Venue: Bourges/Viersen Room - Town Hall
Contact: Karen S Dunleavy; Governance Officer
No. | Item |
---|---|
Apologies for Absence |
|
Declarations of Interest At this point Members must declare whether they have a disclosable pecuniary interest, or other interest, in any of the items on the agenda, unless it is already entered in the register of members’ interests or is a “pending notification “ that has been disclosed to the Head of Legal Services. Members must also declare if they are subject to their party group whip in relation to any items under consideration.
|
|
Minutes of the Meeting Held on 4 November 2013 PDF 80 KB Minutes: The minutes of the meeting held on 4 November 2013, were approved as an accurate and true record subject to the amendment of the wording in relation to item 5 Treasury Management: Members felt that the two schemes (LAM and HBS) should remain in place for first time buyers until the Council was assured that first time buyers could be accommodated by the option of one of the schemes.
|
|
External Audit: Annual Audit Letter, Report to Management and Annual Certification PDF 74 KB Additional documents:
Minutes: Julian Ricket of PricewaterhouseCoopers introduced a report on the External Audit Reports in relation to the 2012 Annual Audit Letter, Grant Claims: Annual Certification Report and the Report to Management: Interim and Final Audit 2012/13.
Key points highlighted within the report included:
· The Annual Certification report summarised the work undertaken by PwC on claims and returns for housing council tax benefit, national non domestic rates and teachers pensions agency return; · The number of errors identified had been in relation to the teachers’ pension which had been due to the new certification instructions issued quite late in the process; and · PwC’s fees in relation to the claims compared the previous year.
Julian Ricket PwC and the Head of Strategic Finance responded to questions and comments raised by Members. In summary responses included:
|
|
Whistleblowing Policy PDF 63 KB Additional documents: Minutes: The Director of Governance introduced a report to Members on the Council’s Whistleblowing Policy, which outlined the processes in place for employees to follow in order to highlighting concerns, such as health and safety, bullying and harassment or suspected cases of fraud and corruption. Members were also advised by the Director of Governance that the Whistleblowing Policy had also been extended to partners such as Serco in order to provide them with the opportunity to raise any issue or concern they may have regarding the Council’s conduct. In addition, the partner’s policies would apply to their employee.
The following key points within the report included:
· The policy enabled employees to raise concerns through their line manager or via an alternative confidential route if they believed their line manager was involved; · The update to the Whistleblowing Policy had been due to the recent changes introduced by the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013; and · The recent legislation change had seen a slight difference in the test applied for reporting concerns. The change meant that an employee was able make a malicious complaint, as long as it was within the public interest to do so.
The Director of Governance provided responses to comments and questions. In summary responses included:
The Committee:
i) Reviewed the updated Whistleblowing Policy; and ii) Recommended the policy for approval by the Joint Consultation Forum and Employment Committee.
The Committee also recommended:
That the Director of Governance would review Whistleblowing policies of partner organisations in order to ensure that adequate provision was in place to deliver services on behalf of PCC.
|
|
Additional documents: Minutes: The Director of Governance introduced a report to Members in relation to the Council’s Anti-Bribery Policy. Members were also advised that the policy was being introduced as part of the adoption of the Bribery Act 2010 and was aimed to highlight any incidents of bribery or corruption within the Council and to provide a process for reporting such incidents.
Members of the Committee were also advised that, to date, there had been no incidents or complaints reported under the current procedure.
The Committee
Recommended that the Cabinet Member approve the Anti-Bribery Policy.
|
|
Additional documents: Minutes: The Chief Internal Auditor introduced a report on the feedback of actions that had arisen from the Audit Committee meeting held on 4 November 2013. The Chief Internal Auditor advised Members that outstanding action points included:
The Head of Strategic Finance advised Members that a request had been made to Lloyds Bank in order to provide guidance for Members over LAMS, which would be distributed once available.
The Director of Governance advised Members that options in terms of the interim arrangements for the Human Resources posts were being explored and a report would be presented to Corporate Management Team.
The Compliance Manger advised Members that the use of bus shelters for the benefit fraud campaign would cost in total £30,000 for a two week period within the City Centre. It was felt that the option had not been financially viable due to the anticipated number of referrals.
AGREED ACTION:
The Director of Governance confirmed that the recruitment arrangements for the interim Human Resources positions would be presented to Audit Committee in the near future.
|
|
Minutes: The Chief Internal Auditor submitted the latest version of the work programme for the municipal year 2013/14 for consideration and approval. The Committee was advised that training opportunities relating to Effectiveness of Audit Committees were being explored.
|