Meeting Details

Governance and Audit Committee
30 Oct 2018 - 18:00 to 00:00
Occurred
  • Documents
  • Attendance
  • Visitors
  • Declarations of Interests

Documents

Agenda

Part A
1 Welcome and Announcements
The Chairman will welcome members of the public and Councillors and remind everyone to use microphones at all times when they are speaking. The Chairman will also explain action in the event of an emergency, mobile phones switched to silent, audio-recording of the meeting. Councillors who are members of the committee will introduce themselves.
2 Substitutions
Councillors will be asked to say if they are attending on behalf of a Committee member who is absent.
3 Urgent Items
The Chairman will announce if there is any item not on the published agenda which will be considered because it is urgent and will explain the reason for the urgency.
4 Declarations of Interest
Councillors will be asked to say if there are any items on the agenda about which they have a disclosable pecuniary interest which would prevent them from participating in any discussion of the item or participating in any vote upon the item, or any other pecuniary interest or non-pecuniary interest.
5 Minutes of Previous Meeting
The Councillors will be invited to confirm that the minutes are a correct record of the meeting held on 4 September 2018.
127
RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 4 September 2018 be confirmed as a correct record.
6 Have Your Say!
The Chairman will invite members of the public to indicate if they wish to speak or present a petition on any item included on the agenda or any other matter relating to the terms of reference of the meeting. Please indicate your wish to speak at this point if your name has not been noted by Council staff.
The Committee have beens asked to note the contents of the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman’s Annual Review Letter for 2017/2018 and to endorse the Council’s revised corporate complaints policy.
 
129
Hayley McGrath, Corporate Governance Manager, introduced the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman Annual Review Letter 2017/2018 and Corporate Complaints Policy report on behalf of Andrew Weavers. The report requests that the Committee note the contents of the letter and endorse the Council’s revised corporate complaints policy. 

Hayley McGrath provided a summary of the report and informed the Committee that a total of 21 complaints had been made in the last year, which was similar to the previous year’s total. Out of those 21, five were investigated and only one was upheld but this did not cause any injustice. Hayley McGrath also highlighted that the new complaints policy simplified the process for customers to make a complaint on line. 

RESOLVED that: 
a) The Committee notes the contents of the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman’s Annual Review Letter for 2017/2018.
b) Endorses the Council’s revised corporate complaints policy. 
 
The Committee have been asked to review the progress made in meeting the Council’s legal duties and objectives in regard to both Equality and Diversity, and Safeguarding, and to endorse the approach set out in paragraph 7 of the report.
128
Councillor Tina Bourne and Lucie Breadman, Assistant Director of Communities, attended the meeting to present the Council’s Annual Update Report on Equality & Safeguarding. 

The report requests that the Committee review the progress made in meeting the Council’s legal duties and objectives in regard to both Equality and Diversity, and Safeguarding, and endorse the approach set out in paragraph 7 of the report. 

Councillor Bourne addressed the Committee and informed them that she felt the annual report demonstrated how the Council takes their duty seriously and proportionally. Lucie Breadman then highlighted some key changes that have been made in the last year which included publishing a range of gender pay gap figures, working on inter-agency guidance with regards to safe-guarding children and focusing on imbedding knowledge and giving support into the front line teams. This has been helped by having a steering group with representatives from each service who discuss and share ideas and look at practical examples to help see if we can live up to our aspirations. Key practical highlights have been distribution of the Voluntary Welfare grant to some of the most vulnerable people in Colchester, working with Dementia Friends and Alzheimer's Society and also arranging a special early bird entrance at Colchester Castle for people who suffer with Autism. 

Lucie Breadman also introduced two new lead officers to the Committee, Sonia Carr and Joanne Besant and explained that they will be working alongside the Safer Colchester Partnership on Safeguarding matters. 

In response to questions from the Committee, Cllr Bourne explained that they were working hard with regards to the Homelessness Strategy and they were hoping to half the amount of rough sleepers by 2020. Cllr Bourne explained that there is a clear multi-agency plan in place to support the current number of rough sleepers in the town centre which was officially counted at 20. Councillor Bourne also informed the Committee that winter shelters have opened earlier this year and will remain open for 5 months following the receipt of Government Funding.

The Committee expressed their thanks to Lucie Breadman and staff on a very detailed report.  

RESOLVED that;

a) The Governance and Audit Committee reviewed the Annual Update Report on Equality & Safeguarding and agreed to endorse the approach as set out in paragraph 7 of the report.
 
The Committee have been asked to review and comment on the Internal audit activity for the period 1 April – 30 September 2018 and the performance of internal audit by reference to national best practice benchmarks.
 
130
Hayley McGrath, Corporate Governance Manager, and Alan Woodhead, Senior Manager of Mazars, attended the meeting to present the Mid-Year Internal Audit Assurance Report 2018/19. The report requests that the Committee review and comment on the Internal audit activity for the period 1 April – 30 September 2018 and also the performance of internal audit by reference to national best practice benchmarks. 

