Venue: Siambr Hywel Dda, Council Offices, Caernarfon, Gwynedd, LL55 1SH
Contact: Bethan Adams 01286 679020
No. | Item |
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APOLOGIES To receive apologies for absence. Additional documents: Minutes: Councillors Berwyn Parry Jones, Huw G. Wyn Jones, John Pughe Roberts and Gethin Glyn Williams. |
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DECLARATION OF PERSONAL INTEREST To receive any declaration of personal interest. Additional documents: Minutes: Councillor Alwyn
Gruffydd declared a personal interest in item 5 on the agenda 'Revenue Budget
2018/19 - End of November Review', as he owned an empty property. The member was of the opinion that it was not a prejudicial interest, and he did not withdraw from the meeting during the discussion on the item. |
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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 29 November 2018, be signed as a true record. Additional documents: Minutes: The Chair signed the minutes of the previous meeting of this Committee, held on 29 November 2018, as a true record. |
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REVENUE BUDGET 2018/19 - END OF NOVEMBER REVIEW PDF 221 KB To submit the report of the Head of Finance. Additional documents:
Minutes: The report was
submitted by the Senior Finance Manager, she set the context and elaborated on
the content of the report that had been submitted to Cabinet on 22 January
2019. She highlighted that since 2015 the Council had faced realising savings of
approximately £27 million, and this was a challenge to achieve. She noted that
the end of November review of the budget showed a mixed picture with acceptable
financial control in a number of Council departments. She explained that
significant overspend was anticipated by the Education Department, Children and
Families Department together with the Highways and Municipal Department and
there were specific actions to ensure control of their budgets by 31 March
2019. Attention was
drawn to the Cabinet's decision: "To accept
the report on the end of November 2018 review of the Revenue Budget and note
the latest financial position in respect of the budgets of every
department/service. ·
To ask the Cabinet Member for Adults, Health and
Well-being, together with the Head of Department, to get to the root of the
Provider service overspend and take steps to reduce the overspend, and report
to the Cabinet on the response plan. ·
Due to an increase in the overspend on a number of
budget headings by the Children and Families Department since the last review,
to consider the situation when receiving the Cabinet Member’s performance
report (29/01/19 Cabinet) with a view to attempt to reduce the overspend by the
end of the financial year. ·
Because of the level of overspend on pupils’
transport by the Education Department, to consider the situation when receiving
the Cabinet Member’s report (29/01/19 Cabinet). ·
To allow the Environment Department to allocate
(£60k) of the department's underspend to conduct a review by commissioning
research by the University and employing extra officers to collect evidence in
the Public Transport field following a number of issues over recent years. ·
Harvest (£2,984k) of the net underspend on
Corporate budgets, Ø with (£700k)
associated with the Council Tax premium to be allocated to a specific fund to
be considered for the Housing Strategy. Ø (£435k) relating
to capital costs to be transferred to the capital programme’s financing fund. Ø with the remainder
namely (£1,849k) to be transferred to the Supporting the Financial Strategy
Fund to assist with inevitable one-off pressures on the Council's
budgets." During the ensuing discussion, officers and
the Finance Cabinet Member responded to members' observations and enquiries as
follows: ·
That the overspend on pupil transport had been
discussed at the Cabinet meeting on 29 January 2019, in the context of the
Education Cabinet Member's performance report. A solution to reduce the
overspend would take time. It was intended to change the method of providing transport
in order to get a cheaper provision, because it was a long-term solution
additional funding was placed in the 2018-19 budget to address the
overspend. The additional funding did
not address all the overspend as a solution was expected from the Education
Department and the Environment Department. · In terms of the ... view the full minutes text for item 5. |
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CAPITAL PROGRAMME 2018/19 - END OF NOVEMBER REVIEW PDF 216 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 Senior Finance
Manager set out the context and elaborated on the contents of the report submitted
to Cabinet on 22 January 2019. The officer noted that there was an increase of
£4.249 million in the budget for the capital programme since the previous
review, with a slippage of an extra £3.4 million into the 2019/20 financial
year, but there was no funding loss. It was explained that firm plans were in
place to invest approximately £28.5 million in 2018/19, with £9.2m (32%) funded
by attracting specific grants. Attention was drawn to the Cabinet's decision. RESOLVED to note the situation and the relevant risks in the context of the Council’s capital programme. |
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SAVINGS OVERVIEW: PROGRESS REPORT ON REALISING SAVING SCHEMES PDF 198 KB To submit the report of the Head of Finance. Additional documents:
