• Question by: Eric Ollerenshaw
• Meeting date: 16 January 2002

Just a last one, Chairman and you've been very kind on this. I don't know, my experience may be different to your experience, but my experience is the Chairman of Committees goes through reports that go to Committees and have some control on the Agenda. Is that true, or not in the case of the MPA? And therefore, if it is not for whatever it is, perhaps we need a scrutiny committee on the performance of the MPA?

• Question by: Eric Ollerenshaw
• Meeting date: 16 January 2002

Just to go back to it, but you said, "I said on 12 December that in retrospect you should have discussed and gone into things in more detail yourself earlier". Are there any other areas, other than the last consultation, you feel you should have got yourself involved in, in more detail, in terms of the budget process? I do acknowledge that since the overspend you have initiated a separate group, which you've got personally involved in, and have been working extremely hard on the overspend, but you see where I'm coming from. I find it odd that we have...

• Question by: Eric Ollerenshaw
• Meeting date: 16 January 2002

The view, presumably by most people out there, on police overtime, is that if we are to recruit more policemen (and we're recruiting more policemen this year, which you've quite rightly said and there's a target for more policeman by next year) then by definition the overtime budget should be reducing substantially. Now in your view the target's we've set for paying overtime next year, are they realistic, are they over-optimistic, or what are they in terms of the fact, if we hit our targets in terms of recruitment?

• Question by: Elizabeth Howlett
• Meeting date: 16 January 2002

I won't take up too much time, I just want one other question about the management consultants and financial management consultants that have been looking over the MPS budget. Now do you have meetings with them, because we don't, and I would like to suggest that they come and address a Finance Planning and Best Value Committee as to how they're getting on, because we just hear third hand how it's all working out, and then we work in the dark as to how much savings we can actually put through, like £60 odd million now. So do you have...

• Question by: Eric Ollerenshaw
• Meeting date: 16 January 2002

Thank you for the very long answer. Can I just ask then, who is running the MPA?

• Question by: Elizabeth Howlett
• Meeting date: 16 January 2002

But with a budgeted workforce target, by March 2002 we would have deployed 662 officers through £28 million, or whatever is paid for those officers, so the precept's already paid for that. I'm asking, where do all the other officers go, because in fact, until you decided to move that the allocation should be determined by the figures in December, they were in fact only 200. So do you not think that perhaps New Scotland Yard are becoming too centralised, they've forgotten that major crime happens in the boroughs, and the council tax preceptor is paying for it, and is...

• Question by: Elizabeth Howlett
• Meeting date: 16 January 2002

I'm worried about it being shown under both. And that's what I'm getting at.

• Question by: Elizabeth Howlett
• Meeting date: 16 January 2002

Lord Harris, I want to discuss the RAF and when I'm discussing it, I'm talking about it as a budgetary issue, value for money, so it's not just a human resources question. Now this year the Mayor precepted for 1050 officers and we know that we are going to get there. We've been told that by the end of this financial year we will actually get there and we also cover retention problems. So that's great. In 2002/2003 the Mayor says he wants to get 1240 officers again through the precept. My first question is, is there a double whammy...

• Question by: Elizabeth Howlett
• Meeting date: 16 January 2002

I am well aware of the state of chairmanship in the MPA, and I don't necessarily direct that at you. But I am well aware of papers, very, very important papers that come on the table, and you saying that certain colleagues don't like the idea of you vetting them is far from reality. You know that the independent members, a lot of them ex-councillors, do complain themselves about papers being laid on the table. Very important papers! However, you've got Commander Shave sitting behind you. Perhaps Commander Shave will be able to tell us, and there are MPS senior...

• Question by: Nicky Gavron
• Meeting date: 16 January 2002

Nearly a year ago at the end of the MPA meeting you asked us what are our priorities were for the next year, and I said then that as far as I was concerned the over-riding priority was to actually know or to get to grips with how the budget breaks down, that's how it breaks down between the centre and the local units and how it breaks down between divisions. We have no concept yet of the cost centres. It would be useful to know central administration costs, cross London initiative costs and other central costs in relation to...