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. Additional documents: Minutes: Councillors Trevor Edwards and W. Tudor Owen and John Pollard (Lay Member). |
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DECLARATION OF PERSONAL INTEREST To receive any declaration of personal interest. Additional documents: 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. Additional documents: |
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The Chairman shall propose that the minutes of the meeting of this committee, held on 1 December 2016, be signed as a true record. Additional documents: Minutes: The Vice-chair signed the minutes of the meeting of this committee held on 1 December 2016 as a true record. |
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REVENUE BUDGET 2016/17 - THIRD QUARTER REVIEW PDF 120 KB To submit the report of the Head of Finance. Additional documents: Minutes: Submitted - the monitoring report of the Head of Finance Department and the Senior Finance
Manager on the latest financial situation which would be presented to the Cabinet
on 14 February. The Cabinet Member for Resources set out the context and drew
attention to the recommendation
for the Cabinet:
·
To accept
the report on the third quarter review
of the Revenue Budget (situation on 31 December 2016) and consider the latest situation 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. ·
To transfer
(£115k) from the Regulatory
Department to the Council's
general balances to assist with the forthcoming changes so that the Council's
priorities can be delivered. ·
To harvest
(£250k) from the favourable
Council Tax collections, (£180k) from the Benefits underspend, (£600k) from the reserve budget, together with (£250k) of the underspend included within 'Other' to the Council's general balances. £1,055k of the sum (£756k 2017/18 and £299k
2018/19) was to be used to fund
committments in the field of Education which have already
been approved by the Cabinet on 13 December 2016. During the ensuing
discussion, officers responded to members' enquiries as follows: ·
The Adults, Health and Well-being Department and
the Children and Supporting Families Department had huge budgets and that the
level of overspend was now at 0.1% of the budget. Legislative changes had
resulted in added pressure on the Adults, Health and Well-being Department, and
pressures of supporting children outside the county had led to overspending in
the Children and Supporting Families Department. Reference was made to the bids
submitted to the Cabinet on 14 February to respond to the Departments' needs.
The Children and Supporting Families Department was expected to take steps to
manage the budget by 31 March and assess the future situation; ·
Demand in the 'Post-16 Services' field within the
Children and Supporting Families Department varied; and with regard to
underspending, one expensive package could change the spending situation. An underspend did not mean that the service was not
delivering. Emphasis is placed on preventative services in order for
individuals to look after themselves; ·
The target income for school dinners already
reflected the price charged and that the change in the number of pupils had
affected the income; ·
Regarding efficiency savings in schools' budgets,
the Schools Budget Forum were consulted and the decision was made to postpone
the savings in the Secondary sector for a year as the value of the Secondary
demographic would fall by £383k in 2017/18, thus changing the course for the
following year. There was no rationale for making school staff redundancies (to
be funded centrally by the Council), and then re-employing. Gwynedd was among
the 2 or 3 councils with the highest expenditure in the primary sector, with
neighbouring councils planning to implement more cuts to school budgets by
2017/18. · Spending trends and budget amendments in the Adults, Health ... view the full minutes text for item 5. |
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CAPITAL PROGRAMME 2016/17 - THIRD QUARTER REVIEW PDF 117 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 Resources set out the context and elaborated
on the content of the report which would be presented to the Cabinet on 14
February. It was noted that definite plans were in place to invest around
£31.592 million in 2016/17, with £8.024 million financed through gaining
specific grants. It was confirmed that £6.040 million of proposed expenditure
had been re-profiled from 2016/17 to 2017/18, but no loss of funding was caused
to the Council where schemes had slipped. In response to a question by a member,
the Cabinet Member for Resources noted that he was not concerned about re-profiling
and that no great slippage was predicted, no greater than what had been
reported, but this couldn’t be guaranteed. RESOLVED (i)
to take note of the
situation and the relevant risks in the context of the Council’s capital
programme. (ii) Recommend that the Cabinet accept the report and approve the
recommendations. |
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2017/18 BUDGET AND 2017/18 – 2019/20 FINANCIAL STRATEGY PDF 107 KB To submit the report of the Head of Finance. Additional documents: Minutes: Submitted – the report of the Cabinet Member
for Resources on the budget, providing an opportunity
for the Audit Committee to scrutinise the financial propriety and associated risks of the information prior to
the report being submitted to the Cabinet on 14 February. The Cabinet Member for Resources set out the background and context of
the report. He referred to the four budget seminars held during
January/February to obtain members' input, and noted his disappointment at the
number that didn’t attend. He noted that it was difficult to predict the future
but that the Council had made future projections and the financial arrangements
implemented by the Council had been approved by the Wales Audit Office. The Head of Finance Department
elaborated on the content of the report and noted that the Council would
receive an increase of 1.1% to its grant, which compared with a Wales average
of 0.3%. It was noted that officers from Gwynedd had taken a leading role in
providing the evidence to justify changing the distribution formula to reflect
the true cost of care in rural areas. 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. It was noted, in general, that there
was support in the finance seminars for a 2.8% increase in Council Tax. It was
explained that a comprehensive review of the Council's assets would be
conducted under the guidance of the Chief Executive, and an Assets Strategy would
be drawn up and enforced from 2018/19 for a period of 10 years. Members were given an opportunity
to ask questions and make observations.
