To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor MJ Fishley.

To receive any declarations of interest by Members in respect of items on the Agenda.

GUIDANCE ON DECLARING PERSONAL AND PREJUDICIAL INTERESTS AT MEETINGS

The Council’s Members’ Code of Conduct requires Councillors to declare against an Agenda item(s) the nature of an interest and whether the interest is personal or prejudicial.  Councillors have to decide first whether or not they have a personal interest in the matter under discussion.  They will then have to decide whether that personal interest is also prejudicial.

A personal interest is an interest that affects the Councillor more than most other people in the area.  People in the area include those who live, work or have property in the area of the Council.  Councillors will also have a personal interest if their partner, relative or a close friend, or an organisation that they or the member works for, is affected more than other people in the area.  If they do have a personal interest, they must declare it but can stay and take part and vote in the meeting. 

Whether an interest is prejudicial is a matter of judgement for each Councillor.  What Councillors have to do is ask themselves whether a member of the public – if he or she knew all the facts – would think that the Councillor’s interest was so important that their decision would be affected by it.  If a Councillor has a prejudicial interest then they must declare what that interest is and leave the meeting room.

There were no declarations of interest declared.

To receive any named substitutes.

There were no substitutes declared.

To approve the Minutes of the meeting held on 3 July 2008.

RESOLVED:   that the Minutes of the meeting held on 3 July 2008 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman subject to the following amendment:

The words ‘Government consider and agree ‘being deleted and the words ‘Governance Committee agreed’ being substituted in the first line of part (a) of the Resolution to Minute No.105.

To introduce the external auditor’s Annual Governance Letter for 2008 as an appendix to the Director of Resources report.

The Committee received a report from Sonia Rees, Director of Resources, which introduced the external auditor’s Annual Governance Report for 2008 which set out:

(a)                     their opinion on the financial statements for 2007/08 approved by the Committee on 20 June 2008.

(b)                     their opinion on the Council’s arrangements for securing value for money.

(c)                     their recommendations for further improvements in the Council’s governance arrangements arising from their audit work.

Liz Cave and Terry Tobin represented the Audit Commission and presented the Annual Governance Report for 2008.

Liz Cave reported that the she was pleased to inform the Committee that the Audit Commission’s Report was very positive and that there was very little substance to report which was good news.  She made reference to page 12 and highlighted five new key areas of judgement and audit risks. These areas were looked at in detail and were found to be substantially correct. With regard to the draft representation letter, Appendix 1 to the Commission’s Report, she stated that it was normal. There were no material weaknesses in internal control but drew the Committee’s attention  to two matters. The first was in respect of the ISIS (nursing home payments) system set out in paragraph 16 of the Report, with a recommendation that issues raised in relation to the system for paying nursing homes be addressed. The other matter which was the main concern, was in relation to pooled budgets and the fact that there were no signed agreements in place, paragraph 17 of the Report refers. The recommendation was that the pooled budget arrangements with the PCT including ensuring governance arrangements are updated and signed agreements are put in place. The corporate arrangements for securing economy, efficiency and effectiveness in its use of resources, i.e. value for money, were ‘adequate’ which meant that the basic requirements had been met.

The Committee was asked to consider and approve the draft representation letter attached to the Commission’s Report at Appendix 2.

Sonia Rees reported that the Audit Commission’s recommendations had been referred to the appropriate Directors and that their Actions taken would be tracked accordingly by audit.

Tony Ford, Chief Internal Auditor, informed Members that the recommendations would also be referred to a Scrutiny Committee. The Committee would be up dated on progress in terms of Directorate action and from a Scrutiny viewpoint.

The Chairman drew attention to paragraph 6 of the Commission’s Report and whether the reference in the Report with regard to this Committee’s approval of the Council’s Accounts and Annual Governance Statement and the Committee’s need to consider  Audit Commission’s findings in its Report was creating a ‘tension’ factor for the Committee.

Liz Cave emphasised that there were no material amendments in their Report so the wording was incorrect and that the respective wording in the draft Letter would as a consequence be reviewed.

Councillor RH Smith proposed that the Director of Resources be invited to submit a report summarising the extent and values of current pooling of budgets and current thinking  ...  view the full minutes text for item 111.

To consider and agree a revised Code of Corporate Governance for the Council following the issuing of a new governance framework and guidelines. 

Kevin O’Keefe, Legal Practice Manager, presented a report which requested the Committee to consider a revised Code of Corporate Governance for the Council following the issuing of a new governance framework and guidelines.

Councillor RH Smith referred to paragraph 9 of the report and took the view that any supplemental or commentary instructions in respect of the Code of Corporate Governance by the officers should be submitted to this Committee for ratification.

Councillor Smith also referred to the last line of paragraph 10 of the report and requested clarity of meaning.

Kevin O’Keefe agreed that it was not clear but that its meaning was that the principles had been condensed from five to four.

RESOLVED:   that subject to any supplemental or commentary instructions to the Code of Corporate Governance by the officers being submitted to this Committee for ratification and subsequent approval by Council, the redrafted Code of Corporate Governance be agreed for consideration by the Standards Committee for onward adoption by Council on 31 October 2008.

To inform the committee of the progress made through the implementation of the action plan which followed the Commission for Social Care Inspection in January 2007, and the ongoing adult social care transformation programme.

