Agenda and draft minutes
PDF 212 KBVenue: Surrey County Council, Woodhatch Place, 11 Cockshot Hill, Reigate, Surrey, RH2 8EF
Contact: Amelia Christopher Email: amelia.christopher@surreycc.gov.uk
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APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND SUBSTITUTIONS
To receive any apologies for absence and substitutions. Additional documents: Minutes: There were none.
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MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING - 11 SEPTEMBER 2024
To agree the minutes as a true record of the meeting. Additional documents: Minutes: The Minutes were approved as an accurate record of the previous meeting. |
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DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
All Members present are required to declare, at this point in the meeting or as soon as possible thereafter (i) Any disclosable pecuniary interests and / or (ii) Other interests arising under the Code of Conduct in respect of any item(s) of business being considered at this meeting NOTES: · Members are reminded that they must not participate in any item where they have a disclosable pecuniary interest · As well as an interest of the Member, this includes any interest, of which the Member is aware, that relates to the Member’s spouse or civil partner (or any person with whom the Member is living as a spouse or civil partner) · Members with a significant personal interest may participate in the discussion and vote on that matter unless that interest could be reasonably regarded as prejudicial. Additional documents: Minutes: There were none. |
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QUESTIONS AND PETITIONS
To receive any questions or petitions.
Notes: 1. The deadline for Member’s questions is 12.00pm four working days before the meeting (14 November 2024). 2. The deadline for public questions is seven days before the meeting (13 November 2024). 3. The deadline for petitions was 14 days before the meeting, and no petitions have been received.
Additional documents: Minutes: There were none. |
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RECOMMENDATIONS TRACKER AND WORK PLAN
To review the Committee’s recommendations tracker and work plan. Additional documents: Minutes: Key points raised in the discussion: 1. Action A8/23: the Audit Manager (Counter Fraud) explained that since agenda publication, he had received the final report from Unit 4/MySurrey to allow him to undertake the analysis. He confirmed that no issues had been identified and that reporting would be built into the proactive work undertaken periodically. 2. Action A20/24: the Chairman noted that he would respond to the Chair of the Children's Families, lifelong learning and Culture Select Committee, who had invited him to sit on the relevant Task Group. 3. Action A30/24: the Chairman noted that he would draft the letter to CLT and invite officer(s) to attend to provide an update.
RESOLVED: 1. Monitored progress on the implementation of actions/recommendations from previous meetings (Annex A). 2. Noted the work plan and the changes to it (Annex B).
Actions/further information to be provided: None.
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CENTRE FOR GOVERNANCE AND SCRUTINY REVIEW OF COUNCIL GOVERNANCE ACTION PLAN UPDATE
To provide a further update to Members on the actions taken in response to the 2022 Centre for Governance and Scrutiny’s (CfGS) review of Council governance using their Governance Risk and Resilience Framework.
Additional documents: Minutes: Speakers: Asmat Hussain, Interim Director of Law and Governance and Monitoring Officer Key points raised in the discussion: 1. The Interim Director of Law and Governance and Monitoring Officer outlined the final action updates on the action plan brought to the Committee in 2023. She emphasised that completed actions would be reviewed and refreshed as a matter of good practice and governance. 2. A Committee member noted that as a backbencher it was difficult to get to know new officers that join the Council particularly those who would be relevant to Members’ work, with the local elections next year it would be useful for all Members to be alerted to new officers with their photo and role. The Interim Director of Law and Governance and Monitoring Officer noted that could be addressed in the communications to Members via the newsletter. 3. A Committee member welcomed the report and asked once all the actions had been implemented, whether the Centre for Governance and Scrutiny (CfGS) could revisit the Council to see whether any other areas could be improved, its last visit was in 2022 and the CfGS provides a significant benefit to organisations. The Interim Director of Law and Governance and Monitoring Officer agreed noting that would demonstrate good governance, a future date could be reviewed and agreed with the Committee after the local elections. 4. Regarding ‘Members and Officers Working Together’, the Chairman wondered whether there could be a workshop for the Committee with CLT, to see what could be done better. The Interim Director of Law and Governance and Monitoring Officer would liaise with the Chief Executive and CLT. 5. Responding to the Chairman, theInterim Director of Law and Governance and Monitoring Officer confirmed that there would be a Local Government Association (LGA) peer review next year and the date was to be confirmed, the LGA undertakes a peer review of authorities on a five-year cycle.
