Author and Job Role: Kelvin Menon – CFO Surrey OPCC
Protective Marking: OFFICIAL
Executive Summary:
The PCC is asked to approve expenditure of £637,102 to fund a team for 12 months to exploit the opportunities presented by new data exploitation tools such as Artificial Intelligence and Robotics. This forms part of a £1.9m business case over 4 years with anticipated savings funding the costs in future years. £461,291 of this cost is to be funded from Delegated Budget Holder Reserve with the remainder from reprioritisation of other projects.
Background
Surrey and Sussex Police are currently exploring the potential for innovative tools for data exploitation, including Robotic Process Automation and Artificial Intelligence. These are currently being developed on an ad-hoc basis through separate programmes without a determined long-term position on corporate strategic intent, funding and governance for:
a) assessing capabilities against business needs and priorities,
b) selecting the optimum solution for the problem,
c) maintaining the solution post-programme and
d) creating the skill set within the organisation for a, b and c.
This risks disparate and isolated development of solutions, sub-optimal solutions for problems (solution driven rather than business needs), technologies being created without any capacity to maintain them in Business as Usual (e.g. robot and AI controllers) and excessive spend to consultants as skills are not developed internally.
The business case is predicated on the assumption that Surrey Police intends to maximise the new technologies within a long-term financially sustainable model, generating return for investment by assessing and deploying tools against the most pressing and strategically important issues.
The current areas to be investigated, but not restricted to, are:
Data & Analytics
Robotics Process Automation
Microsoft Power Apps / Power automate.
Machine Learning & Artificial Intelligence
All these areas are designed to solve problems, make the Force more efficient, improve data quality, and all have some element of in-house development or coding required. They could be transformative if the Force is able to realise the benefits they offer.
This proposal provides the force with the opportunity to use new technologies to address our most significant challenges, in a managed and appropriately evaluated way. It will enable a multi-skilled team to be built with expertise across a range of different capabilities. This project sets out the minimum investment that the force will need to explore and sustain the use of these capabilities. It is based on the premise that the Force will need to understand how these capabilities work together and target them at the force’s most significant problems. This should not only contribute to the vision in “Our Plan” for improved productivity but also realise financial savings through the automation of processes and smarter data analysis.
The cost of the project for Surrey is £1.9m with the anticipation that costs beyond the first 12 months will be funded from savings made. A decision to proceed on this basis will be taken at the end of the initial 12 months.
As a result, the PCC is being asked to approve expenditure for 12 months as follows:
A decision to proceed with the rest of the project on a self-funded basis will be taken at the end of the initial 12 months.
Recommendation
It is therefore recommended that the PCC:
- Notes the Business Case presented and the benefits this can bring.
- Approves expenditure of £637,102 for the first 12 months
- Approves that £1461,291 of the costs for 2025/26 are funded from reserves.
- Notes that the project will be reviewed at the end of the 1st year and a decision will be taken then as to whether to continue.
Police and Crime Commissioner Approval
I approve the recommendation(s):
Signature: PCC Lisa Townsend (wet signed copy held in Office)
Date: 18th September 2025
All decisions must be added to the decision register.
Areas of consideration
Consultation
Not applicable. The request has come from the Chief Constable and Force management.
Financial implications
These are set out in the paper.
Legal
The request in made in accordance with the scheme of delegation.
Risks
There is a risk that the funding will be insufficient to complete the project or that the outcomes expected will not be realised. A robust governance process has been put in place by the force to monitor any issues so these can be addressed at an early stage.
Equality and diversity
No specific implication
Risks to human rights
None