Hayley McGrath addressed the Committee and informed them of the key messages that had come from the report. Hayley McGrath explained how the report shows the effective internal audit service which has been provided during the first half of the 2018/19 financial year. The Visitor Information Centre (VIC) Cash Up, Discretionary Housing Payments and Exceptional Hardship Payments, Council Tax, and Housing Benefits and Local Tax Support Scheme audits have achieved a Full assurance rating. Two priority one, nineteen priority two and five priority three recommendations have been made and all those recommendations have been accepted by management.

The Committee questioned why information on the two priority one recommendations on the Community Hub audit had not been included within the report. Hayley McGrath informed Committee members that the review of the Community Hub was not a formal audit meaning that no assurance level has been assigned and that information on recommendations would not be included within the report. Hayley McGrath stated that the audit was conducted following a request from management to assess how the hub worked with partners, the physicality of the building and to ensure customer and staff safety was paramount. 

In response to a further question regarding the commercial companies, Hayley McGrath informed the Committee that they are audited by the same team who audit Colchester Borough Council and are included in the five year programme and will be incorporated into the rolling process. Hayley McGrath explained that Colchester Borough Council provide all the financial support services to the commercial company and that Audit would look at the functions of the commercial companies at the end of year. Hayley McGrath also highlighted that whilst the commercial companies are able to act differently, governance is managed by Colchester Borough Council. In response to the questions relating to the auditing of the accounts of the garden Community Company and Colchester Commercial Holdings, Hayley McGrath informed the committee that this is included in the Statement of Accounts process that is reviewed by the External Auditors and falls outside of the remit of Internal Audit, but will be considered as part of the year end Governance Review that the Council carries out.
  
RESOLVED that;
a) the Committee considered and commented on the Internal audit activity for the period 1 April – 30 September 2018
b) the Committee reviewed and commented on the Performance of internal audit by reference to national best practice benchmarks. 
To approve the Health and Safety Policy for 2018/19 and recommend to full Council for inclusion in the policy framework and too also review and comment on the Council’s progress and performance in managing Health & Safety during the period October 2017 to September 2018.
 
131
Hayley McGrath, Corporate Governance Manager, and Carl Free, Corporate Health and Safety Officer, attended the meeting to present the Annual Health and Safety Review 2018/19 report. The report requests that the Committee review the Health and Safety Policy to ensure that it is still appropriate to the Council’s needs, and continues to be effective in identifying and mitigating health and safety risks. 

Hayley McGrath explained to the Committee that the Annual Health and Safety report was not a statutory requirement but as it is part of risk management framework they felt it was good practice to bring to the Committee on a yearly basis. The report provides information on internal Health and Safety issues, as well as how Colchester Borough Council ensures that staff and visitors are kept safe within our buildings and when providing services. 

Hayley McGrath informed the Committee that within the last four years the Health and Safety process has been revamped and in the last two years a substantial assurance rating has been achieved from internal audit which highlights the improvements made.  Hayley McGrath then highlighted the work that Carl Free and the team had undertaken in 2017/18, with a key issue being working on improving arrangements for lone workers, which included the introduction of a new monitoring system that includes both GPS tracking and alarms. Initial feedback following the rollout of this system has been positive. 

The Committee asked for the possibility of a fire drill taking place at a Full Council meeting as they have never been part of a fire drill at that time before. It was also suggested that when Councillors are first elected to the authority, they are shown evacuation points as part of their training. 
     
RESOLVED that;
a) The revised Health and Safety Policy for 2018/19 be agreed and to RECOMMEND to COUNCIL that it be included in the Council’s Policy Framework. 
b) The Committee considered and commented on the Council’s progress and performance in managing Health & Safety during the period October 2017 to September 2018.
 
The Committee is asked to note the contents Committee’s Work Programme for 2018-19. 
132
Councillor Adam Fox, introduced the Work programme report, which requests that the Committee note the work programme for the ensuing municipal year.  

The Committee requested that an item on the Commercial Company be added to the work programme, which could look at the companies’ performance, level and financial controls.    Ann Hedges, Chief Operating Officer, stated she would arrange for a report to be brought to the Committee in future. 
 
RESOLVED that the Work Programme 2018-19 be noted.  
 
12 Exclusion of the Public (not Scrutiny or Executive)
In accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 to exclude the public, including the press, from the meeting so that any items containing exempt information (for example confidential personal, financial or legal advice), in Part B of this agenda (printed on yellow paper) can be decided. (Exempt information is defined in Section 100I and Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972).
Part B

Attendance

Name
No other member attendance information has been recorded for the meeting.
NameReason for Sending ApologySubstituted By
Councillor Fiona Maclean Councillor Paul Dundas
NameReason for AbsenceSubstituted By
No absentee information has been recorded for the meeting.

Declarations of Interests

Member NameItem Ref.DetailsNature of DeclarationAction
No declarations of interest have been entered for this meeting.

Visitors

Visitor Information is not yet available for this meeting