Plan for Warwickshire Police to plug £3m gap are expected to emerge over the summer

Detailed plans for Warwickshire Police to deliver £3 million worth of cost savings are expected to emerge over the summer.

Warwickshire Police & Crime Commissioner (PCC) Philip Seccombe asked the force to cut gaps between income and expenditure in its £120 million-plus annual budget over the next three years.

His annual report read: “The chief constable has committed to delivering £1m of savings from April 2024, which I hope can be achieved from improving productivity and greater efficiency, but I look forward to receiving her options for achieving this in the coming months.”

Andrew Davies, one of two independent members of the Warwickshire Police & Crime Panel who does not serve as a councillor, described the savings as “quite significant” and asked the PCC what his “confidence levels are that they will be achieved”.

Mr Seccombe noted that the total saving had to be delivered across three years but could be put forward as a one-off chunk should Chief Constable Debbie Tedds deem that appropriate.

“They might decide to save £3m in year one, in which case they are done,” said Mr Seccombe.

“They might decide to make none in year one and £1.5m in years two and three, I don’t know, I have left that to the chief constable.

“We think it is the right thing to do. We spent tens of millions of pounds on the new IT systems and frameworks, quite a lot of savings come out of that and I think they are on course to make £1 million this financial year but we will wait to see.

“I am waiting for (and) I have asked more than once for a detailed plan of how these savings are going to be made over the three years, I am promised now that we are going to get it in the summer.

“It is money that they don’t have so they have to sort that out.”

Mr Davies also questioned how reliant Warwickshire Police is on income from the Police National Vetting Service, which it runs at a profit.

Noting that it is a "big sum", he asked: “What are the risks around that and how do you mitigate those risks?”

Mr Seccombe explained that most of the surplus went towards capital projects – investment in larger, physical items or projects rather than front-line services – and that the money to pay for day-to-today work was accounted for without the vetting income.

“When I started, I think we got £1 million in capital over the year, we now get nothing. The only way we get capital now is by selling something or by borrowing,” he said.

“I think it is right that some of the surplus, which could be variable from year to year, goes into capital. I think some probably goes into borrowing to pay off interest rates.

“I am happy that we are discussing both of those things with the force and will be happy to report back to you later in the year on how they are both going.”