'Challenges ahead' for South Yorkshire Police after £65m shortfall in police and crime finances

The South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) finance team discovered £16m in charges to repay money borrowed for essential items - like police kits, IT equipment and more - had been “missed” and £49m had not been included in future budgets.

South Yorkshire Police Chief Constable 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.”

In a series of ‘Frequently Asked Questions’, South Yorkshire Police (SYP) reassures the public it is not “bankrupt”, but said there were now “difficult decisions we will have to take to achieve this now we have learnt of this error created elsewhere”.

The force said it was “too soon to say” what the error would mean for SYP staff, but said all staff would be paid as usual.

This morning (September 27), Mayor Oliver Coppard ordered an independent review into how the errors could have gone unnoticed, with the issue reportedly not being identified in annual audit checks from 2020 onwards.

The functions of the former Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) were transferred to the Mayor in 2024. Before then, the role was separate to the Mayor and was held by Dr Alan Billings.

Mayor 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.

“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.”