Agenda item

To formally consider the Annual Report for the authority.

Declarations of Interest:

None.

Witnesses:

David McNulty, Chief Executive

Sheila Little, Director of Finance

Verity Royle, Senior Principal Accountant – Management Accounting

Key points raised during the discussion:

1.    The Senior Principal Accountant introduced the report.  She explained that it was very different to the previous year.  An extensive exercise had been undertaken to look at what other corporate bodies for their Annual Report and to produce an Integrated Report.  The intention had been to sign off the report following the meeting but this cannot happen until the Accounts are signed off.

2.    The Chief Executive gave the Leader of the Council’s apologies for not being in attendance as he had been called away.  He thanked officers for their work on the report. 

3.    Members agreed that the Annual Report was a vast improvement from the previous versions.

4.    It was suggested that the table showing senior officers by salary band on page 493 of the committee papers bears little resemblance to the table in the Statement of Accounts.  The Senior Principal Accountant explained that there are two different requirements regarding this disclosure: the Transparency Code and the CIPFA Code of Practice.  A note is included on page 494 of the committee papers.  It was suggested that Table 11 be re-titled to show these are current Members.

5.    It was pointed out that the Member allowances table on page 495 of the committee papers only included existing Members and not those who had stood down at the 2014 elections and received some payment before they left.  The table therefore implies that existing Members have had a sharp increase in allowances.   The Senior Principal Accountant explained that a large number of Members had stood down at the last election.  Including them all would have distorted the figures and made the list extremely long.

6.    Members asked how the information in the report would be publicised.  The Chief Executive responded that a good communications strategy was in place and that we are engaging with residents using different mechanisms.  Residents are encouraged to access information online.

7.    It was suggested that the Fairer Funding message was getting repetitive and would turn residents off.  The Chief Executive explained that that the Leader is focussed on the way that Surrey is funded.  This includes public sector partners such as Health and the Police.  Historical methods of funding do not reflect the reality of life in Surrey.  It would be remiss of the Council not to draw attention to this.  While services are becoming more efficient and unit costs are going down, demand is increasing and grant levels are falling.  The Chairman suggested that facts and figures from this report could be supplied to Surrey MPs.  The Chief Executive agreed that we need to keep reminding the Surrey MPs that the current funding mechanisms put Surrey at a significant disadvantage.  He also stressed that without proper investment in Surrey, it was difficult for the county to play its part in the economic recovery.  The Chairman went on to suggest that the Annual Report talks about the past but misses out the future financial challenges.  The Chief Executive accepted the point.

8.    A Member asked if the council was monitoring borough and district council local plans, given the impact of additional housing on the local infrastructure.  The Chief Executive assured the committee that the council was working closely with borough and district councils on the impact.  He felt that there was a good understanding about the impact on school place planning amongst officers.  However, the county council continues to draw attention to difficult competing pressures. 

9.    In response to a question about the impact on budgets of bad weather, the Chief Executive informed the committee that recovery following the floods was still ongoing.  There was an overall impact on assets.  However, the new approach to highways resurfacing had meant that there was less damage to roads that had recently been resurfaced.  It was necessary to focus attention on long-term changes to flood defences.

The Chief Executive left at 3.45pm.

10.  The Senior Principal Accountant informed the committee that the next steps are to publish the Annual Report on the Council website once the Accounts are signed off.  Communications will tweet that that the Report is available.  There will be a limited number of printed copies.  Some Members carry copies with them to share with stakeholders.  It was suggested that other Members could also do this.  The Chairman suggested that officers have a further discussion with Communications about how else the report could be advertised eg through Surrey Matters (Recommendations tracker ref: A21/14).

Actions/Further information to be provided:

None.

RESOLVED:

That the committee NOTES and ENDORSES the Annual Report for the authority..

Committee Next Steps:

None.

The committee then returned to Item 10: External Audit Report on Value for Money for Surrey County Council to consider the report and recommendations.

Key points raised during the discussion:

3.    The Chairman stressed that borrowing had been at year-end to address funding peaks and troughs.  The end of the year is the most difficult time as grants have been spent and Council Tax has all been collected.  The National Value for Money Lead agreed that the borrowing was precautionary and at an advantageous interest rate. 

4.    The committee debated whether to refer the amber finding to Cabinet for consideration.  It was agreed that it was not serious enough to pass to Cabinet and officers outlined how they would address the finding.  The Chairman requested that the Director of Finance bring a report to committee following the Rapid Improvement Event on the capital programme (Recommendations tracker ref: A22/14).

Actions/Further information to be provided:

The Director of Finance to bring a report to committee following the Rapid Improvement Event on the capital programme.

RESOLVED:

That the committee NOTES the contents of the Value for Money Report.

Committee Next Steps:

None.