Venue: Siambr Hywel Dda, Council Offices, Caernarfon, Gwynedd, LL55 1SH
Contact: Bethan Adams 01286 679020
No. | Item |
---|---|
APOLOGIES To receive apologies for absence. Minutes: Councillors Aled Ll. Evans and Charles Wyn Jones. |
|
DECLARATION OF PERSONAL INTEREST To receive any declaration of personal interest. Minutes: No declarations of personal interest were received from any members present. |
|
URGENT ITEMS To note any items which are urgent business in the opinion of the Chairman so they may be considered. |
|
The Chairman shall propose that the minutes of the meeting of this committee, held on 30 November 2017, be signed as a true record. Minutes: The Chair signed the minutes of the previous meeting of this Committee, held on 30 November 2017, as a true record. |
|
REVENUE BUDGET 2017/18 – THIRD QUARTER REVIEW PDF 202 KB To submit the report of the Head of Finance. Additional documents:
Minutes: Submitted - the report of the Head of Finance Department noting that in
accordance with the requirements of the Local Government (Wales) Measure 2011,
the Audit and Governance Committee was expected to scrutinise some financial
matters including budget monitoring reports, where appropriate. The Cabinet Member
for Finance set out the context and elaborated on the content of the report
submitted to Cabinet on 16 January 2018. He noted that,
overall, the third quarter review of the budgets reflected acceptable financial
control by a number of the Council's departments, however, a combination of
specific actions were recommended to the Education, Adults, Health and
Well-being, Children and Supporting Families and Highways and Municipal
Departments to ensure control of their budgets by 31 March 2018. He drew attention
to the Cabinet's decision: "To accept
the report on the third quarter review of the Revenue Budget (as at 31 December
2017) and consider the latest financial position of each department/service's
budget, and ask the Cabinet Members and the relevant heads of department to
take appropriate steps on matters under their leadership/management. It was resolved to
harvest (£270k) from the underspend on Council Tax Reduction, (12k) one-off
underspend on bids and (£803k) from grants received and favourable conditions
on other Council budgets, and transfer them to the Financial Strategy Reserve
to assist with unavoidable one-off pressures on the Council’s budgets, with an
element of it returned to compensate for the possible impact of school taxis
overspend at year end." During the ensuing
discussion, officers and the Cabinet Member responded to members' enquiries as
follows: ·
In the context of gross expenditure of over £5m, an overspend of £198,000 under the 'Catering and Cleaning'
heading in the Education Department was not a substantial sum. The Council had
resolved to find savings by raising the price of school meals to increase
income, and it was reflected in the figures that the income was less than what
had been projected rather than there being an overspend; ·
In terms of the overspend under the 'Transport'
heading in the Education Department: Ø Discussions had
been held with the Education Department and the Environment Department in terms
of alternative solutions rather than using taxis to transport pupils to
schools. As the overspend was unavoidable, bridging finance would be
transferred to the Education Department at the end of the financial year; Ø There was a
deficit in the income of post-16 transport ticket sales, as a consequence of
the ticket costs increases, some pupils/students had made alternative
arrangements. A member's observation as to whether there was a link between the
shortfall and a change to the Council's post-16 Transport policy to an uniform
ticket rate, would be sent to the Head of Education Department; ·
The member would have to contact the Head of
Highways and Municipal Department to obtain confirmation on where the recycling
material was sold. It was explained that there had been a significant drop in
the prices of recycling materials; · In relation to the overspend under the ‘Out of County ... view the full minutes text for item 5. |
|
CAPITAL PROGRAMME 2017/18 – THIRD QUARTER REVIEW PDF 214 KB To submit the report of the Head of Finance. Additional documents: Minutes: Submitted - the report of the Head of Finance Department, providing
details of the revised programme and the relevant sources of finance. The Cabinet Member
for Finance set out the context and elaborated on the content of the report
submitted to the Cabinet on 16 January 2018. It was noted there were firm plans
in place to invest approximately £30.6m in 2017/18, with £5.8m of it funded
through specific grants. Attention was drawn to the increase of £0.776m in the
budget for the three-year capital programme since the second quarter review
position. A member enquired, given that the portion spent in the first nine months
of the current financial year accounted for 51%, did they anticipate further
slippage in the capital programme? In response, the Cabinet Member for Finance
