Crime Reduction Programme
BCU Fund Guidance Appendix A to Home Office Circular 17/2005
Home Office Circulars 12/2003, 13/2004 and 17/2005 set out guidance to Basic Command Units and the criteria for spend of the BCU Fund over the 3 years from 2003 - 2004 to 2005 -2006. The purpose of this addendum is to repeat the administrative arrangements for making grant payments and the reporting requirements. Home Office Directors (formerly known as Crime Reduction Directors) in the Regions and Wales may vary the reporting arrangements according to local requirements.
The grant will again be paid in quarterly instalments to Police Authorities in each of the 43 police force areas in England and Wales. Force Finance Directors will be responsible for ensuring that appropriate local management controls are in place and that grant monies are expended for the purposes they are intended, including complying with arrangements agreed locally for reporting to the Police Authority. They will make payments to Basic Command Units in accordance with the allocations set out herein.
Basic Command Units are again required to submit, to the Government Office or National Assembly for Wales, an individual activity plan showing what they intend to deliver with the funding, and that they have the agreement of the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership(s). The plans, which should be compatible with the local policing plan, should also be provided to the Police Authority and the Chief Constable. In 2005 – 2006 the plan should be accompanied by a brief report (no more than one side of A4) on what has been achieved with the fund in the previous year. For 2004/05, this report should reach the relevant Government Office by 30 April 2005.
In 2003/04, the first quarter's payment to Police Authorities was made at the start of the financial year. Force Finance Directors then released the first quarter's payment to individual Basic Command Units following notification from Home Office Directors (or a member of their teams) in the Government Offices in the regions in England, and the National Assembly of Wales. The trigger for the release of funds was receipt of an agreed plan in the Government Office and National Assembly that meets, to the satisfaction of Home Office Directors, the requirements of the funding criteria. That initial 'up front' quarterly payment was designed to kick start projects funded by this programme. Subsequent payments were made to Police Authorities on a quarterly basis. It is not intended that a similar payment be made now that the fund is up and running.
Payments for 2004 – 2005 continued to be made in arrears on a quarterly basis in July (25% of grant), October (25%), January (25%) and April (25%) – or at stages during the year when the Government Office is satisfied that payments should be released. This process will continue into 2005/06. Government Offices would need to approve any amendments to agreed BCU plans and payments will normally be approved and monies released only when the Government Office is satisfied that plans, including expenditure, are on course. Force Finance Directors should make applications as before for grant to Government Offices and the National Assembly using the attached form (Annex A).
The Home Office may reduce the level of grant payable to Police Authorities in–year for the following reasons:
Where BCUs have not submitted the required activity plan, as outlined in paragraph 3 above by a date specified by the relevant Government Office - a deduction of 10% of the relevant BCUs' total allocations will be made automatically.
Where BCUs' actual spend is significantly behind the expected spend profile and is unlikely to recover in-year then deductions may be made from BCUs' allocations.
The BCU Fund should be spent as part of an overall plan to deliver Partnerships' strategies and the local policing plan, and should be allocated in a strategic way rather than on a piecemeal basis. Police Authorities and Chief Constables will wish to put in place appropriate monitoring mechanisms to provide them with assurance that this is the case. BCUs should use the funding effectively and in the year in which it is allocated. In the past, Police Authorities have been able to make particular arrangements to carry over funding from one financial year to the next in their reserves. In the case of the BCU fund, police Authorities have been allowed to carry over up to 5% of the individual BCU allocation in reserves. Given that this is the final year of the fund in its current form, the 5% carry-over facility will not apply at the end of 2005/06. BCU allocations must therefore be utilised in full by 31 March 2006 Any unspent funds thereafter will become payable to the Secretary of State.
Chief Constables should sign and return the grant conditions attached at Annex B to the Home Office Director in their Government Office and the National Assembly of Wales.
Funding for Basic Command Units will be externally audited. The Home Office will send out audit forms during 2005 covering BCU spend in the financial year 2003-04 and 2004-05. The force's chief financial officer and external auditor will need to certify that the figures shown for expenditure by BCUs are correct. Arrangements for auditing spend in 2005/06 will be made known in due course.
No further Home Office circulars on the BCU Fund will be issued. Assistance is available from the Home Office Directors and the Crime Reduction Teams in the Government Offices and the National Assembly of Wales (contact details at Annex C). Information about what works in crime reduction is available on the Crime Reduction Website.
Further information about this circular can be obtained from Sarah Taylor in the Crime Strategy and Resources Unit on 020 7035 0161 (sarah.taylor2@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk).
Last update: Tuesday, July 22, 2008