During the discussion, the following main points were highlighted:- ·
What would
the people of Gwynedd gain from the apprenticeship levy? ·
There was a substantial
rise in the North Wales
Fire and Rescue Service Levy. What was the Council's input to the process? ·
In relation to further efficiency savings, there was concern that the Full Council did not partake in decisions
which impacted the people of Gwynedd. ·
Doubtful that
it would be possible to find further efficiency savings. ·
That the finance
seminars held were beneficial. The recommendation was balanced and thorough. ·
Should the Westminster
Government and Welsh Government be persuaded to adopt the English form of business taxes in Wales in order to allow
the Council to make use of business rates? ·
The Council
collected funds on behalf of the Fire Service and the Snowdonia National Park through the Council Tax arrangement. Would it be possible
to present a more detailed breakdown on the Council Tax form? ·
It would be better to include a more detailed breakdown on the Council Tax form rather than in Newyddion Gwynedd. ·
The level
of small business tax relief scheme
was lower in Wales than in England. What
was the impact? A response was given to the questions and observations as follows:- ... view the full minutes text for item 7. |
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To submit the report of the Head of
Finance. Additional documents:
Minutes: Submitted - the report of the Head of the Finance Department requesting that the Full Council on
2 March adopt the Treasury Management Strategy Statement and the Annual Investment Strategy for 2017/18, the Prudential Indicators, the Minimum Revenue Provision Strategy and the merger arrangements with the Pension Fund for the purpose
of investing daily cash flow. The Head of Finance Department set out the context and elaborated
on the content of the report. Appreciation was expressed for the briefing meeting held on 25 January,
2017 for Committee members with a specialist consultant from the Arlingclose company, the Council's treasury management consultants. In response to a question from a member on the impact the UK's decision
to leave the European Union would have on investments, the Head of Finance
Department noted that the decision would become active from January 2020. In
the meantime, therefore, the uncertainty would have to be endured but no direct
impact was foreseen on the 2017/18 strategy. RESOLVED to recommend
that the Full Council on 2 March adopt the Treasury Management Strategy
Statement and Annual Investment Strategy for 2017/18 (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. |
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REVIEW OF THE SCRUTINY SYSTEM PDF 478 KB To submit the report of the Deputy Leader and Corporate Support Senior Manager. Additional documents: Minutes: The Deputy Leader
presented the report detailing two potential models deriving from the work of
the Sub-group, which had been set up by the Committee, and in which the
Council's scrutiny arrangements were examined following criticism by the Wales
Audit Office. It was noted that Model A was an amendment of the existing
arrangements and would consist of three scrutiny committees (Education and
Economy, Care, Communities), whilst corporate matters would be scrutinised by
the Audit Committee; and Model B, which would have one Principal Scrutiny
Committee but would conduct a greater number of investigations (up to eight at
any given time, compared with three under Model A). Attention was drawn to the appendices, which contained a full
description of the models, an assessment of their advantages and disadvantages,
and their ability to address the weaknesses identified. The Senior Corporate Support Officer highlighted the difference of
opinion among members of the Sub-group about the favoured model. The need to weigh
up the risks of both models was emphasised. The Committee, as
the individuals responsible for governance, were asked: to recommend one of the
scrutiny models to the Full Council; to recommend amendments (a) to (f) in
paragraphs 9.1 to 9.5 in the report (whichever formal model was selected); and
request that the Monitoring Officer, in consultation with the Senior Corporate
Support Officer, draft the necessary changes into the Constitution in order to
implement the recommended arrangements and recommend them to the Full Council. Members were given an opportunity
to ask questions and offer their observations. During the discussion the following main points were highlighted:- ·
Model
B was favoured, since one committee would
allow for greater overview. ·
There was an
element of disconnect between the Cabinet and Scrutiny with some
matters being scrutinised that the Council had no influence upon. Need to be more specific in future. ·
Inconsistency in
the workload of the Scrutiny
Committee currently, and on occasion
some items were not followed up. ·
Identifying the interests and skills of individual
members was very important. The arrangement of distributing seats on scrutiny committees
in accordance with the political balance only led to the filling of empty seats. ·
The
investigations were more effective. ·
A member
of the Sub-group and was of
the opinion that change was necessary and that Model B with one Committee
would be an improvement and would ensure the scrutiny work programme
was kept in order and would
hold the Cabinet to account.
