Agenda and minutes

Any apologies for absence that have been received will be noted at this point.

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Corfield.

The committee is requested to approve the minutes of its ordinary meeting on 27 March 2023.

The minutes of the meeting held on 27 March 2023 were agreed as a correct record.

The chairman will announce any urgent items that due to special circumstances are to be dealt with under the Late Items agenda item.

There were none for consideration.

These are to be made by members of the Corporate Governance and Audit Committee or other Chichester District Council members present in respect of matters on the agenda for this meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

The procedure for submitting public questions in writing by no later than noon 2 working days before the meetingis available here or from the Democratic Services Officer (whose contact details appear on the front page of this agenda).

No public questions had been received.

The Committee is asked to consider and note the Audit results report for the year ending 31 March 2022.

The Chairman invited Kevin Suter, Partner at Ernst & Young (EY) and Kelly Gates, to present this report.

The Committee discussed the need for an external stimulus to help improve the efficiency and speed of future audits. Members asked how the council compare materiality of accounts with other councils. EY responded that the common methodology used is based on a percentage of gross revenue expenditure. Generally, 2% is used with the majority of EY’s clients, but it will be varied if the auditors had any concerns. So, essentially the numbers will vary due to the size of the councils’ expenditure, but the methodology is the same. Members also enquired about keeping a record of the additional staff effort to accommodate any changes to the timetable. Officers responded that they have not had to obtain additional resources to date, but due to the timing of the audit review coinciding with the statutory requirement to produce a budget there may have been delays to responding to EY’s requests. However, management have been quite clear with the auditors on this point. If additional resources are required there are procedures in place to arrange this.

John Ward, Director of Corporate Services, went on record to thank Kevin Suter for all his hard work over the past five years with all the work relating to Audits.

RESOLVED:

1.    That the Audit Results Report for the year ending 31 March 2022 be considered and noted.

Recommendation

1.1.          That the Committee consider and approve the Statement of Accounts shown in Appendix 1 for the financial year ended 31 March 2022 and note the outturn position.

1.2.          That delegated authority be given to the Director of Corporate Services in consultation with the Chairman of the Corporate Governance and Audit Committee, to:

a)  approve any non-material changes to the 2021-22 Statement of Accounts that arise from the final external audit work, and

b)  authorise the Letter of Management Representation to be given to the Council’s External Auditor.

The Chairman invited Helen Belenger, Divisional Manager for Financial Services and David Cooper, Group Accountant to present this report.

Members enquired about the difference in large amount of the council’s money held in cash between 2021 and 2022. Officers responded by stating that a lot of money had been given to the council by the government to aid people and businesses during the pandemic with the various grant schemes the government agreed with local councils distributing the money.

The Chairman thanked the officers for presenting.

RESOLVED:

1.    That the Statement of Accounts shown in Appendix 1 for the financial year ended 31 March 2022 and note the outturn position be considered and approved by the committee.

2.    That the Director of Corporate Services in consultation with the Chairman of the Corporate Governance and Audit Committee be given delegated authority to:

a)    approve any non-material changes to the 2021-22 Statement

of Accounts that arise from the final external audit work, and

b)    authorise the Letter of Management Representation to be given to the Council’s External Auditor.

Recommendation

The Committee is requested to:

Consider the draft Annual Report on Corporate Governance at appendix 1, the Annual Governance Statement 2021-2022 (appendix 2), and Internal Audit and Corporate Investigations Annual Report 2021-2022 (appendix 3), and to recommend these to the Council for approval

The Chairman invited Stephen James, Internal Audit & Corporate Investigations Manager, to present the report.

Members asked for clarification about the cyber risk across the ICT estate. Officers responded by stating that the main step forward in terms of cyber resilience has been the completion of the backup server facility, which now enables real-time backup of data off-site with the ability to switch the servers over to give real access with immediate effect for key critical systems. Members also discussed what the impact of the failure of the local plan might be. Officers responded by stating that the local plan was behind schedule but was steadily progressing and has moved past the Regulation 19 submission stage.

RESOLVED:

1.    That the draft Annual Report on Corporate Governance at appendix 1, the Annual Governance Statement 2021-2022 (appendix 2), and Internal Audit and Corporate Investigations Annual Report 2021-2022 (appendix 3) be considered and recommended to council for approval.

Recommendation

The Corporate Governance and Audit Committee is asked to consider this report and provide comments to Cabinet as necessary.

The Chairman invited Helen Belenger and Kevin Gillett, Valuation & Estates Manager to present the report.

Members made no recommendations to provide to Cabinet.

RESOLVED:

1.    That this report be considered, and comments be provided to Cabinet as necessary by the Corporate Governance and Audit Committee.

Recommendation

The Committee is requested to note performance against the audit plan for 2023/24.

The Chairman invited Stephen James to present the report. Mr James explained that the Audit Plan had been delayed because it could not be completed due to lack of data but will be followed up on 23 September 2023.

RESOLVED:

1.    That the performance against the audit plan for 2023/24 be noted by the Committee.

Recommendations

1.1.       The committee is requested to consider this report and the corporate approach to fighting fraud to ensure that they fulfil their stewardship role and protect the public purse.