The Committee considered a report of the progress made through the implementation of the action plan which followed the Commission for Social Care Inspection in January 2007, and the ongoing adult social care transformation programme.

Tony Ford, Chief Internal Auditor, reminded the Committee that previous years Annual Governance Statements had highlighted the need for improvement and that the report sets out the current status following the completion of the action plan.

Councillor AM Toon referred to paragraph 12 ‘Need to improve quality of the transitons process’ in Appendix 1 to the report, and the following sub paragraphs on page 40 of Appendix 1, and requested clarification in respect of :

(i)                  sub paragraph a. – what do all service users have and what has been done.

(ii)                sub paragraph e. – with regard to mandatory training, what is being done, when will this be achieved and is there an accreditation process.

(iii)               Sub paragraph f. – in respect of the dedicated administrator, was there a necessity for this and were the regulations and protocols complied with in the appointment to the post.

The Chairman suggested that a report be submitted to the next meeting setting out the answers to the points raised by Councillor Toon.

RESOLVED:  (a)        that subject to (b) below, the progress made against the action plan and its future inclusion in the overall social care transformation programme be noted; and

(b)               that the Interim Director of Adult Social Care submit a report to the next meeting clarifying the points raised by Councillor Toon in (i) to (iii) above.

To provide the Audit & Corporate Governance Committee with information   requested on:

a)  The risk analysis of internal audit recommendations made in 2007/08.

b)     The internal audit recommendations not accepted by management in the year.

Tony Ford, Chief Internal Auditor, presented a report which provided information which had been requested by the Committee on the risk analysis of internal audit recommendations made in 2007/08 and the internal audit recommendations not accepted by management in the year. He referred to the table in paragraph 6 of the report and informed the Committee of the following amendments to the Recommendations Accepted in Levels I and 2:

Level                                       Recommendations Accepted

No.                        %

                             1                                      306                       99.7

                             2                                      333                       98.2

Councillor AM Toon referred to the Virtual Learning Environment and requested clarification on whether there had been any expenditure in this area. Tony Ford reported that although he was aware there had been some expenditure, he did not have the details with him. He would notify Councillor Toon with the details following the meeting.

Tony Ford further reported that there were a total of seven recommendations which had not been accepted out of the total number of recommendations made in Levels 1 and 2. He reminded Members that follow up procedures within the audit plan were in place with regard to the Critical 1 recommendations.

Councillor RH Smith took the view that non acceptance of three of the seven recommendations were reasonable but he was concerned with the remaining four. He suggested that the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Committee meet with the Director of Resources and the Chief Internal Auditor to review the four recommendations and that a further report be submitted to the Committee giving details of the review.

RESOLVED:        that

     (a)               subject to (b) below, the content of the report be noted; and

     (b)              the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Committee meet with the Director of Resources and the Chief Internal Auditor to review the four recommendations referred to by Councillor RH Smith and that a further report be submitted to the Committee giving details of the outcome of the review.

This report provides the Committee with an update on progress in making planned improvements to the internal control environment and progress with the Annual Audit Plan for 2008/09.

A report was presented by Tony Ford, Chief Internal Auditor, which provided the Committee with an update on progress in making planned improvements to the internal control environment and progress with the Annual Audit Plan for 2008/09.

Tony Ford referred to paragraph 6 of the report and informed Members that the two officers who did not have the authority to authorise Information Communication Technology (ICT) travel and subsistence claims were agency staff.

Sonia Rees, Director of Resources, stated that all Directors should have induction protocols in place to ensure that all agency staff are aware of such responsibilities.

Tony Ford referred to the procedures regarding the purchase of laptop computers and informed the Committee that the new Head of Performance Planning and Development had assured him that all ICT procurement would be channelled through the set procurement procedures in future.

Some Members expressed concern about the incompatibility of ICT specifications which some schools prefer to acquire and the Councils ICT system.

Members were informed that it was necessary for schools ICT systems to be compatible with the Council’s systems in relation to software and security. 

Tony Ford also informed the Committee that the new Head of ICT Services has been reviewing the previous relationship between ICT Services and Children’s Services with a view to working closer together on such matters.

Sonia Rees, Director of Resources, informed Members that the ICT issues between schools and the Council had been identified and measures were in place to move forward to protect the Council’s interest. All the indications were that the Council was progressing positively in these areas. The Strategic Monitoring Committee would also be tracking the way these issues are moving forward.

Councillor JHR Goodwin expressed concern regarding schools computer systems not being able to take Virtual Learning Environment VLE) software.

Tony Ford reported that Cabinet had considered and signed off the VLE agreement.

Councillor RH Smith was concerned about lack of control by management on certain procurement matters and the need to hold individual officers responsible for their actions. He emphasised that it was not about the laptop purchase issue, but the failure of management to ensure that procurement procedure is adhered to. He was of the view that the Committee should send out a clear message to all Directorates that failure of management to adhere to procurement rules and procedures will not be tolerated.

Tony Ford, referred Members to the progress made on the status of audits started during the year and set out in Appendix 2 to the report. He informed the Committee that he would be employing the services of agency staff to help progress the audits. He also made reference to the Audit Opinions, paragraphs 13, 14 and 15 in the report, and that these were basically in line with Appendix 2. He emphasised that there were no Critical 1 recommendations and that there were no unsound audit opinions.

Councillor Smith extended his gratitude to Tony Ford and Sonia Rees for the extensive work with regard to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 115.