PROCEDURE Disposal of Assets. Number: G 1910 Date Published: 19 December 2017

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1 1.0 Summary of Changes This is a new procedure which details the disposal of assets by Essex Police. 2.0 What this Procedure is about This procedure explains how Essex Police manages the disposal of assets and sets out the responsibilities of Essex and Kent collaborative departments. Essex Police holds assets in the form of land, property, vehicles, equipment, furniture and other items, together worth many millions of pounds. It is important that assets are safeguarded and used efficiently in service delivery, that there are arrangements for the security of both assets and information required for service operations and that proper arrangements exist for the disposal of assets. 3.0 Disposal of Assets 3.1 Scope This document and appendices define the procedure to ensure that Essex Police achieves maximum benefit from the disposal of surplus or redundant assets and scrap material. This must be carried out in line with the Police and Crime Commissioner s Financial Regulations (see 3.4 below). The principle shall be that the assets shall be disposed of when in the best interests of the Force and the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner and at the most advantageous price. In each case the total overall benefit and risk to Essex Police must be taken into account in selecting the appropriate action. There are a number of service specific disposals policies across the two Forces which are either appendices to this document or Services that have their own procedures: Business Services - Appendix A Estates Services - Joint U1010 Procedure/SOP Estates Assets to be linked. IT Services - Appendix C Transport Services - Joint T Procedure/SOP Provision and use of Vehicles and Equipment Page 1 of 5

2 3.2 Control of Assets The useful life of assets can be quite short in the case of IT equipment or can be quite long in the case of land and buildings. The decision therefore, to dispose of an asset must be well informed and have taken consideration of the following aspects: Asset life will have been agreed at the point of procurement based on the projected maintenance costs and derived benefits of ownership. Consideration of maintenance costs versus benefits should inform the disposal decision; All staff are encouraged to identify and report any asset that is no longer used and can therefore either be recycled or disposed; Controlled disposal is sometimes required for specific assets such as computers and firearms and vehicles via Transport Services. In such cases, the responsible department will arrange for the controlled disposal of assets in order to meet regulatory requirements; Disposal of assets will be carried out in a manner that is mindful of environmental impact and where possible, assets will be disposed where they cannot be recycled. 3.3 Recording of Assets An up-to-date capital asset register is a prerequisite for proper fixed asset accounting and sound asset management which provides information about assets so that they are: Accurately recorded and classified; Safeguarded against loss; Used efficiently and effectively; Adequately maintained; Valued in accordance with statutory and management requirements. The asset register is maintained to reflect the storage of assets and updated when the asset is formally disposed of. Any disposal receipt with appropriate supporting paperwork should be notified to Capital Accounting, Corporate Finance within 28 days of the receipt of income. As part of the annual Closure of Accounts programme each relevant command / department is circulated with an extract from the Plant & Equipment Asset Register, listing the capital assets held by that command / department for confirmation that assets are still in operational use. Page 2 of 5

3 Assets that have been disposed of in the year are highlighted and the relevant disposal paperwork is forwarded to Corporate Finance: Capital Accounting for completing the appropriate accounting entries: Where a disposal receipt generated is less than 10,000, as defined in the Accounting Code of Practice, it is treated under the Accounting Code of Practice as revenue income. In respect of vehicle disposals budget responsibility is with Transport Services and coded to: o GL Code: o Cost Centre: EFC13X1X Where assets were purchased originally from capital sources then where a disposal receipt generated is greater than 10,000 it is treated as capital income under the Accounting Code of Practice and coded to: o GL Code: o Cost Centre: EFC13X1X Where an asset owner is considering disposing of an asset (not land, buildings or vehicles) and the asset is valued in the asset register at 5,000 or less, he/she reserves the right to offer for sale the asset to staff within Essex Police. Due consideration must be paid to: Net Book Value (NBV) of the asset; Current market value of the asset; Legal implications of liability; Code of Ethics; Police Standards of Professional Behaviour. The Head of Department should receive sealed bids and staff within Essex Police should be given the opportunity to bid for the asset. The bidding process must be seen to demonstrate fairness to all staff. Transport Services also generates EBay sales with detailed information available in the Essex Police and Kent Police joint procedure T Financial Regulations Limits The Force may dispose of surplus land, buildings, vehicles, marine equipment, bicycles and other items of equipment up to the estimated value shown below. Disposals above this value are to be reported to the PCC for prior approval. Land & Buildings 200,000 Equipment 25,000 Vehicles 10,000 Page 3 of 5

4 Items above the estimated value shown below shall be disposed of by public auction or sealed bids after advertisement (does not apply to vehicles): Land & Buildings 500,000 Equipment 25,000 Vehicles 20,000 In cases where it is deemed to be cost effective to action a sale of land or buildings through an estate agent, prior approval of the Treasurer to the OPCC must be obtained 4.0 Equality Impact Assessment An Equality Impact Assessment has been carried out and shows the proposals in this procedure would have no potential or actual differential impact on grounds of age, sex, disability, race, religion or belief, marriage and civil partnership, sexual orientation, gender reassignment and pregnancy and maternity. 5.0 Risk Assessment Failure to comply with the recording and disposal of assets may lead to qualification of the annual accounts, resulting in the risk of reputational damage and financial loss to Essex Police. Without clear and appropriate guidance there is a risk that the force will not achieve the optimum receipt from disposal. The implications of the General Product Safety Regulations 2005 will apply to the sale of second hand goods as well as new goods. Under these regulations, it is an offence to sell a product which you know or should have presumed is a dangerous product. Additionally the asset owner could be found liable for failing to participate in monitoring the safety of a product sold without passing on information on the risks posed by the product. However, the asset owner does have the defence of due diligence by showing that they took all reasonable steps to avoid committing the offence i.e., product safety checks include CE marking and the EC Declaration of Conformity. Therefore, make sure that all instructions and safety information are included with the sale of the equipment. 6.0 Consultation The following were invited to provide feedback in the consultation phase during the formulation of this document: Corporate Finance Corporate Accounting Head of Business Services Page 4 of 5

5 Head of Transport Services Head of IT Service Delivery Head of Procurement Head of Estate Services Unison Federation Equality and Diversity Co-ordinator Health & Safety Strategic Change Team Policy/Risk PSD Superintendent Superintendents Association 7.0 Monitoring and Review This procedure will be reviewed every two years by, or on behalf of, the Chief Finance Officer of the Chief Constable to ensure it remains fit for purpose. 8.0 Related Force policies or Related Procedures U 1010 Procedure/SOP Estates Services T Procedure/SOP Provision and Use of Vehicles and Equipment 9.0 Other source documents, e.g. Legislation, Authorised Professional Practice (APP), Force forms, partnership agreements (if applicable) Government Security Classifications (GSC) The Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011 Hazardous Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2005 Police and Crime Commissioner for Essex Financial Regulations Page 5 of 5