It would be necessary to tread carefully so that
the same people (members) were not part of the investigations. ·
Members needed
to take advantage of the available training. ·
A member
of the Sub-group and favoured Model A, considering that most of the Council's spending was in the fields of Education and Care. Felt that specific committees attached to these fields of work could consider issues in more depth. Would this
be possible with one committee? In response to ... view the full minutes text for item 9. |
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RISK MANAGEMENT ARRANGEMENTS PDF 112 KB (i) To submit the Wales Audit Office’s letter (ii) To
submit the report of the Senior Manager Revenue and Risk. Additional documents: Minutes: The Chief
Executive reported that the Wales Audit Office (WAO) had conducted a light
audit of the Council's risk management procedures and had noted opportunities
for improvement that the Council could choose to consider when reviewing the
risk management procedures. He noted that the culture at the Council differed
significantly from other councils with Ffordd Gwynedd
putting the people of Gwynedd at the centre of everything that we are doing. It
was noted that too much emphasis was placed on keeping a risk register in some
councils. Ffordd Gwynedd had led to changes in the
way of working (including the Internal Audit Unit) so that the workforce could
have ownership over risk. It is intended to embed Ffordd
Gwynedd throughout the Council, keeping a live list of barriers would offset
the need for a risk register. Submitted - the
report of the Senior Revenue and Risk Manager, which detailed the steps the
Council would take to take advantage of the opportunities to make the
improvements outlined in the WAO letter. Opportunities for improvement would
give the Council the opportunity to find a suitable solution for the Council
and would also tie in with the mindset that was being
promoted across the Council, without creating a lengthy Risk Strategy document.
It was emphasised that the risk register was intended to be a live document to
be used to prioritise difficult decisions and, eventually, to strengthen the
Council's governance. RESOLVED to accept
the report as a detailed explanation of the steps the Council would take to
take advantage of the opportunities for improvement as outlined in the Wales
Audit Office's letter. |
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OUTPUT OF THE INTERNAL AUDIT SECTION 21/11/16 - 27/1/17 PDF 435 KB To submit the report of the Audit Manager. Additional documents: Minutes: Submitted - the report of the Audit Manager outlining the Internal Audit
section’s work for the period. It was noted that five reports on audits from
the operational plan had been completed, one grant review, and two follow up
audits. Each individual report was considered and, during the discussion,
reference was made to the following matters – Sales of Diesel In response to a
member’s observation, the Audit Manager noted that the Maritime and Country
Parks Service was going ahead with setting up a procedure which would enable
customers to pay by card. She explained that instruction would be sent to the
Harbour Masters when fuel prices changed following the purchase of new stock,
but this had not been implemented at every harbour. The member noted that
Harbour Masters should have to declare that they have received information on
price changes. In response to a question
by a member, the Audit Manager explained that customers were required to
declare the percentage of the diesel purchased used for commercial and domestic
purposes in order to differentiate because an element of added tax was placed
on commercial usage. Bryn Blodau,
Llan Ffestiniog A member noted the
need to observe the situation in order to ensure that steps had been taken to
mitigate the highlighted risks. In response to an
observation by a member about the lack of training arrangements, the Audit
Manager noted that a new Manager had been appointed to the post and that the
Home had received a Notice of Non-compliance by the Care and Social Services
Inspectorate Wales in May 2016 because of a lack of staff training. It was added
that it was expected that the matters would have been addressed before the
inspection but they weren’t. Support Workers A member expressed
concern that a care plan was a "cut and paste" version of
another plan which resulted in a defective care plan. She added that she was
glad that the Controls Improvement Working Group was reviewing the audit. In response to a member's question, the Audit Manager noted that the
Council was developing an integrated training system which workers could access
from home to enable them to complete more modules on-line. RESOLVED: (i) to accept the report on
