Agenda and minutes

Audit and Governance Committee - Tuesday 25th January, 2022 7.00 pm

Venue: Council Chamber, Wallfields, Hertford. View directions

Contact: Michele Aves  Tel: (01279) 502177 Email:  michele.aves@eastherts.gov.uk

Media

Items
No. Item

295.

Apologies

To receive any apologies for absence.

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Minutes:

An apology for absence was submitted on behalf of Councillor Stowe. It was noted that Councillor Curtis was substituting for Councillor Stowe.

 

296.

Minutes - 9 November 2021 pdf icon PDF 150 KB

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 9 November 2021.

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Minutes:

It was moved by Councillor Townsend and seconded by Councillor Curtis, that the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 9 November 2021 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman. 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 9 November 2021 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

 

297.

Chairman's Announcements

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Minutes:

The Chairman reminded Members to kindly use their microphones when speaking to guide the camera for the webcast.  

 

The Chairman welcomed Michele Aves, the new Democratic Services Officer to the meeting.  

 

298.

Declarations of Interest

To receive any declarations of interest.

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Minutes:

Councillor Townsend declared an interest in Agenda Item 5, as he was a user of a Resident Parking Zone.

 

Councillor Alder declared an interest as Sawbridgeworth Town Council were using the services of the East Herts Council’s Human Resources Department.

299.

Budget Scrutiny - Budget 2022/23 and Medium Term Financial Plan 2022-25 pdf icon PDF 400 KB

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Minutes:

The Executive Member for Financial Sustainability introduced the report which set out proposals on the Budget 2022/23, the Medium Term Financial Plan 2022/23 – 2026/27, the 2022/23 – 2026/27 Capital Programme and the 2022/23 Schedule of Charges. He referred to plans being set around an increasing challenging background of diminishing funding from Government and uncertainties regarding future funding. The limited means of the Council raising its own revenue, and higher costs due to Covid.  However, he explained that planning ahead had continued with the Council’s 2020 comprehensive spending review giving significant levels of savings for this year, and with the transformation programme underway further savings were expected from 2023.  He confirmed that for the budget to be prepared it was based on working assumptions, and that the Council Tax increase of £5.00 per year on a Band D property is the maximum that the Council can apply without a referendum. He explained that despite measures there will remain a budget gap which will need to be filled, and drew the committee members’ attention to Appendix B within the report which set out further savings proposals in addition to those agreed last year.

 

The Chairman remarked on the quality of the reports and thanked Officers for their hard work.

 

The Chairman asked the Head of Strategic Finance and Property for clarity on paragraph 2.3 of the report, regarding the National Pay Award. The Head of Strategic Finance and Property explained that the pay award for the financial year had not yet been agreed. The Employers side had made a final offer of 1.75%, and understood that the Unions were balloting for industrial action. Following guidance of the Executive, a pay award provision of 3% has been made for next year, which with inflation currently at 5% would be a less than inflation pay award. The Chairman asked that if the pay award was less than 3% would the funds go into reserves.  The Head of Strategic Finance and Property said that this would become an under spend, and that 3% seemed sensible based on where inflation was currently going. 

 

The Chairman referred to page 34 of the report regarding the possible change of location for the Council and asked if this would be facilitated by capital borrowing. The Head of Strategic Finance and Property explained that funding would come from reserves and that this was approved in principal but not committed. The Council building will be surveyed and the findings compared to the costs against the offer to co-locate at County Hall.  He reiterated that no decision had yet been made, and that it will be included as part of the Transformation Programme. 

 

Councillor Curtis referred to the savings proposals relating to Resident Parking Zones (RPZ) which had attracted attention from members of the public. Whilst supporting the principal that the scheme is cost neutral to the Council, he questioned if residents could be offered a discount by providing their vehicle registration details and not opting for hard copy permits.

 

Councillor  ...  view the full minutes text for item 299.

300.

Treasury Management Strategy Statement and Annual Investment Strategy 2022/23 pdf icon PDF 90 KB

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Minutes:

The Executive Member for Financial Sustainability introduced a report setting out the Council’s Treasury Management and Annual Investment Strategy for 2022/23. He said that this was the first of three treasury reports for the year, and invited comments.

 

Councillor Curtis referred to page 185 of the report, and requested clarification of what is counted as revenue stream for the Council. The Head of Strategic Finance and Property confirmed that this consists of Council Tax, and all income which the Council earns.

