing as part of the usual budget and business planning cycle.
“The medium-term financial outlook has improved as this support and local savings have been generated, however sustainability over the medium-term remains challenging as local pressures coalesce with national funding challenges.
“Using South Yorkshire Police’s priority-based budgeting programme as a frame, a financial recovery plan has been developed.
“Collectively, this work has returned a potential significant contribution to meeting the challenges.”
