South Yorkshire's Mayor orders review into accounting practices of former office of the Police & Crime Commissioner
Oliver Coppard took over from Dr Alan Billings earlier this year following his retirement.
South Yorkshire's Mayor has ordered an independent review into the accounting practices of the of the former office of the Police & Crime Commissioner.
Oliver Coppard took over from Dr Alan Billings earlier this year following his retirement.
In a statement we're told due diligence has been carried out by Oliver Coppard's team and they say it's uncovered a 'significant error in the ex PCC's accounts & future year budgets - worth up to 65 million pounds.'
The Mayor's now working 'at pace' with the government, external auditors and South Yorkshire Police to see what the impact is, and & how it could affect budgets in future.
South Yorkshire’s Mayor, Oliver Coppard said:
“I am deeply frustrated by the problems uncovered by my team following the transfer of OPCC powers into my office earlier this year.
“These problems would appear to represent a fundamental error in accounting practices in the office of the former PCC.
“Those mistakes were missed by external and internal checks.
“I have now instructed my office to bring in an external team to independently look at the processes that allowed those mistakes to go undetected for five years.
“I am grateful to South Yorkshire Police and the government for the constructive conversations we have already had about finding a sustainable solution to both these new challenges and the ongoing pressures caused by tightened police budgets over the last 14 years.
“Protecting the communities of South Yorkshire will always remain my first and most vital priority.”
Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police Lauren Poultney said:
“It is with great disappointment and concern that I have learnt of a significant error in the accounts formerly held by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner and the impact this will have on the financial stability of South Yorkshire Police.
“The Mayor informed me of this error two weeks ago and since then we have worked together at pace to understand how this happened, the impact of this and the options available to us. We have a well-established savings and efficiency programme and healthy reserves which will mean we can come at this from a relatively healthy and robust position but this is not how we would seek to manage our finances and it will, of course, have impacts on the service we deliver.
“As you would expect, my priority now is to safeguard the services we provide to the public and so I have sought reassurance from the Mayor the accounts, now in his care, are properly governed. I have that assurance and feel confident through working together and with the support of the Home Office we will be able to stabilise the budget and protect the services we offer. That said, there will of course be challenges ahead as we work through this.
“I have informed the workforce of this error this morning and will do all I can to offer them appropriate reassurance so they can continue to focus on the task ahead.”