noted that he was confident that the money would be spent in accordance with
the capital programme, however should money be carried over to the 2018/19
financial year he was confident that this would not lead to a financial loss
for the Council. The Head of Finance Department added that a further grant of
£1.8m for highways improvements had been received since the report had been
published and the Head of Highways and Municipal Department had arrangements in
place to spend the money. He explained that expenditure in the last quarter of
the financial year did usually tend to be relatively heavy. In response to an observation by a member about the expenditure slippage
under the heading 'Vehicles Renewals (Highways and Municipal Department)’ to
the 2018/19 financial year, the Head of Finance Department noted that
historically, the Department used to lease vehicles, but following new
legislation under the Prudential Code, the Department had invested money in a
fund over time and would spend the money when there was a need to renew
vehicles. RESOLVED to note the situation and the relevant risks in the context of the Council’s capital programme. |
|
SAVINGS OVERVIEW: PROGRESS REPORT ON REALISING SAVINGS SCHEMES PDF 196 KB To submit the report of the Head of Finance. Additional documents:
Minutes: Submitted - the report of the Head of Finance Department which reported
on the latest situation on realising the saving schemes. The Cabinet Member for
Finance set out the context and elaborated on the content of the report submitted
to Cabinet on 16 January 2018. He noted
that 103 of 122 of the 2017/18 savings schemes had been realised in full or in
part and seven were on track to be delivered on time. He highlighted that the
slippage in realising the 2017/18 savings schemes included the significant
challenge of realising on a number of schemes within the Adults, Health and
Well-being Department and the Children and Families Department. He notified the Committee
that the Cabinet Member for Adults, Health and Well-being had confirmed to the
Cabinet meeting his intention to submit a report on amalgamating the
Department's savings scheme to the Cabinet in due course. In relation to the
challenge of realising the ‘Improving Benefits by Transforming Children
Services' saving scheme within the Children and Families Department, the
Cabinet Member for Children was currently addressing the matter. He noted that
funding child care services was a matter of concern for many local authorities,
but the Cabinet Member was urged to make a decision soon on the way forward
with the transformation plan. The Cabinet Member for
Finance noted there was positive progress towards realising the 2015/16 -
2017/18 saving schemes. A member referred to the
Cabinet's decision on 13 December 2016, that the secondary schools proportion
of savings within the schools saving scheme would be bridged by the Council for
two years. He asked how sustainable this was. In response, the Head of Finance
Department noted that the Council would be facing difficult decisions by this
time next year, the next item on the agenda noted that it was recommended for
the Cabinet to recommend to the Full Council that that the budget for 2018/19
should be balanced by increasing Council Tax and achieving the planned savings,
with no further savings required. Furthermore, he explained that Welsh
Government was transferring grants such as the Schools Improvement Grant into
the general settlement the Council received from the Government, however there
was no increase in the settlement. Therefore, reducing specific grants meant a
significant reduction in school funding, however there would be no cuts in
Gwynedd in the 2018/19 financial year. In response to an
observation by a member regarding which plan within the Highways and Municipal
Department was continuing to cause concern, the Head of Finance Department
noted that the reference was to the 'Reduction in the Frequency of Municipal
Grass Cutting and Collection' scheme and that a report would be submitted to
the Communities Scrutiny Committee in relation to the scheme. In response to a
follow-up question, the Head of Finance Department noted that the Highways and
Municipal Department had carried out grass cuts more often that what had been
planned following requests from Councillors. RESOLVED to note the situation and the relevant risks in the context of the ... view the full minutes text for item 7. |
|
2018/19 BUDGET AND 2018/19 – 2020/21 FINANCIAL STRATEGY PDF 138 KB To submit the report of the Head of Finance. Additional documents:
Minutes: Submitted – the
report of the Cabinet Member for Finance on the Council Budget for 2018/19,
providing an opportunity for the Audit and Governance Committee to scrutinise
the information in terms of its financial propriety prior to the report being
submitted to the Cabinet on 13 February. The Cabinet
Member for Finance set out the background and context of the report. He
