Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence

There were apologies for absence from Councillors Nicholls and Willcocks.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 30 October 2024.

Mr Sharman observed an error at Minute 215 - page 15, paragraph 3, and said that ‘March 2022’ should be replaced with ‘March 2023’.

It was moved by Councillor Williamson and seconded by Councillor Deering, that the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 30 October 2024 (as amended) be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair. After being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED.

RESOLVED – that the Minutes of the Committee meeting held on 30 October 2024 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

The Chair welcomed all to the meeting, and said that it was the Head of Strategic Finance and Property’s final meeting as he was retiring. He thanked him on behalf of himself and the Vice-Chair for his support and sage advice, including the coaching which he had given to bring the new administration up to speed.

Councillor Williamson also extended his personal gratitude to the Head of Strategic Finance and Property for his support during his time as the former Executive Member for Financial Sustainability. He said that he would be missed.

Councillor Deering gave his appreciation to Executive Member for Financial Sustainability on behalf of the previous administration.

Councillor Brittain echoed the comments made by the Chair and other Members and thanked the Head of Strategic Finance and Property for his help as the new administration’s   Executive Member for Financial Sustainability.    

To receive any declarations of interest.

There were no declarations of interest.

This item will be excluded from the press and public as it will involve the disclosure of information relating to the financial or business affairs of the authority.

The Committee will need to vote to agree that under Section 100 (A) (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended), the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the following item(s) of business because they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).  It is considered that, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

The Arlingclose Client Director gave a training presentation to the Committee.

As the presentation contained the likely disclosure of information relating to the financial or business affairs of the authority, it was moved by the Chair and seconded by Councillor Woollcombe that, under Section 100 (A) (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended), the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business because it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended). It was considered that, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information.

After being put to the meeting and a vote taken, this motion was declared CARRIED.

RESOLVED - that, under Section 100 (A) (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended), the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business because it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended). It was considered that, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information.

The Chair thanked the Arlingclose Client Director for his presentation, and questions from Members were answered.

RESOLVED – that the Treasury Management training presentation be received.

The Executive Member for Financial Sustainability introduced the report, which was the annual report to the Committee on Section 106 at East Herts Council. 

The Executive Member for Financial Sustainability said that report itself provided an update on East Herts Section 106 financial contribution identification, collection and allocation plus information on the 2023/24 Infrastructure Funding Statement (which was included as Appendix A) and feedback from the Internal Audit undertaken last year (which was included as Appendix B), as well as information on other Section 106 related income generation from monitoring fees and S106 information requests.

The Executive Member for Financial Sustainability drew Members attention to paragraph 3.19 of the report, which gave an overview of historic Section 106 contribution collection and allocations from 1^st April 1996 to 31^st March 2024 – with details of the total amounts of contributions received, spent, allocated and unallocated, and paragraph 3.23 which provided more detailed information on the total amounts collected and allocated over the last five years, and an update on the contributions collected and allocated in the current financial year (from 1^st April 2024 to the end of September 2024). He said that figures could be seen at paragraph 3.26.

The Executive Member for Financial Sustainability said that Members would be aware that East Herts Council was bound by Legislation to produce and publish an annual summary of income and expenditure of the financial Section 106 contributions collected by the Council as the annual Infrastructure Funding Statement (IFS), which was required to be published on the council’s website before 31 December each year.

The Executive Member for Financial Sustainability said that the IFS attached at Appendix A was the 5^th to be produced by East Herts and highlighted the following to Members:

·            New Section 106 Agreements - There were eleven new Section 106 Agreements signed in 20232/24 providing £1,171,381.00 in identified East Herts council financial contributions including £11,700 monitoring contributions and 23 new affordable housing units.

·            Historic Contribution information – page 7 of the IFS provided further details on total income, expenditure, and allocated / unallocated contributions from 1^st April 10996 up to 31^st March 2023.

·            2023/24 contributions collected - a total of £5,304,487.68 was received from 86 contributions triggered for payment from 11 individual Section 106 Agreements.

·             2023/24 contributions allocated - a total of £4,859,523.51 was allocated and spent on 21 individual projects or identified uses from 70 individual contributions from 29 Section 106 Agreements.

·            In addition, the IFS gave details of the various council projects and services funded with capital and revenue contributions, and the seven external projects across the district supported with Section 106 in the financial year 2023/24.

The Executive Member for Financial Sustainability said that the Internal Audit final report (which was attached at Appendix B) was very positive, with ‘substantial assurance’ that there was effective controls and a robust framework in place for the collection and allocation of Section 106 contributions. He said that this was the highest grading and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 252.

