Agenda and minutes

I would like to remind everyone present that this meeting will be recorded for subsequent repeated viewing on the Internet and copies of the recording could be made available for those that request it.

By being present at this meeting it is likely that the recording cameras will capture your image and this will result in your image becoming part of the broadcast.

You should be aware that this might infringe your human and data protection rights. If you have any concerns please speak to the webcasting officer.

Please could I also remind members to put on their microphones before speaking by pressing the button on the microphone unit.

The Chairman reminded everyone present that the meeting would be broadcast live to the Internet, and that the Council had adopted a protocol for the webcasting of its meetings.

To declare interests in any item on this agenda.

There were no declarations of interest pursuant to the Council’s Code of Member Conduct.

To confirm the minutes of the last meeting of the Committee held on… (previously circulated).

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 22 June 2009 be taken as read and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

To consider any matters arising from the previous meeting.

There were no matters arising for the Committee to consider.

Section 100B(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972, together with paragraphs (6) and (24) of the Council Procedure Rules contained in the Constitution require that the permission of the Chairman be obtained, after prior notice to the Chief Executive, before urgent business not specified in the agenda (including a supplementary agenda of which the statutory period of notice has been given) may be transacted.

In accordance with Operational Standing Order 6 (Non-Executive Bodies), any item raised by a non-member shall require the support of a member of the Committee concerned and the Chairman of that Committee. Two weeks notice of non-urgent items is required.

The Committee was informed that B Bassington had been appointed as the Council’s new Chief Internal Auditor.

The Chief Internal Auditor then updated the Committee on the staffing situation within the Internal Audit Unit and the Committee noted that the Cabinet had agreed on 7 September to outsource 250 audit days of work over the next two years, for which tenders had been invited.

(Director of Finance & ICT) To consider the minutes of the meeting of the Corporate Governance Group held on 10 June 2009.

The Director of Finance & ICT presented the minutes from the meeting of the Corporate Governance Group held on 10 June 2009. The Committee’s attention was drawn to the topics of discussion and actions arising from the meeting.

The Committee queried the two days notice required for the removal of election fly posters by the District Council. The Director of Finance & ICT responded that he would further advise the Committee at the next scheduled meeting following a discussion with the Returning Officer. The Leader of the Council added that the majority of the posters had been removed that day by the Safer Cleaner Greener team.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting of the Corporate Governance Group held on 10 June 2009 be noted.

(Director of Finance & ICT) To consider the minutes of the meetig of the Corporate Governance Group held on 8 July 2009.

The Director of Finance & ICT presented the minutes from the meeting of the Corporate Governance Group held on 8 July 2009. The Committee’s attention was drawn to the topics of discussion and actions arising from the meeting.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting of the Corporate Governance Group held on 8 July 2009 be noted.

(Director of Finance & ICT) To consider the minutes of the meeting of the Corporate Governance Group held on 5 August 2009.

The Director of Finance & ICT presented the minutes from the meeting of the Corporate Governance Group held on 5 August 2009. The Committee’s attention was drawn to the topics of discussion and actions arising from the meeting.

The Committee queried the lack of a minute concerning the Chief Internal Auditor’s appointment, however the Committee was reassured that the Chief Executive had welcomed him to the Group. The Committee also noted the attendance of the Chief Executive to the three previous meetings of the Group, following their comments three months before.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting of the Corporate Governance Group held on 5 August 2009 be noted.

(Performance Improvement Manager) To consider the attached report (AGC-009-2009/10).

The Director of Finance & ICT presented a report regarding the National Local Government Studies published by the Audit Commission.

Details were provided of the National Local Government Studies published by the Audit Commission, together with summaries of those reports issued during 2009 that were relevant to the Council’s areas of service provision. It was proposed that future local government studies issued by the Audit Commission that related to the Council’s areas of service provision be reported to the Committee. The Executive Study of each report would be attached to the agenda, with a link to download the full report. The Leader of the Council reported that in respect to the report regarding Local Strategic Partnerships, the Epping Forest Partnership was focused upon outcomes and the need for all the partners to work well together.

