Speeches by Osborne.

“Just on those two points, figure 14 gives what looks like a programme design and delivery plan for OFPS. It was mentioned earlier that this was a draft. If we look at the first two lines of that, we have process optimisation options and policy changes. Is that draft correct? Are we still on course for the scope? Have w…”

“You are absolutely correct. If things have changed and timetables have slipped, that possibly has an interaction with us as a Committee in terms of our audit. Lastly, I appreciate you visited the Chatham probation service. That is a neighbouring seat to mine. It is nominally in the name of my seat, but my colleague Lau…”

“It was a very positive visit, as I understand it. Thank you for coming down and listening to the staff. I appreciate that they have indicated that Justice Transcribe is one of the services that they like. Looking at other digital improvements, in the Report there are concerns raised in paragraph 3.16 around digital cha…”

“I have two further points. First of all, you mentioned staff, and staff communications. Indeed, that is important. There has been positive feedback on some elements of Justice Transcribe. I have heard that myself. Overall, we have quite a high turnover. There is a lot of pressure and high workloads. What has the staff …”

“Thank you for that answer. That was very comprehensive. Lastly, this programme relies on the three elements that you mentioned earlier, James. Recruitment is one of them, which I will not touch on, but the other two are process optimisation, which I have just discussed, and policy changes. I have referenced figure 14 p…”

“From a capacity perspective, we currently have staff running at 118% with peaks of 126% in four regions. You have just said, “We are going to be delivering this over 18 months”. With respect, over a period of six months we have not seen recruitment at sufficient levels, although we have seen improvements. Can I ask the…”

“T5. The Public Accounts Committee has recently scrutinised the state of clinical negligence in the UK. At £60 billion, the Government liability for clinical negligence significantly increased under the last Government. The Government have commissioned David Lock to review the issue. Does the Secretary of State agree th…”

“If I can follow up on that, of the £123 million that you are giving in additional support, is there a parallel with those forces that are borrowing as a proportion of net revenue expenditure? For instance, are the bottom 10 of those forces, which borrowed in excess of 1.88%, the ones that are coming to you to ask for a…”

“The Report indicates that we have a significant number of forces in the UK. If we take specifically figure 5 on page 24, a number of forces are borrowing significant amounts versus their net revenue expenditure. The question that I have relates to the financial pressures in the bottom 10 of those forces. Should we be w…”

“Mr Chairman, this just serves to highlight that, when we look at efficiencies and productivity, dates slip and things occur. That is absolutely fine, but, again, in light of this Report and where we are today, things have already moved.”

“Just lastly, you spoke earlier about the new tool that you are implementing looking at burglary, robbery and shoplifting. Paragraph 2.14 says that it will be ready by December, as in next month. Is that still on track?”

“I appreciate that. In my area, Kent police has trialled one of those initiatives and has said very positive things about it. However, in the paragraph it says the Home Office “has taken forward parts of the review but has not tracked overall progress and the potential benefits have not yet been realised”. You are givin…”

“A few of my areas of inquiry have already been covered by others, including procurement. If we go to paragraph 2.13 of the Report, it says, “The policing productivity review was published in 2023” and identified that it would “save 38 million hours of police time over five years”. If we fast forward to 2024, you said t…”

“I am talking about the financial resilience of the organisation. Is all the data shared with you? When the inspector goes in, do they share redacted and unredacted information with you on the financial position of the organisation?”

“When they go in and do a financial review, is that shared with the Home Office?”

“When His Majesty’s inspectorate goes in to police forces, it conducts financial reviews of those organisations. They are not in the public domain. Are they shared with you? Is the data that His Majesty’s inspector engages with in their financial review shared with the Home Office?”

“I have one further follow-up. Other jurisdictions have an ombudsman-style approach to redress schemes for lower value claims—a dual-track approach. Wales does not have that approach but other nations in Europe do. Is it being considered? It would seem sensible to consider it, given the legal fees that we have been talk…”

“My next questions will be on alternative dispute resolution. Looking specifically at figure 13 and paragraphs 3.12 and 3.13 of the Report, alternative resolution is being applied in parts of the United Kingdom already, specifically Wales, where we have an alternative redress scheme as part of the NHS Redress Act 2006. …”

“Thank you.”

“Permanent secretary, you said that this is part of an ongoing process and that there is stuff to do with the Minister here, but is there engagement around making that transparency much clearer? These cases have increased significantly over the last couple of years. They represent an increasing proportion of volume case…”