The Azets Partner introduced the item, which comprised of a progress report -giving interim findings and what was likely by the next audit backstop date of 28 February 2025, and a briefing note – which summarised guidance for the government’s local audit backlog recovery period.  

The Azets Partner said that the assumption was that the council would miss the audit backstop date of 13 December 2024, as the public inspection period for its 2022/23 accounts (which were being audited by the council’s previous auditors, EY LLP) would run until 18 December 2024.

The Azets Partner said that work had been undertaken earlier in the year in anticipation that the backstop date of 13 December 2024 would be met. He said that as this was now not the case, and as there would be too much work to complete (for a council with two years of unassured accounts) to meet the 28 February 2025 backstop date, the probability was that a disclaimer would also be issued for the 2023/24 accounts.

The Azets Partner said that EY LLP’s Value for Money (VFM) work would be considered when they undertook their own VFM work for 2023/24. He said that he saw little benefit to causing further delays with this, and so as soon as EY LLP had concluded their VFM work, they would also issue theirs in line with the backstop dates.

The Azets Partner said that the report set out the areas which were planned to be undertaken (if possible). He said for those areas where work was not possible, the report illustrated the build back position for a number of years to come.   

The Azets Partner said that the guidance aimed to build back evidence for clean opinions, but that in the interim disclaimers were likely. He said that the audit years before Azets’ appointment would need to be revisited, and that some work undertaken to maintain a full trail for assurance, a plan for which and updates would be shared with the Committee. He said the biggest risk for this was the council’s general fund.

The Azets Manager drew Members attention to key paragraphs within the report, which included the planned procedures for the 2023/24 audit, and detail on possible further procedures from page 93. She referred to page 99 which showed areas in red and amber which were anticipated not to obtain assurance, and page 100 which showed VFM work, with no significant risks identified.    

The Chair thanked the Azets Partner and Manager for the report.

Councillor Deering asked if the Azets Partner could give assurance to residents that the audit backlog/issues were not of the council’s making.

The Azets Partner said that it was not surprising that delays had occurred, as a perfect storm had occurred with a change in regulations, leaner finance teams and more complex work placing a greater challenges on authorities. He said that he could not comment on the council’s relationship with EY, and that the situation was a multi-faceted piece.

The Head of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 253.

The Shared Internal Audit Service (SIAS) Manager introduced the report, which was the second of its kind for the current financial year. He drew Members attention to paragraph 2.2 of which gave detail on the four audit reports finalised since September 2024, and paragraph 2.3 which summarised the audit plan for the year.

The SIAS Manager referred to paragraph 2.6 of the report   which directed Members to Appendix B of the report for detail on the one new high priority recommendation relating to engineering business processes within the Licensing Department.

The SIAS Manager said that key performance indicators could be seen at paragraphs 2.7 – 2.9 of the report, adding that three further audit reports had been issued since publication. He said that currently there was no risk to a robust annual assurance.

The Chair thanked the SIAS Manager for his report, there were no questions from Members. 

RESOLVED – that A) the Internal Audit Progress Report be noted; and

(B) the Status of Critical and High Priority Recommendations be noted.

The Head of Strategic Finance and Property introduced the report, inviting Members to nominate future training subjects. He said that the work programme would need to be fluid due to the uncertainty around the timing of reports, with the potential for meeting dates to be changed and/or extra meetings added. 

The Chair thanked the Head of Strategic Finance and Property for his report.

Mr Poppy asked if procurement training should be added to the work programme.

The Head of Strategic Finance and Property said that the Procurement Strategy would be brought to the Committee for scrutiny in January 2025, and that Social Value Strategy updates would be also be included.

Mr Sharman asked for clarification on when audit disclaimers may come.

The Head of Strategic Finance and Property said that he did not know, and that he was bewildered with some of the comments made by EY LLP at the previous meeting of the Committee. He said that consequently he had reopened the 2021/22 accounts for public inspection, and then re-certified and re-advertised the 2021/22 and 2022/23 accounts.

Councillor Woollcombe asked if the Head of Strategic Finance and Property could draft a timetable for the next financial year to indicate when reports should be expected.

The Chair said that as the Head of Strategic Finance and Property was due to leave the council the next day this was not possible. He said that it was anticipated that the landscape would be clearer by the next meeting in January 2025, and so matters could be picked up then. 

It was moved by Councillor Williamson and seconded by Councillor Willcocks, that the recommendations, as detailed, be approved. After being put to the meeting and a vote taken, this motion was declared CARRIED.

RESOLVED – that (A) the work programme as set out in the report be approved; and

(B) that any training requirements be specified.

To consider such other business as, in the opinion of the Chairman of the meeting, is of sufficient urgency to warrant consideration and is not likely to involve the disclosure of exempt information.

There were no urgent items.