Handling of MPS spending
Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.22.026893
I note you seek access to the following information:
Expenses
1. What finance system do you use?
2. What system do you use to manage and process your staff’s expenses?
3. What is the expense submission & reimbursement process?
4. What is the current period of reimbursement (from submission) for staff expenses?
5. What is the current approval workflow for expense claims?
6. How long does it take on average to process one expense claim?
7. How many expense claims were made during your last financial year? And what was total value of expense claimed?
8. Can your staff submit expenses remotely?
9. Are staff able to submit claims on their mobile device via a dedicated application?
10. How are you claiming VAT on mileage?
11. Do your staff have to manually deduct commute distance from their mileage claim?
12. What percentage of expense claims are you auditing?
13. How many FTEs (full time employees) do you have processing expense claims?
14. Which department oversees / owns the expense processes/workflows?
15. Who is the named contact within the organisation who owns the expense process?
Invoices
1. What system do you use for managing/processing invoices?
2. What is your current invoice process for handling supplier invoices, from receipt to when it is posted in the ERP/finance system and ready for payment?
3. How many invoices were processed during your last financial year?
4. How many FTEs (full time employees) do you have in your accounts payable team who process invoices?
5. What percentage of invoices were paid late during your last financial year?
6. What is the approval workflow for Invoices?
7. Who is the named contact within the organisation that decides which systems are upgraded each year?
8. Do you use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to scan invoices?
9. Do you currently have a PO system or a non-PO system? If you use both types – what is the percentage of PO invoices vs. non-PO invoices?
10. Are you claiming VAT on invoices? If so, how are you doing this?
Decision
I have today decided to disclose some of the requested information. Some data has been withheld as it is exempt from disclosure and therefore this response serves as a Refusal Notice under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) by virtue of the following exemptions:
Section 40(2)(3A)(a) – Personal Information
Reason for decision
Section 40(2)(3A)(a) - Personal information - Section 40(2)(3a)(a) is an absolute exemption and there is no requirement to evidence harm or conduct a public interest test. To disclose personal information in relation to your request could publicly reveal information about an individual or individuals, thereby breaching the right to privacy afforded to persons under the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Disclosure
Expenses
Q1 - What finance system do you use?
The MPS use Oracle.
Q2 - What system do you use to manage and process your staff’s expenses?
The MPS use the Police Single Operating Platform (PSOP).
Q3 - What is the expense submission & reimbursement process?
Expenses are submitted online and paid automatically.
Q4 - What is the current period of reimbursement (from submission) for staff expenses?
The current period is three to nine days dependent on when they submit them on PSOP.
Q5 - What is the current approval workflow for expense claims?
This is £50 or less for self-authorised and £50.01 and above to be approved by a line manager.
Q6 - How long does it take on average to process one expense claim?
This will depended on how long an individual takes to complete the process electronically.
Q7 - How many expense claims were made during your last financial year? And what was total value of expense claimed?
A total of 137,992 individual claims were made at a total of £5,638,603.10.
Q8 - Can your staff submit expenses remotely?
Yes as long as it is an MPS device, laptop or tablet.
Q9 - Are staff able to submit claims on their mobile device via a dedicated application?
Please see above.
Q10 - How are you claiming VAT on mileage?
The MPS Finance department submit a claim to HMRC for tax.
Q11 - Do your staff have to manually deduct commute distance from their mileage claim?
Police Officers do not, Police Staff do.
Q12 - What percentage of expense claims are you auditing?
This is 40-50% on a monthly basis.
Q13 - How many FTEs (full time employees) do you have processing expense claims?
None as it is all done electronically.
Q14 - Which department oversees / owns the expense processes/workflows?
This is done by out HR Policy & Reward Team.
Q15 - Who is the named contact within the organisation who owns the expense process?
Please see the above.
Invoices
Q1 - What system do you use for managing/processing invoices?
The MPS use Oracle.
Q2 - What is your current invoice process for handling supplier invoices, from receipt to when it is posted in the ERP/finance system and ready for payment?
This process is carried out by our outsourced provider so this information is not held.
Q3 - How many invoices were processed during your last financial year?
There were 144,000 invoices processed.
Q4 - How many FTEs (full time employees) do you have in your accounts payable team who process invoices?
There are two in MPS and six that are outsourced.
Q5 - What percentage of invoices were paid late during your last financial year?
There were 27% that were paid late.
Q6 - What is the approval workflow for Invoices?
Approval hierarchy is based in the cost centre information. One approver is required per invoice or PO.
Q7 - Who is the named contact within the organisation that decides which systems are upgraded each year?
This information is exempt as per the exemption claimed above.
Q8 - Do you use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to scan invoices?
No.
Q9 - Do you currently have a PO system or a non-PO system? If you use both types – what is the percentage of PO invoices vs. non-PO invoices?
62% were PO invoices, 38% were non PO invoices.
Q10 - Are you claiming VAT on invoices? If so, how are you doing this?
The VAT is recovered as appropriate through a standard quarterly VAT return to HMRC.