Corporate Governance, Audit and Standards Committee - Monday, 30th January, 2017 7.00 pm - Agenda and minutes
Venue: Council Offices, Farnborough
Contact: Committee Administrator, Kathy Flatt Tel. (01252 398829) or email kathy.flatt@rushmoor.gov.uk
No. | Item |
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To confirm the Minutes of the Meeting held on 28th November, 2016 (copy attached). Minutes: The Minutes of the Meeting held on 28th November, 2016 were
approved and signed by the Chairman. |
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Selection of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor 2017/18 PDF 108 KB The Chief Executive to report on the outcome
of the selection process for the Mayor-Elect and Deputy Mayor-Elect 2017/18. A copy of the criteria for the selection process is attached for information. The Committee
will be asked to make
a recommendation to the Council. Minutes: The
Chief Executive reported on the outcome of the selection process for the
Mayor-Elect and the Deputy Mayor-Elect for 2017/18. The Chief Executive had
contacted the appropriate Members on the seniority list and reported that Cr.
S.J. Masterson was the next Member able to accept the nomination for Deputy
Mayor. Through normal progression, Cr. Sophia Choudhary, currently Deputy
Mayor, would progress to the position of Mayor for 2017/18. The Committee
RECOMMENDED TO THE COUNCIL that: (i) Cr. Sophia Choudhary be appointed as Mayor-Elect for the 2017/18 Municipal Year; and (ii) Cr.
Stephen John Masterson be appointed as Deputy
Mayor-Elect for the 2017/18 Municipal Year. |
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To receive a report from Ernst & Young (copy attached) which sets out how the company will carry out its responsibilities as auditor for the audit of the 2016/17 financial year. Minutes: The Chairman welcomed to the meeting Mr. Adrian Balmer, Manager, Government and Private Sector of Ernst
& Young who reported to the Committee on the Audit Plan which set out how
the company intended to carry out its responsibilities as auditor. The Plan summarised an initial assessment of
the key risks driving the development of an effective audit for the Council and
outlined a planned audit strategy in response to those risks. RESOLVED: That the Audit Plan be noted. |
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Certification of Claims and Returns Annual Report 2015/16 PDF 32 KB To receive a report from Ernst & Young (copy attached) which summarises the results of the audit work on the Council’s major grant claim under the Housing Benefits Subsidy Scheme for the financial year 2015/16. Minutes: The Committee received a copy of Ernst & Young’s
Certification of Claims and Returns Annual Report 2015/16 in connection with
the audit of the Council’s claim to the Department for Work and Pensions in
respect of the housing benefit subsidy.
It was noted that the claim had been checked
and certified with a total value of £37,327,041 and that the submission
deadline had been met. Members also
noted that the 2015/16 certification fee was £8,652 and that the indicative
certification fee for 2016/17 was £7,511. RESOLVED: That Ernst & Young’s Certification of
Claims and Returns Annual Report 2015/16 be noted. |
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External Auditor's Sector Briefing PDF 861 KB To receive a copy of Ernst & Young’s local government and audit committee briefing paper (copy attached). Minutes: The Committee received Ernst & Young’s Local Government
Audit Committee Briefing paper, which covered Government and economic news,
accounting, auditing and governance, regulation news and key questions for the
audit committee. RESOLVED: That the Local Government Audit Committee briefing
paper be noted. |
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Fees and Charges - Skin Piercing PDF 133 KB To consider the Head of Environmental Health and Housing’s Report No. EHH1702 (copy attached), which seeks approval for revised fees and charges for skin piercing registration functions provided by the Environmental Health and Housing Service, to come into effect on 1st April, 2017. Minutes: The Committee considered the Head of Environmental Health
and Housing’s Report No. EHH1702, which sought approval for revised fees and
charges for skin piercing registration functions provided by the Environmental
Health and Housing Service The Committee was advised that fees for the registration
services had last been reviewed in January, 2011 and had been set at £125 to
register a business premises and £92 to register a person. Following a review of the work required to
deliver the registration activity, and based on the principle of full cost
recovery for the services provided, it was proposed that the fee for the
registration of the premises should be set at £180 and the fee per person
should be set at £90. The fees would
come into effect from 1st April, 2017. RESOLVED: That
approval be given to the revised fees, as set out in the Head of Environmental
Health and Housing’s Report No. EHH1702. |
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Internal Audit Update PDF 332 KB To receive the Audit Manager’s Report No. AUD1701 (copy attached) on internal audit work undertaken during September to December, 2016. Minutes: The Committee received the Audit Manager’s Report No.
