Agenda item

A representative from Audit Wales, Gareth Lucey, presented this item. This is the standard annual report for grants which Audit Wales are responsible for certifying. The full details are contained within the report. Audit Wales certified far fewer audits this year, due to WG removing the requirement for Audit Wales to externally certify some types of grants; the number of grants certified was reduced from 10 to 4.

There have been no new issues or matters of focus arising from the findings this year. However, a number of issues raised related to the Housing Benefit subsidy return. Audit Wales have raised a number of recommendations, particularly concerning the relationship between the housing benefit team and the housing needs team. If these recommendations are successfully implemented, this will reduce the cost of certifying this item, and reduce the risk relating to this issue.

Discussion included the following:

·         The Chair queried regarding housing benefit and the teachers’ pension. Have asked for clarification from finance as to what actions are being taken, but it seems that each year the answer is the same but nothing seems to be done. This new report emphasises that this is a continuous problem. What are the accountancy team and audit team going to do about this?

o   Gareth Lucey replied from the Audit Wales perspective. The aim is to escalate this set of recommendations to hold the housing benefit team to account. In future years, we need to ensure that these are actioned in the coming years. Actions can still be taken at this stage to correct any issues in the 2020/21 return. 

o   The Interim Assistant Head of Finance (Mark Howcroft) explained that this is a common feature in the housing benefit claim across local authorities, as it is a large claim and has significant movements in it. But this is not to say that the Council can’t get better at improving the communication between the housing benefit team and housing needs team.

·         The Chair commented that the fact it happens elsewhere doesn’t make it right

o   The Interim Assistant Head of Finance (Mark Howcroft) explained that this is just context to recognising that this is a complex claim that involves large amounts of money.

o   The Chair replied that the same things come up year on year. E.g., the form not being signed off by relevant finance officer, this seems like a basic check that needs to be done. If there are certain areas that are complicated that people need training on, this can happen. However there is also information just not being obtained. Some of this is basic stuff, like people not getting the right information that is expected. We need to minimise human error regarding this.

·         The Chair also enquired regarding the teachers’ pensions element

o   The Head of People and Business Change explained that this can become complex due to teachers changing their hours etc. The Council have invested in an HR system which is now totally online, which will help to better calculate pensions.

o   The Chair requested that the audit team look at both of these items.

·         Members enquired that the report seems to suggest an error in systems has saved £400,000. What is being done to check this?

o   Gareth Lucey (Audit Wales) explained that this is an isolated issue, however it reduced the amount the Council needed to pay. It was merely due to an error within the spreadsheet (a row was deleted).

Action:

Request that the audit team look into the housing benefit teams’ actions

Agreed:

The Committee duly noted the report, and note that finance will work with housing benefits to resolve some of these issues.