RESOLVED: 1. Noted the continued progress made against the actions taken by officers in response to the 2022 Centre for Governance and Scrutiny report as set out in Annex 1. 2. Noted that the actions, tasks and ongoing monitoring of these areas are now integrated into the Council’s business as usual activities. 3. Noted that ongoing governance work will be undertaken by the Council using the Government’s Best Value Standards and Intervention statutory guidance with oversight from the Audit and Governance Committee.
Actions/further information to be provided: 1. A33/24 - The Interim Director of Law and Governance and Monitoring Officer will follow up the suggestion that all Members be alerted to those new officers that would work closely with Members when they join with their photo and role through the communications to Members via the newsletter. 2. A34/24 - The Interim Director of Law and Governance and Monitoring Officer will review a future date to be agreed with the Committee after the local elections, for the CfGS to visit the Council to see whether any other areas could be improved. 3. A35/24 ... view the full minutes text for item 62/24 |
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6 MONTH COMPLAINTS UPDATE REPORT 2024/25
This report provides a summary and analysis of complaints received during the period 1 April 2024 to 30 September 2024. The report supports the Customer Promise principles in listening to customer feedback and delivering excellent customer service.
Additional documents: Minutes: Speakers: Eleanor Brown, Assistant Director - Customer Experience Steve Tanner, Assistant Director - Inclusion and Additional Needs David John, Audit Manager Liz Mills, Strategic Director - Customer Service Transformation Sam Reynolds, Head of Customer Engagement and System Development Asmat Hussain, Interim Director of Law and Governance and Monitoring Officer Key points raised in the discussion: 1. The Assistant Director - Customer Experience noted there had been signs of improvement compared to the first six months of last year. There was a 6% decrease in complaint volumes, a large decrease in the number of Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) escalations and investigations regarding Special Educational Needs (SEN) assessment complaints, the on-time response remained below Council's target but there had been quarterly improvements in most areas and stages. The improvement actions detailed in Annex 3 remained on track for completion by March 2025. 2. The Assistant Director - Customer Experience summarised the key highlights around performance timescales across the complaint areas and stages, the complaint themes, and LGSCO complaint volumes and decisions held steady compared to last year. She highlighted the breakdown of the LGSCO’s decisions, the Education Service in Children, Families and Lifelong Learning (CFLL) remained the highest area. The number and proportion of LGSCO investigations relating to delays in SEN assessments had decreased in the first six months of 2024/25 which resulted in a drop in the upheld investigations. The financial remedies were around £239,000, payment outliers had been included. 3. The Assistant Director - Customer Experience summarised the learning and analysis from complaints. CFLL Directorate: communication remained a key complaint theme regarding SEN children, the report outlined improvement actions underway such as the End to End Review, additional resource for staff training and the planned restructure in Education Services. Adults, Wellbeing and Health Partnerships Directorate: Equality, Diversity and Inclusion was central to the analysis, newly created reports were shared with internal assurance boards. Corporate Services: complaints handling training was central to improve timeliness and quality, and reduce the escalations; updates were being made to the Council’s website so residents could self-serve. 4. The Assistant Director - Customer Experience noted that since writing the report, improvements had been made to stabilise the current complaints IT system, that improved data accessibility and the other outstanding issues were on track for resolution with the supplier by January 2025. Technical assessments were underway to inform the business case for a more effective future IT system. 5. The Chairman noted that he could only see a slight improvement from the work underway, he asked when the Committee could see a major improvement with complaints having dropped by 50% for example. The Assistant Director - Customer Experience reiterated the various improvement actions underway which would culminate into reduced complaint volumes over time, and the extent of success was dependent on a whole Council effort. The end goal was not to have any complaints and a realistic timeframe to see a major reduction would likely be at least eighteen months and subject to a ... view the full minutes text for item 63/24 |
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ANNUAL GOVERNANCE STATEMENT - HALF YEAR UPDATE
This report provides an update on progress on the improvement areas identified in the 2023/24 Annual Governance Statement for monitoring purposes.
