Venue: Siambr Hywel Dda, Council Offices, Caernarfon, Gwynedd, LL55 1SH
Contact: Bethan Adams 01286 679020
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APOLOGIES To receive apologies for absence. Minutes: Councillors Stephen Churchman and Alan Jones Evans. |
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DECLARATION OF PERSONAL INTEREST To receive any declaration of personal interest. Minutes: No declarations of personal interest were received from any members present. |
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URGENT ITEMS To note any items which are urgent business in the opinion of the Chairman so they may be considered. Minutes: The Cabinet Member
for Finance referred to a recent article in the Daily Post newspaper, that
noted that the Council had not collected £3.8m of tax arrears. He explained
that the amount included tax arrears for a period of approximately five years
and that the article had misinterpreted the information. He noted that the
amount of tax collected annually by the Council was amongst the best of Wales'
councils. The Head of
Finance Department added that the Council collected taxes effectively but also
sensitive to the situation of Gwynedd Residents that pay, and the amount of
council tax owed per individual house
was lower than neighbouring councils. He noted that performance was monitored
quarterly and that it was likely that further attention should be given to the
matter at the next performance monitoring meeting of the Cabinet Member for
Finance. The Chair thanked the Cabinet Member for Finance for appearing before the committee, upon his request, to address the issue. |
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RISK MANAGEMENT ARRANGEMENTS PDF 276 KB To submit the report of the Senior Manager Revenues and Risk. Minutes: Submitted - the
report of the Senior Revenue and Risk Manager who provided an update on what
had been achieved since a report had been submitted to the Committee on 9
February 2017 responding to the letter from the Performance Audit Manager
(Wales Audit Office) to the Chief Executive on his review of the Council's risk
management arrangements. The new scoring
method that was intended to be used to analyse risks from now on was presented,
and the Committee was asked to express its views on the scoring method. It was noted that
the new principles would be consulted in terms of preparing and maintaining the
Risk Register with the Council's Management Team (which is the Corporate
Management Team and Heads of Departments) at its meeting on 10 July 2017. It was reported
that the Corporate Risk Register, and a document summarising the principles,
would be ready to be presented to the Committee on 28 September 2017. During the ensuing
discussion, the following main observations were noted by members: ·
Who decides in terms of
risk scoring? ·
The generic objective
document was welcomed, but that there was a danger that it could be subjective. ·
Would the Committee
accept information if certain risks were acceptable? ·
Was there a danger that
departments might give higher risk scores just in case? ·
Was there an intention
to set a period of one month for departments to reduce the risk score of
something that was in the red? ·
Was there anything
currently in the red? The officers responded to the observations as follows: ·
The departments decided the score by prioritising
risks within the department. The Governance Arrangements Assessment Group
reconciled the scores and this should reassure the members of the Committee of
quality management; ·
The Governance Arrangements Assessment Group were
overseeing the register; ·
There was a need to be open and accept that some
risks were acceptable. If members of the Committee were of the opinion that the
risk was unacceptable, they could ask officers to put steps in place; ·
The Governance
Arrangements Assessment Group's reconciling role was key; ·
It was expected that anything in the red would
receive attention at once with the action steps, responsible officer and
timetable noted. It was not considered that setting a specific time period,
such as a month, to reduce the risk score was practical since all risks would
be different, with different circumstances; ·
Nothing was currently in the red. Many plans were
in the amber and they would be prioritised, with less matters
in the yellow. Establishing new risk management arrangements would formalise
what was happening already. RESOLVED to accept the report as an update on the progress of developing the risk management arrangements. |
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HEAD OF INTERNAL AUDIT ANNUAL REPORT 2016/17 PDF 688 KB To submit the report of the Audit Manager. Minutes: Submitted - the report of the Audit
Manager. On the basis of the work of Internal Audit that
was completed in 2016/17, the officer was satisfied that Gwynedd Council had a
sound framework of internal control. It
was reported that 69 out of 72 audits in the final amended internal audit plan
had been completed by 31 March 2017, which corresponded to 95.83% of the plan,
against a performance target of 95% for 2016/17. Attention
was drawn to the true 2016/17 result in terms of 'Percentage of Internal Audit
follow-up reports with an "Acceptable" opinion or better (corporate
indicator)' was 92% rather than 83% as noted on page 12 of the agenda. Reference
was made to a new achievement measure for Internal Audit - 'Percentage of the
agreed actions that have been implemented in accordance with schedule.' It was
noted that drawing up agreed actions with officers rather than drawing up
recommendations, as was done in the past, would encourage officer's ownership
of the actions. In
response to members' observations regarding a decrease in staffing level of
Internal Audit, the Senior Revenue and Risk Manager noted that that the
decrease in accordance with the efficiency savings that were approved by the
