PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Cleveland Police Authority (21 February 2017)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what measures were in place to ensure that members of the Cleveland Police Authority were required to declare any relevant business interests arising from procurement or outsourcing partnership arrangements instigated by Cleveland Police prior to Operation Sacristy.

Asked by:
Anna Turley (Labour)

The responsibilities in respect of financial management of police authorities and, since their creation by the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2012, local policing bodies are set out in legislation and financial Codes of Practice.

Prior to the creation of Police and Crime Commissioners, Police Authorities were required to adhere to the Code of Practice on Financial Management for policing, which was issued in October 2000 under Section 39 of the Police Act 1996. This Code set out the requirements and obligations of police authorities and has since been withdrawn.

The Financial Management Code of Practice (FMCP), published in October 2013, provides clarity around the financial governance arrangements within the police in England and Wales. It sets out the responsibilities of the Chief Finance Officer of the PCC and of the Chief Constable who each have a personal fiduciary duty by virtue of their appointment as the person responsible for proper financial administration under the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011. This includes requirements and formal powers to safeguard lawfulness and propriety in expenditure.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/252720/fm_code_of_practice.pdf

Answered by:
Sir Brandon Lewis (Conservative)
27 February 2017