1.2.       The committee notes that the Council will actively pursue potential frauds identified through ongoing investigations by the Corporate Investigations Team (CIT).

The Chairman invited Jeremy Todd, Principal Internal Audit & Corporate Investigations Officer, to present the report.

RESOLVED:

1.    That this report and the corporate approach to fighting fraud to ensure that they fulfil their stewardship role and protect the public purse be considered.

2.    The Committee noted that the Council will actively pursue potential frauds identified through ongoing investigations by the Corporate Investigations Team (CIT).

The Committee is requested note the terms of reference and agree three representatives to sit on the Strategic Risk Group.

The Chairman invited Helen Belenger to lead this agenda item.

The Chairman nominated Councillors Hobbs, O’Kelly, and Bates to the Strategic Risk Group.

RESOLVED:

1.    That the three members of the Corporate Governance and Audit Committee be appointed to the Strategic Risk Group.

Recommendation

That the Corporate Governance & Audit Committee recommend to Cabinet the setting up of a Budget Review Group, and the Terms of Reference as set out in Appendix 1 of the report.

The Chairman invited Helen Belenger to present this report.

RESOLVED:

1.    Subject to an amendment by Councillor Brown in Appendix 1 that the deputy leader be a member, the setting up of a Budget Review Group, and the Terms of Reference as set out in Appendix 1 of the report be recommended to Cabinet.

Recommendation

The committee is requested to consider the contents of this report, which summarises the final Housing Benefit subsidy position for year ending 31^st March 2021.

The Chairman invited Marlene Rogers, Benefits and Systems Support Manager, to present this report.

Members asked if benefit fraud was more likely due to the cost-of-living crisis. Officers responded by stating that housing benefit is now leaning towards a legacy benefit, with most people of working age entitled to claim under the universal credit system managed by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), so that would be more a question them. But in terms of housing benefit (HB) cases the officer considered that there was no increase due to the cost of living crisis. The majority of cases for HB was pensions and only a small caseload for those of working age who would gradually move to the universal credit regime.

RESOLVED:

1.    That the contents of this report, which summarises the final Housing Benefit subsidy position for year ending 31st March 2021 be considered.

Recommendations

1.1.       That the Annual Partnerships report be noted.

1.2.       It is recommended that the partnerships annual report is an appropriate mechanism for ensuring our strategic partnerships have appropriate governance measures in place and should continue reporting to Corporate Governance and Audit committee on an annual basis.

1.3.       It is recommended that the risk assessment template for partnerships is an appropriate document and should be completed by lead officers for partnerships.

The Chairman invited Pam Bushby, Divisional Manager Communities and Customer Services, to present this report.

RESOLVED:

1.    That the Annual Partnerships report be noted.

2.    Be recommended that the partnerships annual report is an appropriate mechanism for ensuring our strategic partnerships have appropriate governance measures in place and should continue reporting to Corporate Governance and Audit committee on an annual basis.

3.    Be recommended that the risk assessment template for partnerships is an appropriate document and should be completed by lead officers for partnerships.

Recommendation

The Committee is requested to consider and note the Council’s arrangements in place for monitoring and controlling the risks associated with health and safety and business continuity matters.

The Chairman invited Warren Townsend, Safety & Resilience Manager, to present the report.

RESOLVED:

1.    That the Council’s arrangements in place for monitoring and controlling the risks associated with health and safety and business continuity matters be considered and noted.

Recommendations

1.1   That the Committee recommends to full Council that the Director of Housing and Communities is authorised to consider and determine applications for release of s157 covenants in respect of previous Right to Buy properties and the conditions of any release.

1.2   That officers develop a policy on the matter to be brought forward in due course.

The Chairman invited Nicholas Bennett, Divisional Manager for Legal and Democratic Services, to present this report.

RESOLVED:

1.    Subject to an amendment by Councillor Brown which that in consultation with the cabinet member for Housing and Communities it be recommended to Council that the Director of Housing and Communities is authorised to consider and determine applications for release of s157 covenants in respect of previous Right to Buy properties and the conditions of any release.

2.    That a policy on the matter to be brought forward in due course, once developed by officers.

The Committee is asked to consider in respect of the following item(s) whether the public, including the press, should be excluded from the meeting on the grounds of exemption under Parts I to 7 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as indicated against the item and because, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption of that information outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information. The reports dealt with under this part of the agenda are attached for members of the Corporate Governance & Audit Committee and senior officers only (salmon paper).

Or

There are no restricted items for consideration.

There were none.

The committee will consider any late items as follows:

a)          Items added to the agenda papers and made available for public inspection

b)          Items that the chairman has agreed should be taken as a matter of urgency by reason of special circumstances to be reported at the meeting

The committee discussed the possibility of the future meetings being held virtually. Officers advised that as no formal decisions were being taken at these meetings, it was at the discretion of the Chair and a wider review by Council regarding altering the meeting time. Members gave their views and suggested that it might be useful to have compromise; whereby if the agenda items are simply for noting then the Committee can meet virtually. The consensus was that the Committee meeting arrangement should stay as it is until such a time when the Committee feel otherwise.

The Chairman thanked members and officers for attending and all those who had presented reports.