referred to the four budget seminars held during January/February to obtain
members' input, noting that the discussions had been detailed, sensible and
constructive. The Head of Finance Department
elaborated on the content of the report and noted that the Council would
receive a reduction of approximately £2m from the Welsh Government in its 2019/20
settlement, and was also facing higher employment costs of approximately £6m as
a result of a national agreement by the 2019/20 financial year. There would
also be general inflation costs and increasing demands in care services. These
factors indicated that 2019/20 was going to be challenging. He noted that there
was a genuine need for the Welsh Local Government Association to press on Welsh
Government to improve the grant settlement and reduce the financial pressure on
local government. He noted that in line with the midterm
three year financial plan, there was a need to ensure that the Council's
arrangements were flexible enough to be able to realise up to £20m savings over three years from 2018/19 -
2020/21. It was recommended that the Cabinet should continue with the current
savings strategy, and the Cabinet should decide on different targets for the
Council departments, the heads of department submitting possible savings to
meet those targets and the scrutiny committees challenging the schemes on
behalf of the people of Gwynedd, before holding a public consultation on
options to be implemented every year. Attention was drawn to Appendix 1 of
the report submitted to the Cabinet, which detailed the unavoidable bids to
respond to the pressures on services. He referred to the equality impact
assessment, the well-being assessment in terms of the requirements of the
Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 along with an assessment of
the risk estimations. Members were given an opportunity to ask questions and make
observations. During the discussion, the following main points were
highlighted:- ·
Would central government change its stance as a
result of the financial problems already witnessed in some local councils? ·
Welsh Government provided too much funding to the
Health Service when compared with local councils. The situation was not
sustainable; ·
The financial position was beyond the Council's
control with an agenda to reorganise local government to force councils to
comply; ·
By how much would the Council Tax need to be
increased to ‘stand still’ over the next two years? · In terms of risks, accept that interest rates were likely to increase with inflation, however, when the Bank of England increases interest rates, this was often not reflected immediately by the banks, it was likely that there would be a gap. What was meant by budgeting additional costs ... view the full minutes text for item 8. |
|
To submit the report of the Head of Finance. Additional documents: Minutes: Submitted – the report of the Head of Finance Department asking the
committee to recommend to the Full Council on 1 March to adopt the Treasury
Management Strategy Statement and the Annual Investment Strategy for 2018/19,
the Prudential Indicators, the Minimum Revenue Provision Strategy and the
merger arrangements with the Pension Fund in terms of investing daily cash
flow. The Head of Finance Department set out the context and elaborated on the
content of the report. Members expressed
their appreciation for the briefing meeting held on 24 January, 2018 for
Committee members with a specialist consultant from the Arlingclose
company, namely the Council's treasury management
consultants. RESOLVED to recommend to the Full Council on 1 March to adopt the Treasury Management Strategy Statement and Annual Investment Strategy for 2018/19 (Appendix A), the Prudential Indicators (Appendix B), the Minimum Revenue Provision Statement (Appendix C) and the merger arrangements with the Pension Fund for the investment of daily cash flow. |
|
REPORT OF THE CONTROLS IMPROVEMENT WORKING GROUP PDF 469 KB To submit the report of the Chair of the Audit and Governance Committee outlining the feedback from the meeting of the Working Group on 22 January 2018. Minutes: Submitted – the
report of the Chairman of the Committee on a meeting of the above-mentioned
working group held on 22 January 2018 to consider the 'Health and Safety -
Primary Schools' audits along with audits that had received a category C
rating, namely - a) Disposal of
Confidential Waste – the use of Red Sacks and Shredders b) Health and
Safety - Ysgol Dyffryn Ardudwy Officers had been
invited to attend the meeting to discuss the matters that had arisen from the
audits and the work undertaken since the audit reports had been published in
order to reinforce the internal controls in question. In response to an
enquiry by a member about the role of Estyn and GwE in relation to school
health and safety policies, the Audit Manager noted that schools tended to
contact the Education Department to ask for copies of the policy after they
received confirmation of an audit by Estyn.