RESOLVED:

(1)        That the following National Reports relevant to the Council’s areas of service provision published by the Audit Commission be noted:

(a)        ‘Tired of Hanging Around: Using Sport and Leisure Activities to Prevent Anti-Social Behaviour by Young People’;

(b)        ‘Risk And Return: English Local Authorities and the Icelandic Banks’;

(c)        ‘Working Better Together: Managing Local Strategic Partnerships’;

(d)        ‘Summing Up: A Review of Financial Management in Local Government 2005 – 2008’;

(e)        ‘Room For Improvement: Strategic Asset Management in Local Government‘;

(f)         ‘Is There Something I Should Know: Making the Most of Information to Improve Services’; and

(g)        ‘When it Comes to the Crunch: How Councils are Responding to the Recession’; and

(2)        That future National Reports of relevance to the Council published by the Audit Commission be reported to the Committee by way of attaching the Executive Summary and the weblink for downloading the full document to future agendas of the Committee.

(Assistant Director (Property)) To receive a presentation on the measures being taken to improve performance within the Building Maintenance Works Unit and a timetable for completion.

The Committee received a presentation from the Assistant Director (Property) on the review being undertaken of the Housing Repairs and Building Maintenance Works Unit.

The main points covered by the presentation were:

·                     the previous Cabinet decisions;

·                     the role of the Advisory Group and their objectives;

·                     determining the current situation, starting with identifying the current weaknesses;

·                     the current targets and performance against them;

·                     the actions taken to date and the issues still to be addressed;

·                     the two options for appointing the External Management Contractor; and

·                     the actions comprising the next stage of the process.

The Assistant Director explained the correlation between the target of 42 days as the average time to complete non-urgent repairs and the percentage of routing repairs undertaken within schedule target, and why it was necessary to review the Schedule of Rates. Efficiency savings of £365,000 had been achieved so far, and the External Management Contractor would be expected to concentrate on the bigger projects, such as the implementation of an IT system.

The Committee noted the cost cutting measures that had been implemented with the subsequent improvement in performance, and were delighted that the staff appeared to support the process. The Assistant Director was reminded about the Committee’s concerns over the poor results achieved by the audits of each stock-take, and further updates were requested by the Committee at future meetings. The Housing Portfolio Holder thanked the Assistant Director for his efforts as the review was a sizeable project, and undertook to provide the Committee with further update reports in the future.

RESOLVED:

(1)        That the current progress with the review of the Housing Repairs and Building Maintenance Works Unit be noted; and

(2)        That further progress reports be made to the Committee at future meetings.

(Director of Finance & ICT) To consider the attached report (AGC-010-2009/10).

The Director of Finance & ICT presented a report upon the Council’s insurance provision as at 31 March 2009.

At its last meeting, the Committee had reviewed the draft annual accounts and had highlighted Note 21, the provision for excesses on insurance claims of £110,500. It was requested that a summary of the outstanding insurance claims be presented to the next meeting. This summary had been attached at Appendix 1 to the report, whilst Appendix 2 gave additional information on a selection of high value claims.

The Committee noted that there were a number of outstanding cases connected to damage caused by tree roots to property, all of which had an excess of £5,000. It was highlighted that additional resources had been allocated for Tree Works within the District, and that there had been works undertaken in Waltham Abbey on the Ninefields and Roundhills estates specifically to reduce the risk of damage to properties by tree roots. The Committee requested that further updates be provided every six months.

RESOLVED:

(1)        That the information provided regarding the Council’s insurance provision as at 31 March 2009 be noted; and

(2)        That further updates on the Council’s insurance provision be provided to the Committee every six months.

(Chief Internal Auditor) To consider the attached report (AGC-011-2009/10).

The Chief Internal Auditor presented the Internal Audit Monitoring Report for the first quarter of 2009/10, along with the Work Plan for the second quarter of 2009/10 and the current Audit Plan Status Report for 2009/10. The Chief Internal Auditor reported that sickness within the Internal Audit Unit during the first quarter of 2009/10 had amounted to 20 days, in comparison with 18, 6 and 5 days respectively in the three preceding quarters. The average level of sickness over the last twelve months had been approximately eleven days per member of staff, which was again a concern following the improvement in 2008/09. The Committee noted that one member of the team was suffering from a long-term illness, and that sickness for the whole team continued to be managed in accordance with the Council’s Management of Absence policy.