Additional documents: Minutes: Speakers: Andy Brown, Deputy Chief Executive and Executive Director - Resources Key points raised in the discussion: 1. The Deputy Chief Executive and Executive Director - Resources explained that the Annual Governance Statement formed part of the Council’s Statement of Accounts, the report provided an update on the work underway. 2. A Committee member welcomed the Council’s new Section 151 Officer and asked for his reflections on the role so far. The Deputy Chief Executive and Executive Director - Resources noted the regular finance updates to Cabinet, the budget was a focus. Areas of concern included MySurrey, he had spoken to the Chief Internal Auditor about some of the issues which were being rectified, his role was to ensure a robust control environment and financial administration. 3. A Committee member referred to the Digital Business and Insights (DB&I) programme and noted that the update was not an accurate reflection of the current situation concerning MySurrey and the problems experienced. It would be helpful for reference to be made to the work underway by Internal Audit, for example payroll and pensions receiving Minimal Assurance. The update does not highlight the significant issues that the Council is addressing. 4. The Deputy Chief Executive and Executive Director - Resources acknowledged that the update could be more forthcoming about the current situation faced, particularly regarding the several low assurance Internal Audit reports, highlighting the weaknesses in the control environment. He would take that comment on board to reflect that in the update that there is work underway. He noted the need to be more honest and transparent, with staff and the Committee and Members about the reality of the situation and improvements to be made. 5. The Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources referred to the paragraph on DB&I which notes the pipeline of outstanding technical fixes which were impacting on several areas within the system such as payroll and pension services, those were prioritised for completion overseen by the MySurrey Stabilisation Board. 6. The Chairman asked that the timeline be added to the last paragraph regarding DB&I. The Deputy Chief Executive and Executive Director - Resources noted that a more definitive timescale was being reviewed, he would add more detail to the update report on the work underway including timescales. 7. The Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources noted that he received regular updates on the work of the MySurrey Stabilisation Board, which had a project plan for key areas to improve, the board was working to the timescale of the end of March 2025 to clear the backlog of issues. Responding to a Committee member, he noted that the board was set up in September. A Committee member emphasised the need to allow the board to do its work. 8. A Committee member noted that the MySurrey Stabilisation Board was addressing several actions as part of business as usual from when the system went live in June 2023. Welcomed an update for the next Committee meeting on the work ... view the full minutes text for item 64/24 |
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EXTERNAL AUDIT PROGRESS REPORT
To update the Audit & Governance Committee on the progress of the external audit of both the County Council’s and the Surrey Pension Fund’s Statement of Accounts for 2023/24.
