Agenda and minutes

There were none.

The minutes of the meeting held on 22 November 2019 were submitted.

Members were requested to view Page 6 in relation to the Corporate Risk Register, it was discussed how the Risk Register reflects Brexit. It was stated that the Senior Performance Management Officer would be taking the issue to Cabinet and Senior Management. It was asked that as we are two months along has anything emerged that the Committee should be concerned about? The Head of Finance confirmed that the Senior Officer is working on this issue at present and has not reported back to Corporate Management yet on the matter. The Senior Officer is due to come back to the Committee on this issue.

On page 13 paragraph 8 there were discussions regarding funding and the bullet points in relation to staffing levels. If the post was not filled, then this could create problems.

Agreed:

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on the 22 November 2019.

Members considered the Report which sets out the Treasury Management Strategy for 2019/2020.  It was considered that the Council needs to improve on the first draft of its Capital strategy. The Capital strategy and Corporate strategy are linked.

In relation to the Treasury Management Strategy papers finalised at Februarys cabinet, the Treasury Management papers have gone out and there was only a small difference in both strategies but the message in both strategies remain the same.

Discussions regarding the Borrowing Strategy

It was discussed how the Council is internally borrowing wherever possible but was slightly tweaked to say that while the Council was still internally borrowing the capacity to further borrow has come to an end. It was stated that the Council would need to borrow early to mitigate interest rates and to gain advice from Treasury Management Advisors.

The Assistant Head of Finance stated how the strategy shows that the Council would need to re-finance any maturing debt over a long period. It was likely to be on a long term basis over 30-40 years.  The strategy showed how the Council needs to refinance maturing debt eg £40 million on a long term fixed basis. This was based on the maturity profile. The fixed term interest rates were currently low and the Council would need to take advantage of the low interest rates if there are plans to borrow in the future. The Council would need to undertake additional borrowing to fund the capital programme.

It was questioned whether this was a general rule only that the Council gets?  The Assistant Head of Finance confirmed that it was not a special rule and Councils can borrow from the Public Works Loan Board (PWLB) to utilise the borrowing facility which is cheap borrowing. The Council can borrow only to fund capital expenditure.

A Member stated that we know that Officers were employed to advise us but if these decisions were made on a lock down on how much the Council could borrow, it puts us in a position where little decision making is made on how to deal with future cuts.

It was also questioned as to what were the rules for borrowing and does it cost the Council more?   The Assistant Head of Finance confirmed that one of the recommendations is that the Council could have the revenue budget set and our interest rates and that we take a risk short term. It is known that the Council would have to borrow £40 million. The revenue budget was set at a certain level and it was noted that the Council wished to secure interest rates at the level currently set.

It was discussed that we could benefit from having an analysis of the current Brexit situation and as to whether the Council should set a fixed rate now while interest rates are historically low and to secure that over a long period or risk a drop by half a percent.

The Head of Finance confirmed that Treasury decisions were  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

Members considered a report on the Internal Audit’s progress against the 2018/19 audit plan for the first 9 months of the year by providing information on audit opinions given to date and progress against key performance targets.  

Chief Internal Auditor confirmed that the overarching summary was that the team were making good progress. The majority of Internal Audit opinions were reasonable. 

Members were requested to view Paragraph 11 of the report where it was stated that 53% of the audit plan has been achieved so far.

It was noted that the promptness of report finalisation averages 3 days which is below the target time of 5 days.

Members were requested to view Appendix A on page 70 of the report, in particular to the shaded area that showed quarter 4 which showed that the teams were on track to achieve target and are ahead.

Members were requested to view Appendix B in particular to the Unsound Opinion on page 72, this was treated as a special investigation, Education were aware of the concerns and would not be reporting back to Audit. 

Discussions included the following issues:

-          It was noted that Streetscene opinion still showed as unsatisfactory so this was still quite concerning. 

-          It was noted that the list of jobs completed was less, certain jobs were not covered due to there being less staff and resources. If vacancy not filled, then not enough coverage across sources and it was questioned as to whether there was an adequate safety net provided for council.

-          The Chair enquired at what point would the number of staff be a problem?

-          It was confirmed by the Chief Internal Auditor that there were agency staff in post at present on Quarter 4 to achieve target of 82% by the 31 March 2019. There were also discussions with HR about how the Council can re-advertise and fill that post.

-          It was stated that this raises concerns and it was noted that the Annual Government Statement will have these items recorded there.

-          It was noted that more resources were needed and the safety of it needed to be considered. It was commented that staff is at a minimum at the moment so if there were more staff then this could answer the question.

Agreed:

For the Annual Government Statement to be updated.

The attached report identified the current progress of systems or establishments which have previously been given an unsatisfactory or unsound audit opinion.  Although there will always be concerns over reviews given an unsatisfactory or unsound audit opinion, managers are allowed sufficient time to address the issues identified and improve the financial internal controls within their areas of responsibility.

Members were requested to view paragraph 6 page 79 of the report, where it stated that Norse was in the plan but this was planned for Quarter 4 following the outcome of the independent CIPFA review.

-In relation to CCTV there was a delay in management but now new cameras were installed so there would now be a report back in due course.

      There were still a number of actions outstanding which require work by the         Shared Resource Service (SRS) but this was currently low priority.

-     In relation to Charles Williams Church in Wales School opinion had improved to a reasonable level.

      -     On page 81 Members were requested to view the 40 Audit Opinions which were followed up and opinion had improved and others are due to be followed up.

      -     In relation to SGO/Kinships this would be completed in 2020 and there was a meeting scheduled to discuss this. It was noted that it was important to get the right processes in place and to look at the wide perspective on how to support people who have an SGO for a child. Financial hardship needs to be looked at. There was identified concerns with the process and comments were taken on board. Social Services Department confirmed that a new team would be implemented which is now up and running. The second review was to be completed.

-           It was noted that there was still issues in Streetscene, City Services which was mentioned last time and the issue was referred to the Chief Executive to get some assurances. If Members agreed a comment would be requested from the Chief Executive in relation to the ongoing situation.

-           In relation to the Bridge Achievement centre it was noted that a comment could not be made as this was a special investigation.

  Agreed:

For a comment to be requested from the Chief Executive in relation to the ongoing issues in Streetscene.

Members attention was drawn to the Work Programme

-Internal audit plan for 2019/20 to be discussed in March meeting.

Corporate Risk Register and how it affects Brexit to be discussed in March meeting

Date of Next Meeting – 28 March 2019