The Chief Internal Auditor advised the Committee of the audit reports that had been issued during the first quarter:

(a)        Substantial Assurance:

·                     Business Plans 2009/10; and

·                     Application of Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act.

(b)        Satisfactory Assurance:

·                     Contract Compliance 2008/09;

·                     Reprographics (Systems);

·                     Communications Policies;

·                     Community and Culture Bookings and Cash Collection follow-up;

·                     Parsonage Court (Housing) Stores; and

·                     Private Renewal Grants/DFG/’CARE’.

(c)        Limited Assurance:

·                     Managing Absence (Data Quality);

·                     Travel & Subsistence Claims;

·                     Building Maintenance (Works Unit) Stocktake; and

·                     Reprographics (Value for Money).

No reports had been issued without any assurance and a further two audits had been in progress at 30 June 2009 but had not been included in the performance figures. The Chief Internal Auditor highlighted the audits that had been issued with Limited Assurance and, with reference to the audit on Travel and Subsistence Claims, it was planned to perform two further spot checks; it was acknowledged that late claims were a minor part of the problem.

The Committee’s attention was drawn to the Priority 1 Actions Status report, and the Limited Assurance Audit Follow Up Status report. The Council’s main financial systems had all been audited during 2008/09, and the External Auditor had ascertained that substantial reliance could be placed on the work of the Internal Audit Unit during 2008/09. It was also noted that the Action Plan arising from the Annual Governance Statement had been appended to allow the Committee to monitor progress against the targets.

The Chief Internal Auditor reported upon the current status of the Internal Audit Unit’s Local Performance Indicators for 2009/10.

·                     % Planned Audits Completed             Target 22.5% Actual 17%;

·                     % Chargeable Staff Time                   Target 72%     Actual 63%;

·                     Average Cost per Audit Day               Target £320     Actual £326; and

·                     % User Satisfaction                            Target 85%     Actual 96%.

Three of the targets had not been met by the Internal Audit Unit due to the vacancy of the part-time Auditor position and the increased sickness levels. Agency cover had been put in place during the second quarter, and all the key financial systems would be audited during the year in line with the Audit Plan.

The Committee requested that a ‘Status’ column be added to the Priority 1 Action Status Report to indicate  ...  view the full minutes text for item 28.

(External Auditor) International Standard on Auditing 260 requires the External Auditor to report to those charged with governance certain matters before they give an opinion on the Statutory Statement of Accounts. The External Auditor has indicated that their audit of the Council’s Statutory Statement of Accounts for 2008/09 is nearly complete and that they wish to present their ISA260 report to this meeting.

A final version of this report will be circulated before the meeting, and the External Auditor will be in attendance to present the report.

The External Auditor presented the Annual Governance Report for Epping Forest District Council in 2008/09, in accordance with the provisions of International Auditing Standard 260.

The External Auditor reported that the key financial systems had been considered adequate as a basis for preparing the financial statements and no significant control weaknesses had been identified. An error in excess of £1million had been identified when auditing the impairment of the Council’s housing stock, but when aggregated with other errors the net impact on the impairment figure was less than material, and had been corrected. Overall, the net impact of the corrections made to the financial statements had been £721,464 but this had been below the material error threshold. The Committee was informed that the Academy System Implementation, Property Management System Implementation and the Council Dwelling Property Numbers had been identified as ‘Significant Audit Risks’, whilst the Council’s Investments in Icelandic Banks, Income Reconciliations and Bad Debt Provision had been identified as ‘Matters of Audit Emphasis’. It was anticipated that an unqualified opinion on the financial statements would be issued.

In respect of Use of Resources, the External Auditor stated that their assessment had been that the Council was performing adequately in managing their finances, governing the business and managing resources. The Council’s Data Quality arrangements were considered adequate and it was anticipated that an unqualified Value for Money conclusion would be issued. The Committee was cautioned that the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards in Local Government from 2010/11 would require transitional arrangements to be put in place by the Council. The Council had yet to review the impact of this change and should develop a formal timetable and implementation plan. The draft Letter of Representation had been attached and would be signed by the Chairman if the Committee resolved accordingly.

