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APOLOGIES To receive apologies for absence. Minutes: Apologies were received from Councillors Aled Ll Evans, Peredur Jenkins and Gethin Glyn Williams |
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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: None to note |
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CORPORATE WEBSITE SELF-SERVICE PROJECT PDF 251 KB To report on the project's developments
since it started in 2016 Decision: To accept the report Minutes: A report was
submitted to the Committee, following a discussion held at the Scrutiny Working
Group (10/05/21), outlining the efforts made since 2016 to increase the
interactive provision on the website and to make it easier to contact the
Council about a number of matters 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It was noted that there was a significant increase in the
number of residents using the service, which was positive and confirmed the
value of the investment. It was reiterated that the
service continued to develop and collaborate with Services and consulted with
other Authorities in an attempt to improve the provision. The possibility of
establishing an internal system to support the provision was noted, and
although the project itself could not claim any direct savings, it had assisted
in making savings in Services e.g. Galw Gwynedd to
save £23,000 by developing an internal system. It was highlighted that the pandemic had led to the
introduction of on-line services in fields where there were previously none,
and this had led to an increase in requests for on-line services generally.
Reference was made to future developments that
included establishing a web-chat function, sharing school admission details,
maritime forms along with further requests to submit, e.g. Housing waiting
list, recycling equipment, crematorium slots for undertakers, foster carer
applications. It was considered that this should be
welcomed and posed another challenge to prioritise all the requests in a way
that brought benefits to our customers and the services in question. The Cabinet Member reiterated that the Cabinet was fully
supportive of the project and was proud of the good work being
undertaken. She noted that the option to use technology for 24
hour contact was beneficial and that Gwynedd was breaking new ground in
offering the service bilingually. Gratitude was expressed for the report. During the ensuing
discussion, the following observations were made by members: ·
The service was
undertaking excellent work - it was certainly the way forward ·
The perseverance and enthusiasm of the Team should
be congratulated ·
There was a need to review the 'draw attention to
potholes' steps - too complex ·
A good experience needed
to be ensured if a 'web-chat' was to be introduced -
it had to be ensured that back-office staff had up-to-date information and
carefully considered which Services were suitable to offer. Needed to avoid a
frustrating and impersonal situation for the customer. ·
Needed to ensure that a Powys postcode was accepted
in 'Where I Live' - some of these postcodes were relevant to Gwynedd residents In response to a question on responding to poor feedback and whether those comments had a pattern, should it be a technical matter, it was noted that the Website Team would deal with the matter with support from the IT Service. If one of the other Council Services received poor feedback, then the response would be likely to vary from Service to Service but that every attempt would be made to ensure a response. In terms of ... view the full minutes text for item 4. |
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STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS 2020/21 PDF 124 KB To receive the Statutory Statement of Accounts (pre-audit draft) for information Additional documents: Decision: To accept and note the Statement of the
Council’s Accounts (subject to audit) for 2020/21 Minutes: The Cabinet Member for Finance took the opportunity to thank all staff
at the Finance Department for their commitment to ensure that the Council's
(draft) Accounts Statement had been submitted to Audit
Wales, namely the external auditors, before the statutory date (31 May 2021).
The Head of the Finance Department reiterated his gratitude to the staff for
completing the work while responding to a new challenging statutory timetable
amidst the Covid-19 crisis. The IT Service was also thanked
for enabling working from home developments. He noted that he had already
certified the draft accounts and that it would be good practice to share the
accounts with Members to give them an opportunity to question / make
observations. The final accounts would be submitted to
the Committee for approval on 14/10/21. In terms of the Main Statements and Notes, it was
explained that the Statement had been completed in CIPFA standard form.
It appeared clumsy and technically complex and it was
highlighted that the pension figures tended to skew the figures.