the work of the Internal Audit section for the period of 21 November 2016 to 27
January 2017 and to support the agreed actions that have already been submitted
to the managers of the relevant services; (ii)
to consider the audits that had been given a
category 'C' opinion by the Working Group appointed at the previous meeting; (iii) that it was the
responsibility of any member unable to attend the Working Group to arrange a
substitute. |
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INTERNAL AUDIT PLAN 2016/17 PDF 516 KB To submit the report of the Audit Manager on the progress made on the 2016/17 Internal Audit Plan. Additional documents: Minutes: Submitted - the report of the Audit
Manager in which an update
on the situation regarding completion of the
2016/17 internal audit plan
was provided. It was reported that the Internal Audit Unit up to 27 January 2017 had completed 68.06% of the plan and
49 of the 72 audits in the
2016/17 plan had been released
in a finalised version. Attention was drawn to amendments to the plan noting that two
team members had left the Council's employment and the employment term of one other member would
end in February.
The plan had been amended and audits had been prioritised with some being
taken out and some slipping
into next year. In response
to a member's question about the procedure of appointing officers, the Audit Manager stated
that one Team Leader had been appointed and that interviews
would be held to appoint two Auditors. RESOLVED to accept and note the content of the report as an
update of progress against the audit plan and approve the amendments. |
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DRAFT INTERNAL AUDIT PLAN 2017/18 PDF 432 KB To submit the Draft Internal Audit Plan for the year 1 April 2017 – 31 March 2018. Additional documents: Minutes: Submitted – the report of the Audit
Manager, in which details of the draft plan of the Internal Audit Service's work for the 2016/17 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 was considered along with each
department's risk register. Attention was drawn to the increased provision
for follow-up work in the draft
plan in order to ensure that attention
was given to every agreed action rather than to agreed
actions in reports that had received opinion C only. In response
to a member's observation that audits cancelled
in 2016/17 were not being transferred (Financial Management - Primary Schools and Information
Security in Schools) to the
2017/18 plan, the Audit Manager
noted that reports for individual
schools had been provided to meet the need. RESOLVED to approve the draft
Audit Plan for the period 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018. |
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To submit the report of the Economy and Community Senior Manager. Additional documents: Minutes: Submitted - the
report of the Senior Economy and Community Manager giving an update on the work
which had been programmed in order that a thorough audit of Hafan
could be conducted in 2017/18 following the Committee's decision on 1 December
2016 to request that the Economy and Community Department (with the support of
the Finance Department) submit information to the Council about Hafan. It was noted that Hafan
was an important economic asset to the area and the Council, because the income
it generated exceeded the costs. In addition, the purpose of the review was to
consider a range of different management and governance structures so that Hafan could remain successful in future. It was noted that
the Department had identified the work as a possible topic to be presented to
the relevant Scrutiny Committee. And, if desired, the broader/full picture
could be presented to this Committee following a detailed assessment. The Cabinet Member
for Economy and Community noted that the time was right to consider management
and governance arrangements, given the change in use and market trends, paying
attention to the impact on businesses and the local community. Members expressed
their support of the review and of the intention to consider the different
partners since Hafan put Pwllheli
on the international sailing map. In response to the
wishes of some members for this Committee to receive an update, the Chief
Executive noted that this would risk duplicating work as a scrutiny
investigation into the situation was likely. Thus, either the scrutiny
arrangement or this Committee should consider the matter. RESOLVED: (i) to note and accept the
contents of the report. (ii) to support the Economy and
Community Department's intention to review the management and governance
arrangements at Hafan, Pwllheli,
and the proposed timetable for this work. (iii) that the scrutiny
arrangement should consider the matter. |