Additional documents: Minutes: Speakers: Janet Dawson, Partner (Surrey County Council audit), EY Hassan Rohimun, Partner (Surrey Pension Fund audit), EY Nicola O’Connor, Strategic Finance Business Partner
Key points raised in the discussion:
1. The Partner for the Surrey County Council audit (EY) noted that the report set out the findings and progress to date against the key risk areas identified in EY’s audit plan. Highlighted that as it was the first-year audit for the Council, the first year of the new MySurrey system and with changes in staff members within the Council’s Finance team, the process was taking longer than anticipated. The aim was to complete the field work by 18 December 2024, several amendments had been identified so far, subsequently including lease disclosures. Draft Value for Money (VfM) commentary was included, anticipated having no exceptions to report, no risks of significant weakness had been identified. 2. The Partner for the Surrey Pension Fund audit (EY) noted that the focus was on the key risk areas. EY was on track to provide IAS19 assurances to the auditors of the scheduled bodies by the end of November. Since the report was written there had been progress regarding the Level 3 investments work, the position had reduced concerning the areas under consideration. 3. A Committee member noted that there were a few things outstanding, queried whether the December deadline for the completion of the fieldwork had been communicated, asked whether EY was confident that would be met. The Partner for the Surrey County Council audit (EY) noted that the two teams were working closely to the timetable in place and was confident that date would be achieved. 4. A Committee member referred to the data migration issue from SAP to MySurrey which was a significant risk identified regarding the Surrey Pension Fund audit, sought a date when those results would be known. Queried whether the findings from the external audit would be provided to the MySurrey Stabilisation Board. The Partner for the Surrey County Council audit (EY) noted that the same area of focus was included in the Council’s audit, work had been completed for the Council’s financial statements and EY was satisfied with the information provided, there were no issues to report. The Partner for the Surrey Pension Fund audit (EY) noted that work was being reviewed, any issues arising would be included in the Audit Findings Report which would be shared with management and reported to the January Committee meeting as scheduled. 5. A Committee member asked what impact the anticipated in-year adjustment of around £20.7 million to the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) would have on the Council. The Strategic Finance Business Partner explained that it was an adjustment between the draft Statement of Accounts previously presented to the Committee and the final version scheduled for January’s Committee meeting, it reflected the changes made to the waste PFI during the 2023 financial year. The adjustment would increase the value of the assets held offset by an increase to the long-term liability to pay ... view the full minutes text for item 65/24 |
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TREASURY MANAGEMENT MID-YEAR REPORT 2024/25
This report summarises the Council’s treasury management activity during the first half of 2024/25, as required to ensure compliance with CIPFA’s Code of Practice for Treasury Management.
Additional documents: Minutes: Speakers: Joe Stockwell, Strategic Capital Accountant Nicola O’Connor, Strategic Finance Business Partner
Key points raised in the discussion: 1. The Strategic Capital Accountant noted that the report outlined the Council's performance against the debt and investment limits as agreed in the Treasury Management Strategy. The Council remained compliant with all the indicators. The Council continued with its strategy of internal and short-term borrowing, and no new long-term borrowing had been undertaken over the period, to avoid locking in high interest rates. Gross borrowing position increased by £169 million to £911 million. Interest rates are expected to decrease over the year, although not a sharply as originally anticipated. The Council meets with Arlingclose to regularly to review the borrowing position. The Council holds short-term investments in overnight money market funds and the return rates broadly mirror the Bank Rate. There is a small over recovery of interest receivable forecast due to these investments. 2. A Committee member commented that inflation had risen and the Bank of England was unlikely to lower rates as reported in the press. The Strategic Finance Business Partner noted that the Council’s assumptions for treasury and budgeting purposes, was that the Bank of England base rate would reduce over the next year and a half, although slower than previously forecast. The Council meets with Arlingclose after the meetings of the Monetary Policy Committee. 3. A Committee member sought more detail on the increase in short-term borrowing of £169 million. The Strategic Finance Business Partner explained that a proportion of the Council’s capital investment was funded from borrowing. The Council had not undertaken any long-term borrowing, the current increase was in short-term borrowing from other local authorities, most were under six months, on the assumption that interest rates were starting to decrease. Short-term borrowing rates from other local authorities were similar to Public Works Loan Board (PWLB) rates, which had not been the case historically, the balance between long-term and short-term was around fifty-fifty and so that was being reviewed. Having more long-term borrowing was preferred as it was a fixed predictable interest rate and reduced exposure to interest rate fluctuations, but this needs to be managed against locking in rates when they were anticipated to fall. 4. A Committee member queried the Council’s reduction in exposure by £3 million in the PWLB. The Strategic Finance Business Partner noted that most of the Council’s debt with PWLB was maturity debt, so repayment was not due until maturity, however there were a small number of loans with annuity repayments and this reduction reflected those payments made during the period, reducing the outstanding loan. 5. The Chairman was surprised that local authorities have got quite a high borrowing rate. The Strategic Finance Business Partner noted that PWLB borrowing had not been taken out in the last two years, that average rate reflected historic rates of borrowing. The local authority market tended to broadly track the Bank of England base rate. Local authorities had the same pattern of cash balances with ... view the full minutes text for item 66/24 |
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INTERNAL AUDIT PROGRESS REPORT - QUARTER 2
The purpose of this progress report is to inform Members of the work completed by Internal Audit between 1 July 2024 and 30 September 2024.