AUD1701, which set out the work of internal audit undertaken during the period
September to December, 2016. The Report set out details in respect of: Housing Benefits;
treasury management; Council Tax billing and collection; Council Tax and NNDR
recovery; server virtualisation; audit follow-ups; and, mobile devices
follow-up. Members were also advised
that audit work was currently underway in respect of Public Sector Internal
Audit Standards, cash receipting, parking machine income and Activation
Aldershot (Capital Project). During discussion, a question was raised in respect of
payment of National Insurance in connection with the calculation of Members’
allowance payments at the start of a Municipal Year. It was agreed that this issue would be raised
with Human Resources. RESOLVED: That the Audit Manager’s Report No. AUD1701
be noted. |
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Annual Treasury Management Strategy 2017/18 and Prudential Indicators for Capital Finance PDF 495 KB To consider the Head of Financial Services’ Report No. FIN1703 (copy attached), which sets out the Treasury Management Strategy 2017/18, Prudential Indicators for Capital Finance and the Minimum Revenue Provision Statement for submission to the Council on 23rd February, 2017. Minutes: The Committee considered the Head of Financial Services’
Report No. FIN1703, which provided an update on the Treasury
Management Indicators and Prudential Indicators for capital financing for the
year 2016/17. The Report also set
out the proposed Treasury Management Strategy for the year 2017/18, including
the borrowing and investment strategies and treasury management indicators, the
Prudential Indicators for capital finance for 2017/18 and the Minimum Revenue
Provision Statement. The Report advised that funds invested consisted of
short-term cash available due to timing of income and expenditure (e.g. from
movements in working capital or from reserves that needed to be available in
the short term) and potentially longer-term investment funds derived from the
Council’s capital receipts. Arlingclose’s advice continued to indicate that the Council
should diversify investment risk by spreading smaller amounts over an
increasing number of counterparties. Members noted that the Council would now need to incur some
borrowing to support the financing of its approved Capital Programme in the
current year. The Council therefore
would commence 2017/18 in a position where its investment holdings remained
significant, but it also carried some debt.
There would be an inevitable requirement to incur some additional
borrowing to service capital expenditure in 2017/18. Careful observation of the Prudential
Indicator “gross debt versus capital financing requirement” would need to be undertaken progressively throughout the financial year. This meant that the Council would have to
redeem an element of its market investments towards the end of 2017/18 and in
future years in order to reflect the requirements of this Indicator. During discussion, Members raised questions concerning a cap
on borrowing, property assets and sources of long-term and short-term
borrowing. RESOLVED: That Cabinet be
recommended to approve: (i)
the revised Treasury
Management and Prudential Indicators for the year 2016/17, as set out in
Appendix A to the Head of Financial Services’ Report No. FIN1703; (ii)
the Treasury Management Strategy, Annual
Borrowing Strategy and Annual Investment Strategy, as set out in Appendix B to
the Report; (iii)
the Prudential Indicators, as set out in
Appendix C to the Report; and (iv)
the Minimum Revenue
Provision Statement, as set out in Appendix D to the Report. |
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Follow Up from Audit Results Report PDF 244 KB To consider the Head of Financial Services’ Report No. FIN1704 (copy attached) which sets out the Council’s response to an issue raised by Ernst & Young in their annual Audit Results Report, previously reported to the Committee on 26th September, 2016. Minutes: The Committee considered the Head of Financial Services’
Report No. FIN1704, which set out the Council’s response to an issue which had been raised by Ernst & Young in its
Annual Audit Results Report and considered by the Committee on 26th September,
2016. By way of background, the Committee was advised that the
Audit Report had identified an uncorrected error in the accounts and the
proposed treatment of this had been set out in the Letter of Representation
from Management which had been discussed and approved
by the Committee. In the Letter of Representation a
commitment had been made to review the entire population of debtors and to
correct any errors subsequently identified, prior to the submission of the
accounts for 2016/17 and to adopt necessary procedures to ensure that all
debtor balances were adequately evidenced and provided against where
necessary. The Committee was advised that the Accountancy Team within
Financial Services had carried out a complete exercise on all debtors that fell
outside of the verifiable systems (i.e. sundry debtors, Council Tax, business
rates, housing benefit, purchase ledger) to identify all accounts where there
had been no movement during 2015/16.
These had then been reviewed for supporting
evidence. This exercise had identified
four other balances where sufficient supporting evidence of a collectable debt
was no longer available and of action taken since. The total amount written back to the General
Fund would be £91,877, which represented 1.85% of total debtors. It was advised that
a process would be built into the annual accounts timetable going forward so
that information relating to debtors was adequately maintained and an
assessment would be made for any provision against bad debt and doubtful
debt. The Report informed the Committee that the debtors that fell
outside of the main systems were a small fraction of the total debtors category
and were largely highways related (where works were recharged to others such as
Hampshire County Council) or are in receipt of rent deposits or car loans, all
of which were recorded well within services.
A working paper had been prepared to share with the auditors to
demonstrate compliance with best practice and with the proposals set out in the
Letter of Representation. Members were also advised that the
variance in the revenue account had been reported to the Cabinet as part of the
October budget monitoring report (Report No. FIN1622) and had therefore been
taken into account when estimating the outturn position for 2016/17. RESOLVED: That the action proposed in response to the
Audit Results Report, as set out in the Head of Financial Services’ Report No.
FIN1704, be noted. |
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To consider the Corporate Director’s Report No. CD1701 (copy to follow), which seeks approval of the Pay Policy Statement for recommendation to the Council for adoption. Additional documents: Minutes: The Committee considered the Corporate Director’s Report No.
CD1701, which set out the framework within which pay was determined at the
Council and provided an analysis comparing the remuneration of the Chief
Executive with others employed by the Council.
The Committee was advised that the
ratio between the Chief Executive and the full-time equivalent salary for a
permanent member of staff employed on the lowest grade was 7.1:1, which was
lower than when the exercise had been undertaken for the previous year when the
figure had been 7.5:1. It was also advised that the ratio that looked at the median
remuneration of staff compared to the Chief Executive showed no change from the
previous year and remained at 3.8:1. The Committee RECOMMENDED
TO THE COUNCIL that the Pay Policy Statement 2017/18 be
adopted. |