As head of finance for Cleveland Police, Ann Hall faces the unenviable task of filling a £7.3m black hole. She tells Sarah Foster how she's helping the force shake off its troubled past.

THE verdict was not good. An Audit Commission report, ordered after Cleveland Police's £7.3m overspend came to light, screamed phrases like "a culture of unbridled growth" and "too little regard for good financial management". The media had a field day; the force, collective heart failure.

For Ann Hall, barely installed as head of finance, it must have been a second blow. Just days into her appointment last January, she'd received the bombshell of the debt itself. She recalls hearing the news diplomatically. "It wasn't the best of surprises. What I thought was, 'This is probably going to be an even bigger challenge than I'd anticipated'."

The 39-year-old, who lives just outside Durham, came to the force from a career in accountancy. Raised in Scotland, she studied law and hoped to pursue criminal law, but decided that this was unrealistic. "I graduated quite a while ago and I think it was much more difficult then for women in the west of Scotland - certainly women whose family background wasn't in the legal profession," she explains.

Instead, she opted for working in European Community law. She joined the Newcastle-based accountancy firm, KPMG, initially to bolster her qualifications, and liked it so much she decided to stay on. "I don't think at the time that I quite predicted that I would be there for the next 17 years," says Ann.

Five-and-a-half years ago, she and her husband Andrew, a school department head, moved to County Durham through Ann's work. By now, she had carved a niche as a troubleshooter. "I was either headhunted or recruited to a team where there were substantial changes to be made. Either the business or the finances were undergoing changes. My main emphasis has always been on working with the people there to transform the finance function or the business," she says.

When the vacancy arose at Cleveland Police, she saw it as a chance to transfer to the public sector. "I have a number of friends and family who work in the public sector - or as I like to call it, the value sector - and the thing that's always really impressed me is their motivation and dedication. They are always very clear about why they come to work every day," says Ann. "The other thing I could see on the horizon was with the changes in the value sector, over time there was going to be a blurring of the distinction between public and private finance."

The post she applied for - assistant chief officer for finance and commissioning - was newly created, following the suspension of finance director Steve Preval. In 1999 - five years before the £7.3m deficit was uncovered - he warned the police authority of a likely budget shortfall for 2004/05. He finally left Cleveland Police, without explanation, in November.

Although their employment overlapped, Ann says she never met him. She is vague about his departure, merely remarking: "I'm glad it was amicable. I'm glad it was sorted out properly."

She claims that when chief officers appointed her, they were ignorant of the cash crisis. "The chief constable determined that the finance team needed strengthening in 2003 and the police authority agreed that the post that I now hold should be created. Subsequent events have proved that that was the right decision. The black hole didn't come out until after I was appointed," says Ann.

Extremely rarely for a civilian, she was accepted into the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO). Since starting the job last March, she has served as the equivalent of an assistant chief constable on a team comprising Chief Constable Sean Price, Deputy Chief Constable Ron Hogg, and two regular assistant chief constables.

Ann admits that, in the wake of last May's damning Audit Commission report, morale was low. "I think you have to acknowledge that it was a very difficult time for everybody. I think it had been very, very bruising for everyone involved and I think it was very, very difficult for everybody who worked here and obviously the people leading us through this time," she says. "I think the important thing is the way that everybody has chosen to work through it together and to start moving on."

She's quick to point out that, despite their criticism, the auditors apportioned no blame. "The chief constable and the deputy chief constable have been publicly exonerated," says Ann. "We've been extensively examined by a number of bodies and I think that what's come out very clearly is that the workforce has taken the decision to grasp the nettle and work with the police authority to sort it out."

For her part, she's been heartened by what she's seen. "The thing that really did impress me was the way that the chief constable, in particular, made it really, really clear that this was going to be a whole team effort. There are difficult decisions to be made in such circumstances but one decision has definitely been made and that's the chief constable's vision that we will be on a very firm financial footing by 2010," she says.

Ann alludes to a culture of openness, saying: "The one thing that we have been as a team is pretty open and honest with people. What we have never tried to do is cover it up." When I suggest that public perception is the opposite, she seems surprised, asking: "Is that really what people think?"

As part of its Putting People First initiative, she says, the force is aiming to get maximum value for money. This includes raising awareness among all staff of the need for savings. "We are very, very conscious that every penny we spend is public money," says Ann.

One area in which there have been cutbacks is forensic testing, which Ann says have been relatively easy to make without compromising prosecutions. She's also pleased with other efficiency gains, citing seven consecutive months of falling crime, a five per cent fall in incidents compared with this time last year, and vastly improved call handling times.

When I suggest that this only highlights how bad things were previously, she shrugs it off. "We were always very good at measuring where we were - now we see our total budget for the next year. It means that policing and finance have to work together to keep on track of where we are and keep control of where we're going," says Ann.

In the meantime, while the chief constable has pledged that no front line officers will be lost, she says equally that none will be gained. "We won't be growing officer numbers until it's financially prudent to do so," says Ann. "I know that everyone would like to see as many police officers on the streets as possible.However, it comes back to what we can afford, and again it comes back to being mindful that every penny we get is from the public - either from the Government in taxes or from what people pay locally. It's about making sure that we spend only what we can reasonably afford."