Full Council. He added that there was currently a vacant post in Internal
Audit, the job had been advertised but the response was disappointing. He noted
that it might be considered to advertise the post as a training contract to
qualify. A
member noted that a Council Department received opinion C in many audits, he
asked if the situation had improved and how likely it was that steps had been
taken by the Department. In response, the Audit Manager noted that a service
within a specific Department had received opinion C in many audits and that
follow-up audits would be conducted. She added that it was unfortunate when
audits had received opinion C, but it was good to see controls in place in
response and she hoped that agreed actions would encourage officer's ownership. A
member noted that on occasion, new managers would ask Internal Audit to conduct
an audit. In response, the Audit Manager noted that a new manager of one
leisure centre had asked for an audit and had used the report as an action
plan. A
member referred to paragraph 4.13 of the report, and asked whether it would be
beneficial to note the follow-up audit that had received an unsatisfactory
opinion. In response, the Audit Manager noted that it was a follow-up audit of
the Highways and Municipal Department's Workshops, Garages and Depots' Site
Maintenance, that had received an unsatisfactory opinion. This was reported to
the Committee in a previous meeting. She explained that since receiving an
unsatisfactory opinion, the service had implemented an action plan in response. The Lay Member noted that the Controls Improvement Working Group was good practice, and asked if the arrangement would continue. In response, it was noted that the Working Group would continue and that it enabled members ... view the full minutes text for item 5. |
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GWYNEDD COUNCIL ANNUAL GOVERNANCE STATEMENT 2016/17 PDF 377 KB To submit the report of the Senior Manager Revenues and Risk. Additional documents: Minutes: The Senior Revenue and Risk Manager
set out the background and context of the report. It was noted that action plans for the areas
of high or mid priority had been noted in the statement.
It was explained that these areas
would receive attention when shaping the Council's new Strategic Plan including projects to address them. The Chief Executive noted that he chaired
the Governance Arrangements
Assessment Group and that the statement submitted was a product of considerable work. During the ensuing
discussion, the following main observations were noted by members: ·
In terms of the 'openness' of risk governance, the
requirement in the constitution for a quarter of the membership to vote in
favour of holding a registered vote at Full Council meetings should be
re-examined. It was acknowledged that this would not be possible at other
committees, but as an electronic system was in place in Siambr
Dafydd Orwig, every vote at
Full Council meetings should be registered; ·
There was a need to re-examine the risk score noted
under 'Culture', as there was an opinion that the evidence noted in the
statement did not justify such a high score. ·
Was the statement a
public document? ·
Including examples of
implementation would better explain why the risk score was so high; ·
In terms of the
statement's consistency, it is noted under 'Engagement' that the Gwynedd
Challenge exercise had been very successful, whilst it was noted under
'Accountability' that only 2,000 residents responded out of a
18+ population of nearly 100,000. The officers responded to the observations as follows: ·
This matter should be considered as a formal item
by the Committee with a report weighing the advantages and disadvantages of
conducting a registered vote for every vote at Full Council meetings; ·
Members were encouraged to attend Ffordd Gwynedd training on 5 July 2017. Corporate thinking
did not generally put the people of Gwynedd at the centre, but by changing the
Council's culture, the risk score would decrease. There was a higher number of
looked after children in Gwynedd compared to other councils. Culture was a
matter that really required attention. The evidence in the statement would be
amended to better reflect this; ·
The statement would appear on the Council's website
and would be included with the financial statements; ·
Examples would be included under 'Culture', and if
members referred to other specific risks, examples could be noted, but efforts
were made to keep the document short; ·
In the context of 'Engagement', the response was
very good in comparison with other consultations, but in regards to
'Accountability' it was not particularly good. RESOLVED: (i)
to approve the Annual
Governance Statement for 2016/17; (ii) to recommend that the Council Leader and the Chief Executive sign the
statement; (iii) to receive a report in
relation to amending the Council's constitution to enable every vote in Full
Council meetings to be registered without the requirement for a quarter of
members to vote in favour of conducting a registered vote. |
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GWYNEDD HARBOURS FINAL ACCOUNTS 2016/17 PDF 213 KB To submit the report of the Senior Finance Manager. Additional documents: Minutes: The Head
of Finance Department set out
the background and context of the statutory requirements. The Senior Finance
Manager submitted the report regarding the final accounts of Gwynedd Harbours
for the year 2016/17 in line with the statutory requirements under the Harbours
Act 1964. It was noted that Gwynedd Harbours was considered a small governing body,
as turnover was less than £2.5m, and due to the fact that completing an annual
official form for the Wales Audit Office (WAO) met statutory requirements. Attention was
drawn to the fact that the accounts did not include Hafan
Pwllheli nor Victoria Dock
as they were not included within the definition of a Harbour, for the purposes