The Director of Finance and ICT stated that the audit last year had been difficult with the change of external auditor, however there had been a marked improvement this year and the Accounts had been produced to a much higher standard; the Action Plan for this year had contained only six recommendations. The Council had now developed an action plan for the implementation of the new International Financial Reporting Standards, and the testing of the ICT Disaster Recovery Plan could be brought forward from its scheduled date of March 2010.

RESOLVED:

(1)        That the Annual Governance Report for 2008/09 be noted;

(2)        That, following the completion of the audit, the draft letter of representation be signed by the Chairman of the Audit and Governance Committee;

(3)        That the Action Plan at Appendix A of the report be approved and monitored, with any failure to comply with the recommendations reported back to the Committee.

(Director of Finance & ICT) To consider the attached report (AGC-012-2009/10).

The Director of Finance & ICT presented a report regarding the Statutory Statement of Accounts for 2008/09.

The Director reported that the audit of the annual Statutory Statement of Accounts had revealed some errors previously considered by the Committee. The errors in the Accounts included one item that had been classified as material in terms of the Income and Expenditure Account and had resulted in the Impairment Charge of £31million being reduced by £900,000. Three further non-trivial amendments were required ranging in value from £140,790 to £657,000. In these circumstances it was regarded as best practice to amend the Accounts and have them re-approved. The amended Accounts was to be presented to the Council at its meeting on 29 September, who would consider the recommendation of the Committee.

RESOLVED:

That the amended Annual Governance Statement and amended Statutory Statement of Accounts for 2008/09 be recommended to the Council for adoption.

Exclusion:

To consider whether, under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press should be excluded from the meeting for the items of business set out below on grounds that they will involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the following paragraph(s) of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act (as amended) or are confidential under Section 100(A)(2):

The Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006, which came into effect on 1 March 2006, requires the Council to consider whether maintaining the exemption listed above outweighs the potential public interest in disclosing the information. Any member who considers that this test should be applied to any currently exempted matter on this agenda should contact the proper officer at least 24 hours prior to the meeting.

Confidential Items Commencement:

Paragraph 9 of the Council Procedure Rules contained in the Constitution require:

(1)        All business of the Council requiring to be transacted in the presence of the press and public to be completed by 10.00 p.m. at the latest.

(2)        At the time appointed under (1) above, the Chairman shall permit the completion of debate on any item still under consideration, and at his or her discretion, any other remaining business whereupon the Council shall proceed to exclude the public and press.

(3)        Any public business remaining to be dealt with shall be deferred until after the completion of the private part of the meeting, including items submitted for report rather than decision.

Background Papers: 

Paragraph 8 of the Access to Information Procedure Rules of the Constitution define background papers as being documents relating to the subject matter of the report which in the Proper Officer's opinion:

(a)        disclose any facts or matters on which the report or an important part of the report is based;  and

(b)        have been relied on to a material extent in preparing the report and does not include published works or those which disclose exempt or confidential information (as defined in Rule 10) and in respect of executive reports, the advice of any political advisor.

Inspection of background papers may be arranged by contacting the officer responsible for the item.

            RESOLVED:

That, in accordance with Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the item of business set out below as it would involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 12(A) of the Act indicated and the exemption is considered to outweigh the potential public interest in disclosing the information:

Agenda                                                                       Exempt Information

Item No           Subject                                               Paragraph Number

17                    Review of Extraordinary Council                    1 and 4

                        Meeting – 17 August 2009

(Director of Corporate Support Services) To consider the attached report (AGC-013-2009/10).

The Committee received a report from the Monitoring Officer reviewing the events of the extraordinary Council meeting held on 17 August 2009. The Monitoring Officer suggested that the Council could consider the adoption of the protocol between the Monitoring Officer and Members, as recommended by the Audit Commission. The report had been prepared in response to a request from the Chairman of the Audit & Governance Committee.

RESOLVED:

(1)        That the report of the Monitoring Officer regarding the extraordinary meeting of the Council on 17 August 2009 be noted; and

(2)        That the Audit Commission protocol between the Monitoring Officer and Members be considered at the next scheduled meeting of the Committee on 30 November 2009.