Agenda item

To review the Committee’s recommendations tracker.

Declarations of Interest:

None.

Officers:

Sheila Little, Section 151 Officer

Key Points Raised During the Discussion:

1.    It was noted that Adult Social Care Select Committee had considered a report on 30 November 2012 related to Social Care Debt.  An update was provided in the Committee Bulletin (at Annex A to the tracker).  Mel Few, who was also a member of the Adult Social Care Select Committee, advised that there had been unexpected rise in unsecured debt, which may had been a result of staffing resource issues.  The select committee would continue to be kept updated on progress.

2.    In relation to R3/12 (direct payments), Members noted that a recent audit report showed that although progress had been made, the audit opinion was still ‘major improvement needed’.  This was in part because so many assessments still needed to be completed, that even with the significant progress, there was still some way to go.

3.    In relation to A58/11 (pension payments), the Chairman confirmed he had discussed the item with the Pensions Manager and the legal officer handling the case.  The Chairman had seen the latest email correspondence between the Council and the Borough Council and while the matter had not been fully concluded, an agreement had been accepted in principle.  It was expected that the payment would be made at the beginning of January 2013 and the Section 151 Officer clarified that the only reason it was not happening in December was due to payroll being run earlier than normal.  It was agreed that the Section 151 Officer would circulate a note to the Committee when the matter was concluded.  (Recommendations tracker Ref: A58/11).

4.    In relation to A14/12 (internal audit reports on S-Net), the Regulatory Committee Manager confirmed that a new committee management system (ModernGov) had now been purchased and was being used.  There were some technical issues uploading documents to the system at the moment.  As soon as the problems were resolved internal audit reports would be uploaded, as agreed.    

5.    In relation to A34/12 (vacancy review), Mel Few (also Chairman of the Council Overview & Scrutiny Committee - COSC), advised that the report on vacancies had been presented at the last COSC meeting.  As there had been some clear differences on the conclusions of the item, he had agreed to withdraw that item until the next meeting so that recommendations could be reassessed. 

6.    In relation to A42/12 (waste contract), the Section 151 Officer advised that she had spoken to the Strategic Director for Environment & Transport and could confirm that the risk should remain ‘high’ on the leadership risk register.  This was because of the significant implications should the contract fail in anyway; however, it was stressed that there was no indication that the contract would fail. 

7.    In relation to A43/12 (partnership working), the Section 151 Officer advised that she still had as much access to all of the strategic directors as required and as before this arrangement was put in place.  The Strategic Director for Customers and Communities, who was working part time as the Chief Executive of Mole Valley District Council in a partnership arrangement had also been present at all Corporate Leadership Team meetings.  Some of her responsibilities had been taken on by other directors, but the Section 151 Officer confirmed that they were working together as a team to manage the interim arrangements.

Mr Tony Elias joined the meeting at 10.15am.

8.    In relation to A44/12 (treasury management task group), the Chairman advised that the Task Group had a joint meeting with the Finance Sub Group of COSC.  The Strategic Finance Manager for Pension Fund & Treasury had taken Members through the basic foundation of the funding strategy including major drivers.  The Section 151 Officer explained that the revised treasury management strategy would be approved as part of the budget process and therefore it would go to COSC ahead of the budget meeting in January.  It was agreed that consideration should be given to holding a joint meeting of COSC and Audit & Governance Committee to consider the strategy (Recommendations tracker ref: A52/12).  The Section 151 Officer also explained that the strategy would be more prominent in the Cabinet report than in previous years.

9.    In relation to A45/12 (schools early close), the Finance Manager (Assets & Accounting) advised that a mini project on schools accounts closing was underway.  There were 3 main areas where delays were being caused: 1) recharges by the Council or Babcock 4S, 2) Capital closing impacting on revenue, 3) Easter holidays.  The Finance Manger pointed out that Easter falls early in 2012/13, so this should not cause a problem.  The project team were looking at what other authorities were doing, including Kent County Council who were having a degree of success in running “closing” workshops with schools.

10.  In relation to A47/12 (Telecare), Members heard that one year ago it was projected that the Telecare project would generate £1million savings in the Adult Social Care Directorate.  This projection had now fallen to £200,000, however matters were progressing.

11.  In relation to A48/12 (Waste contract management audit report), the Chief Internal Auditor agreed to circulate a written update (Recommendations tracker ref: A48/12).

12.  With regards to A49/12 (select committee review of audit reports), the Chairman confirmed that he had spoken to the Leader about this matter.  He suggested that if the Audit & Governance Committee considers the findings of an audit report to be of such significance it should be reviewed by the relevant select committee, then the Audit & Governance Committee should be making that recommendation.  Members agreed that a letter from the Chairman of the Audit & Governance Committee to select committee chairmen, about the importance of internal audit reports would be helpful.  (Recommendations tracker ref: A53/12).

13.  In relation to A51/12 (recruitment vetting procedures), the Chief Internal Auditor explained that her team were working closely with HR on vetting procedures.  The CIPFA Better Governance Forum had also recently issued a publication on recruitment practices, which had been shared with HR, so that they could look at best practice related to the fighting fraud locally agenda.

Actions/further information to be provided:

That the recommendations tracker be updated to reflect the action points noted above.

RESOLVED:

The Committee noted the report and agreed that the items on pages 25 and 26 were complete and would be removed.

Committee next steps:

To continue to monitor the outstanding actions on the tracker at their next meeting.