Reference was made to information in Note 38 in order
to better understand the situation. The Head of Finance noted that he, along
with other Treasurers across the UK, were holding discussions with CIPFA to try
to persuade them to abolish the pension figures, which led to a misapprehension
of some aspects in the Statement. The Senior Finance Manager added that six sets of accounts had been completed but it was not possible for them to be
audited and approved until the autumn term, as there was a need to ensure that
public rights were implemented. Reference was made to
the Narrative Report that provided information about the Accounts and on the
vision and priorities of Gwynedd, the Financial Strategy and the financial
performance measures. Members were guided through the
report and details were provided on some elements: ·
Movement in Reserves Statement (page 22 of the
agenda), which summarised the Council's financial position for 2020/21 -
attention was drawn to the additional information columns: -
column 1: the Council's general balances had
increased by £1.8 million during the year, £7.5 million at the end of March
2020 to £9.4 million by the end of March 2021 -
column 2: referred to an increase of £20 million
during the year in reserves, £59 million at the end of March 2020 to £79
million by the end of March 2021 -
column 3 - School balances - an increase of £6.4 million from £4.3 million at
the end of March 2020 to £10.8 million by the end of March 2021. It was
highlighted that the main reasons for the increase was the receipt of
various substantial grants. ·
New arrangements for this year, jointly with other
Councils, related to Covid (page 94), including the
Test, Trace and Protect Programme. Members were reminded that the (draft) accounts were subject to an Audit and a report from the External Auditors (Audit Wales), along with final accounts, would be submitted to the Committee for approval on ... view the full minutes text for item 5. |
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TREASURY MANAGEMENT 2020/21 PDF 321 KB To receive the report for information Decision: To accept the
report for information Minutes: The
Investment Manager submitted a report in relation to the actual results of the
Council's treasury management during 2020/21, compared with the strategy
approved by the Full Council on 5/3/20. It was noted
that the Council's borrowing activity was within the limits originally set, and
£422,000 of interest had been received on investments, which was higher than
the £400,000 within the budget. It was confirmed that
there were no defaults by institutions in which the Council had deposited money
with. It
was reported that it had been a challenging year with interest rates declining,
restrictions on where to invest money along with substantial amounts being
processed with the Council administrating over £100 million of Covid-19 grants
to businesses. However, the Council had managed to ensure that the investments
were secure and had reached the investment income target. Attention
was drawn to the balance sheet and to the details of
borrowing activities, highlighting the fact that loans had remained within the
strategy to keep borrowing costs low. No long-term loans were
made during the year and not much use was made of short-term loans as
funding levels had been too high compared to the end of the previous financial
year where short-term loans were made due to the uncertainty of the Covid-19
crisis. In
the context of investments, it was reported that the Council had continued to
invest with Banks, Cash Market Funds and Pooled Funds, but there was an
increase in using Local Authorities as opportunities with banks and similar
organisations were very limited, and the cash market rates were very low. It was reiterated that returns had been very low, but that
pooled funds had saved the day as they had bounced back following the slump at
the end of the 2019/20 financial year. It was highlighted
that the value of investments had increased by £0.6 million during the year,
with a rate of 5.13% contributing towards the interest income ensuring that
there was no deficit against the budget. In
the context of the compliance report and indicators, it was
reported that full compliance had taken place separately to the interest
rate disclosure. It was highlighted that this disclosure showed a one-year
revenue impact of a 1% increase in interest rates, highlighting the serious
impact the pandemic has had on investment returns compared to what had been
projected at the beginning of March 2020 when the restricted level was set -
pre-Covid-19. It was
reiterated that returns on pooled funds had recovered the interest
decline. Gratitude
was expressed for the report. During
the ensuing discussion, the following observations were made
by members: ·
Although pleased to receive grants, Gwynedd Council
has resolved to use its funding to reduce the effects of Covid-19 on Council residents ·
A need to correct the Treasury Management Summary
(page 100 of the agenda) to highlight £’000 instead of £m In response to an observation in the report 'that the duration of investments and number of institutions available to deposit money with has been reduced ... view the full minutes text for item 6. |
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COUNTER FRAUD, ANTI-CORRUPTION AND ANTI-BRIBERY ARRANGEMENTS PDF 364 KB To update the Committee on the Council’s anti-fraud and anti-corruption work, and progress on the three-year work programme Decision: To accept the
information as an update on the anti-fraud and anti-corruption steps the
Council is taking. Minutes: A report was
submitted by the Assistant Head of Finance (Revenue and Risk) updating the
Committee on the Council's anti-fraud and anti-corruption arrangements,
progress on the programme of work of Gwynedd Council's Anti-Fraud,
Anti-Corruption and Anti-Bribery Strategy for 2019 - 2022 adopted by the
Committee on 14/02/2019. It was emphasised that Council officers were
not currently investigating allegations of fraud against it. It was reported
that specific workshops had not been held to identify new risks, but an
Internal Audit Manager had met with all Heads of Department to discuss aspects
of risk that would need to be included in the 2021/22 Internal Audit Plan. One element that could not be implemented due to the ongoing pandemic
situation was to conduct fraud interviews against the Council Tax Reduction
Scheme, which would lead to an administrative penalty or prosecution in the
most serious cases. Although an attempt was made to
plan further actions, the situation this year has not allowed developments in
this field. Attention was drawn to the National Fraud Initiative (NFI) that
undertakes a data-matching exercise that helps public bodies to detect and
prevent fraud and overpayments from the public purse. The data-matching work
would be undertaken every two years and a full exercise would take place
soon. Data has already been provided to
Audit Wales for them to undertake the work and the results of that work will
start to be verified by Internal Audit (which has earmarked 40 days to complete
the task in the 2021/22 plan) The Committee will receive an update on the work
and any cases that emerge as the work progresses. It was reiterated that the National Fraud Initiative was also
helping to review the grant payments made to Gwynedd Businesses during the
lockdown periods. There were five grant schemes during 2020/21 and over £106m
of grant funding was distributed. It was noted that
early signs suggested that no fraudulent applications had emerged through the
NFI exercise and that this confirmed that robust arrangements were in place
within the Taxation Service that administered the grants. Gratitude was expressed for the report. RESOLVED To accept the information as an update on
the anti-fraud and anti-corruption steps the Council is taking. |