of the relevant legislation. It was reported
that the accounts and the form would soon be the subject of an audit by
Deloitte, Gwynedd Council's external auditors which had been appointed by the
Auditor General for Wales, and an amended version would be submitted to a
meeting of the Committee on 28 September 2017. During the ensuing
discussion, officers responded to members' enquiries as follows: ·
In terms of low expenditure on training, training
expenditure was included within the Maritime Service's budget; ·
There was a difference in terms of budget and
actual expenditure on insurance as a new insurance contract had come into force
in April 2016; the budget was specified in December 2015; ·
The Service had attempted to generally cut costs to
ensure that the expenditure was in line with the budget; ·
That the Committee, at its meeting on 6 June, had
decided to ask the Education and Economy Scrutiny Committee to consider
expanding its scrutiny work on reviewing the management and governance
arrangements at Hafan, Pwllheli
to include all harbours. RESOLVED: (i) accept and approve the
information in the appendices, namely - ·
Income and Revenue Expenditure Account 2016/17 - Appendix A; and ·
Statements of Accounts form for 2016/17, for audit - Appendix B. (ii) authorise the Chairman to sign the statements of accounts form 2016/17. |
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INSURANCE CLAIMS AGAINST THE COUNCIL PDF 362 KB To submit the report of the Senior Manager Revenues and Risk. Additional documents: Minutes: Submitted - the
report of the Senior Revenue and Risk Manager that elaborated on Council
arrangements in terms of dealing with insurance claims and included information
about public liability and employers liability claims
that had been settled during 2016/17. Attention was drawn to the fact that
75.5% of accountability claims against the Council had been settled without
costs. During the ensuing
discussion, officers responded to members' enquiries as follows: ·
The number of employers liability claims was
relatively low considering the number of staff employed by the Council, the
number of Council owned vehicles and the services provided; ·
An attempt was made to learn lessons from the
defended claims in addition to those that had been lost; ·
In terms of paying claimant costs, only fixed costs
could be claimed since 2013. The Council attempted, when possible and if
appropriate, to resolve claims with settlements before going to court. Legal
opinion was sought in terms of the likelihood of defending some claims; ·
Each of the cases listed in the Appendix
were subject to an excess of £25,000 before 1 April 2016, the excess had subsequently risen to £50,000 per Public Liability and Employers
Liability claim. The Council paid any costs towards individual
claims up to this threshold, and the insurance company paid any sums above that.
·
There had not been an increase in the number of
insurance claims following the Council's decision to reduce the frequency of
grass cutting. RESOLVED to accept the report. |
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SAVINGS PLANNING TO SUPPORT FINANCIAL RESILIENCE PDF 179 KB To submit the report of the Head of Finance. Additional documents:
Minutes: It was reported that a national report had been published on 14 June, by the Wales Audit Office (WAO), stating that “the majority of Welsh council's had improved their financial plans for the medium
term and, by now, they have
an effective means of projecting savings they need
to achieve," but
"that councils have more to do to plan how they will bridge
the funding gap that has been identified
by them, which undermines their financial plans for the medium
term." It was noted that
the specific WAO report on 'Gwynedd Council's Financial Savings' had been
positive. Attention was drawn to the fact that the Auditor General for Wales
noted that the WAO had reached the conclusion - ·
the Council's
financial management arrangements and sound and it
is well placed to tackle future
challenges; ·
the Council
has an effective
and well-considered savings planning approach, which is supporting future financial resilience; ·
this is a continued
strong position from 2015-16 - the Council has well-established and clear policies
around its financial planning arrangements. The Head of
Finance Department guided members through the report with specific reference to
the appendix which detailed the WAO proposals and the Council's
response/action. A member referred
to a WAO improvement proposal, namely establishing a more corporate approach to
identifying opportunities to generate income. It was noted that a more
corporate approach would be welcomed and that he assumed that managers would
take more risks in regards to generating income if a strategy existed to
support them. In response, the
Chief Executive noted that culture was extremely important and that there was
scope to look at income generating opportunities in order to ensure that the
results of any decisions on main income streams were fully assessed. He noted
that managers were expected to look for opportunities to increase income in
terms of smaller income streams. The member noted
that some managers noted that workload effected their
ability to venture. In response the Chief Executive noted that it was a matter
of prioritising and that some managers completed work that could be dealt with
by the workforce in accordance with Ffordd Gwynedd. RESOLVED to accept the report. |
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PERFORMANCE MONITORING To invite Members to express interest in attending performance monitoring meetings. Minutes: Members were invited to express an interest in attending performance
monitoring meetings for 2017/18. It was explained that the Committee had two
specific areas of work - Corporate Support and Finance. The Chair, Vice-chair and Councillors Huw G. Wyn Jones and Cemlyn Williams expressed an interest. |