 

Councillor Curtis asked what percentage of Council income comes from leisure. The Head of Strategic Finance and Property was unable to provide specific detail, but explained that once the leisure centres were completed the contractors were obliged to pay the Council to operate them.  He continued that the tenders were not yet back for Hertford Theatre, and that Old River Lane estimates were based on a business plan.

 

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

 

RESOLVED – that (A) The Treasury Management and Annual Investment Strategy 2022/23and Prudential Indicators be reviewed.

301.

Capital Strategy and Minimum Revenue Provision Policy 2022/23 pdf icon PDF 63 KB

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Minutes:

The Executive Member for Financial Sustainability introduced a report setting out the Council’s Capital Strategy and Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) policy for 2022/23 onwards.

 

The Chairman commented that the document was impressive, and congratulated officers on the report.

 

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

 

RESOLVED – (A)That the Capital Strategy and Minimum Revenue Provision policy 2022/23 onwards (Appendix A to this report) be approved

302.

Shared Internal Audit Service Internal Audit Plan 2021/22 Progress Report pdf icon PDF 541 KB

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Minutes:

The Shared Internal Audit Service (SIAS) Manager submitted a report which provided Members with the progress made by the Shared Internal Audit Service (SIAS) in delivering the Council’s 2021/22 Internal Audit Plan to 7 January 2022.

 

The Chairman referred to page 288, Appendix B of the report. The Head of Strategic Finance and Property gave Members an update on the Civica Project, and advised that he was working with IT to obtain a cloud solution implementation which would allow the finance system to be hosted outside of the hosted desktop. This would avoid being it being affected by IT outages.  

 

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

 

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

(B)  the changes to the Internal Audit Plan as  of 7 January 2022 be approved; and

(C ) the Status of Critical and High Priority recommendation be noted.

303.

Financial Management 2021/22 – Quarter 2 Forecast to Year End pdf icon PDF 162 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Executive Member for Financial Sustainability introduced a report setting out the financial monitoring for East Herts Council for 2021/22 as at 30th September 2021. He advised that the report gave a “snapshot” of the Council’s financial position, and how it was not unusual to show an over spend at this point in the cycle.

 

The Chairman referred to the report which forecasted an over spend in quarter one. The Head of Strategic Finance and Property elaborated, explaining that the Planning Department was carrying out a phenomenal amount of work. The pressures included the Harlow and Gilston Garden Town Project, which meant that the council currently had the ninth busiest planning department in the country. He said that recruitment to vacant planning posts and talks with other councils regarding shared services were ongoing. 

 

Councillor Pope referred to Revenues and Benefits outperforming on revenue budget, and asked if grant funding from Central Government helped. The Head of Strategic Finance and Property said that performance continued to be monitored, adding that the department had carried out an enormous amount of work. He explained that the work to assess claims was difficult and that complex regulations changed frequently. He said that several staff had recently left the service, including an experienced manager, adding that it took approximately five years to fully train replacement staff. 

 

The Chairman asked about the level of debtors going up as mentioned in page 303 of the report. The Head of Strategic Finance and Property said that debt figures will move dependant of the report cut off. He added that the intention is to take back and centralise recovery actions and processes to within the Finance Department under the Transformation Programme. 

 

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

 

RESOLVED – (A) that the net revenue budget forecast overspend of £132k in 2021/22 be noted (table 1);

(B) the revised capital budget for 2021/22 of £57.060m, with a forecast underspend of £15.825m, be carried forward to 2022/23 be noted.

 

304.

Audit and Governance Committee Work Programme pdf icon PDF 205 KB

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Minutes:

The Head of Strategic Finance and Property summarised the content of the Work programme which would be presented to Members at each meeting.

 

The Chairman said that the report was very user friendly, and thanked officers for their work. The Head of Strategic Finance and Property proposed that training to Members in March would be focused on Risk Management. In May it would consist of Internal Audit training, and in November the Shared Anti-Fraud Service, and Statement of Accounts.

 

The Chairman enquired as to Standards Training, to which The Head of Strategic Finance and Property advised he would speak to the Monitoring Officer.

 

Councillor Huggins requested that all training opportunities be publicised to all Members.

 

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

 

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

 

(B) That the training suggested by the Committee be implemented.

305.

Urgent Items

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

Additional documents:

Minutes:

There was no urgent business.