The current annual plan for Internal Audit is contained within the Internal Audit Strategy and Annual Plan 2024-25, which was approved by this Committee on 13 March 2024.
Additional documents: Minutes: Speakers: David John, Audit Manager Russell Banks, Chief Internal Auditor Andy Brown, Deputy Chief Executive and Executive Director - Resources Simon White, Audit Manager - Counter Fraud Mark Winton, Audit Manager - IT
Key points raised in the discussion: 1. The Audit Manager noted that over half the opinions were of Reasonable Assurance. However, the work around MySurrey particularly audits on the payroll and pension enrolment, and the user access and security review audits, were of Minimal Assurance; the integrations work was Partial Assurance. Whilst putting in place a new ERP system was complex, the audits were a year after go-live so finding weaknesses in the control environment was a concern. 2. The Audit Manager noted that the MySurrey Stabilisation Board sought to address the weaknesses, Internal Audit sat on that board and all the audit reports concerning MySurrey were fed into that board’s programme of work; was positive about the progress made. Follow-up work on the MySurrey integrations work would start in quarter 3, work had started on accounts payable, more work was underway around the actions concerning accounts receivable. Quarter 4 was the aim for the follow up of the key actions regarding payroll, and user access and security. 3. The Audit Manager noted that having been an auditor for thirty years, he had never done an audit of Minimal Assurance on the corporate payroll system. However, the opinion was on the process and not the people, he commended the Head of HR Operations and his payroll team for ensuring that most staff were paid correctly throughout the whole period. 4. The Audit Manager noted that Internal Audit was around 2% below delivery on the KPI regarding completion of the audit plan. Some audits did not go out as planned as more time had been spent doing other audits such as payroll. The audit plan was under review and priority was being given to follow up work on lower assurance opinions concerning MySurrey, and on service areas previously reported to the Committee. That might mean that some audits are deferred from the current audit plan to next year's. 5. The Chairman noted that having done many payroll audits himself, such an opinion was rare; he commended the payroll team for its work. 6. A Committee member referred to the non-opinion advisory pieces of work and asked what was done to ensure independence. The Chief Internal Auditor explained that those pieces of work focused on governance, risk management and internal control, and so were Internal Audit activities. The delivery method was different, it was real time. For example, Internal Audit attends the MySurrey Stabilisation Board as an independent advisor, and not as a decision-maker. 7. A Committee member asked whether the Council was trying to claim back money from Unit 4 concerning MySurrey and the problems faced. The Deputy Chief Executive and Executive Director - Resources noted that commercial perspective would be looked at by the MySurrey Stabilisation Board. He noted that when entering a contract, the engagement rules ... view the full minutes text for item 67/24 |
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DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting of the Audit and Governance Committee will be on 22 January 2025. Additional documents: Minutes: The date of the next meeting of the Committee was noted as 22 January 2025.
The Chairman informed members that they had been sent an invite to the Treasury Management Strategy - Joint Resources & Performance Select Committee/Audit & Governance Committee Training session - Arlingclose, on 16 January 2025.
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