She doubted that the health and safety policies would be in place in the
event of a random audit. She noted that GwE was more involved with the
education aspect. RESOLVED to accept the report. |
|
INTERNAL AUDIT OUTPUT 18/11/17 - 26/1/18 PDF 482 KB To submit the report of the Audit Manager. Minutes: Submitted - the
report of the Audit Manager outlining the Internal Audit section’s work for the
period. It was noted that nine reports on audits from the action plan and one
grant audit had been completed. Each individual report was considered and, during the discussion,
reference was made to the following matters – Arrangements for
Safeguarding Children and Adults - Field Workers' Awareness of the Corporate
Policy A member noted her
concern that although 76% of staff from the sample of 63 were aware that the
Council had Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults Policy and Guidelines,
some of the responses from staff had indicated that they were not aware of the
contents or the background of the policy. She added that there was a need to
ensure that staff received instructions in relation to safeguarding
arrangements and that a training procedure should be in place. In response to the member's observations, the Audit Manager noted that
the highest awareness of the safeguarding policy was amongst the highway depots
staff and that the Highways and Municipal Department had worked hard to raise
awareness of the policy and its content. A member noted
that the Care Scrutiny Committee should be asked to consider the matter as it
was a high risk. In response, the Senior Manager - Revenue and Risk noted that
the matter did not apply to Social Services alone, it was a matter for all
Council staff. He explained that the Audit and Governance Committee did not have
ownership of any risk but the Committee needed to satisfy itself that
arrangements were in place to mitigate the risk. It was noted that the
Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults Operational Panel could be asked to
notify Council Department representatives of the gaps in awareness of the
policy. The Audit Manager
reiterated the above observations and noted that the Safeguarding Children and
Vulnerable Adults Operational Panel had given considerable attention to Council
staff's awareness of the safeguarding policy. She explained that the
Safeguarding Children and Adults Strategic Panel oversaw the Operational Panel. A member noted
that the matter should be referred for discussion by others or it should be
discussed at a meeting of the Controls Improvement Working Group as the
Committee had identified it as a risk. A member noted
that the audit mostly pointed to the lack of training and the matter could be
discussed at the Cabinet Members' performance challenging meetings. In response, the Audit Manager noted that
training statistics were discussed at every meeting of the Operational Panel. The Audit Manager suggested that the Chair of the Operational Panel
could be invited to attend a meeting of the Controls Improvement Working Group
in the future to provide details on the work programme. RESOLVED: (i) to accept the report on
the work of Internal Audit for the period of 18 November 2017 to 26 March 2018
and to support the agreed actions that have already been submitted to the
managers of the relevant services; (ii) that the Chair of ... view the full minutes text for item 11. |
|
INTERNAL AUDIT PLAN 2017/18 PDF 566 KB To submit the report of the Audit Manager on the progress made on the 2017/18 Internal Audit Plan. Minutes: Submitted - the
report of the Audit Manager, providing an update on the current situation in
terms of completing the 2017/18 internal audit plan. It was reported
that the Internal Audit Unit up to 26 January 2018 had completed 67.24% of the
plan, and that 39 of the 58 audits in the 2017/18 plan had been released in a
finalised version. Attention was drawn to amendments to the Plan as a result of
the need to prioritise audits due to the lack of resources. RESOLVED to accept and note the contents of the report as an update of progress against the 2017/18 audit plan. |
|
DRAFT INTERNAL AUDIT PLAN 2018/19 PDF 426 KB To submit the Draft Internal Audit Plan for the year 1 April 2018 – 31 March 2019. Minutes: Submitted – the
report of the Audit Manager, in which details of the draft plan of the Internal
Audit Service's work for the 2018/19 financial year were set out for comment
and approval by the Committee. It was noted that the draft plan had been
prepared after a series of meetings with Departmental Management Teams or
Heads, and the Corporate Risk Register had been considered along with each
department's own risk register. Attention was
drawn to the reduced provision for follow-up work in the draft plan as fewer
hours were needed after a change to the Internal Audit Service's way of working
and in accordance with the principles of Ffordd Gwynedd. In response to an
observation by a member regarding the 'North Wales Growth Board' audit in terms
of the risks to the Council of losing the Wrexham and Flintshire counties to a
partnership with Mersey Dee rather than being part of a north Wales
arrangement, the Audit Manager noted that no decisions had been made yet in
terms of the Lead Council, but there would be risks as with any major projects.
The Head of Finance Department added that the project was in its initial stages
and that officers were aware of the risk and were seeking to ensure that the
funding would not all go to east Wales. He noted that the Internal Audit
Service would keep an eye on the matter. RESOLVED to approve the draft Audit Plan for the period 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019. |