Minutes: The report of the Head of Finance Department was
submitted which gave the latest situation on realising the saving schemes. The Senior Finance Manager set the context and elaborated on the content of
the report that had been submitted to Cabinet on 22 January 2019. It was noted
that over 95%, namely £23m of the total £24m of savings schemes for the period
2015/16 - 2017/18, had been achieved with only a little slippage with 15
schemes. Attention was drawn to the fact that over £2.5m of savings had been planned
in the 2018/19 Financial Strategy, and 62% of the 29 schemes had been realised,
with seven on track to be delivered on time with slippage on only five. The
officer elaborated that one of the slippages was the 'End to End' scheme in the
Children and Families Department, with savings of £250,280 for 2018/19. It was explained that the scheme had been the
subject of a joint review between the Children and Families Department, Finance
and the Research and Information Manager, in which the assumptions of the
original 'End to End' model were revisited. It was noted that the number of
nights for looked-after children in residential placements had reduced,
however, due to the change in profile and the complexity of cases there had
been an impact on the average cost of placements. There was also a reduction in
the contributions from the Health Service. She noted that it was inevitable that realising nearly £27 million in
savings since April 2015 had been challenging. It was confirmed that progress
had been made across the Council to realise the savings. Attention was drawn to
the Cabinet's decision. In response to a question from a member regarding the reduction in
contributions from the Health Service, the Senior Finance Manager explained
that changes in the types of cases meant that the Health Service's
contributions were less. In response to an observation by a member, the Finance Cabinet Member noted
that the Cabinet constantly considered the position in terms of realising
savings. He explained that a slippage in achieving the savings plans was the
responsibility of the Head and the relevant Cabinet Member. He noted that
although he was not happy that savings had to be found he was content in terms
of the savings realised and that firm arrangements were in place to ensure that
savings would be realised. RESOLVED to note the situation and the relevant risks in the context of the savings overview. |
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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 2019/20, 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 19 February. The Cabinet Member
for Finance set out the background and context of the report. He explained that
all members had an input to this in workshops and that a public consultation
had taken place on the Council Tax together with the savings plans. He noted
that detailed discussions had led to the recommended budget. The Head of Finance Department gave further
details on the content of the report, and noted that there was a financial gap
of £13 million, which included inflation costs of £7.5 million and the
inevitable demand for services of £4 million. He noted that the grant increase
from the Welsh Government to local authorities was insufficient to meet these
costs. He made reference to Appendix 2 of the report
which detailed the unavoidable financial bids to respond to the pressures on
services, total value of £2.5 million. He elaborated that the financial bids had been discussed in workshops in December where members
consented that the expenditure was inevitable. He highlighted that the 2019/20
expenditure requirements, before savings, was £253.2 million. He noted that £2.48 million of savings had
already been approved, that £2.45 million of proposed savings, £0.5 million of
further efficiency savings, which came to a total of £5.4 million savings to
reduce the gap. He drew attention to what was
recommended to the Cabinet for approval, namely: "(a) To recommend to the
Council (at its meeting on 7 March 2019) that: 1.
A budget of £247,797,900 should
be established for 2019/20,
funded by a £176,551,790 Government
Grant and £71,246,110 Council
Tax income, with an increase
of 5.5%. 2.
£18,316,130 should be added
to the capital programme for spending in
2019/20 in order to establish a capital programme with a value of £34,991,250 by 2019/20 to be funded
from the sources noted in Appendix
4 of the report. (b) To approve proceeding to implement the saving schemes list in Appendix
3, in order to establish the budget recommended to the full Council. (c) To note the Medium
Term Financial Strategy and
the projections in Appendix 8, and adopt the plan in section 18-20." He noted that what was
being recommended was subject to the Cabinet's decision to approve
proceeding to implement the savings schemes listed in Appendix 3, or not to
implement some schemes, as suggested in Appendix 12. He explained that if the decision
was not to implement the five
schemes in Appendix 12, the figures would change to: ·
establish a budget
of £247,869,620 for 2019/20, ·
to be funded
via a Government Grant of
£176,551,790, ·
and £71,317,830 Council Tax income with
an increase of 5.6%. He referred to the equality impact assessment, the well-being assessment in terms of the requirements of the ... view the full minutes text for item 8. |
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CAPITAL STRATEGY REPORT 2019/20 PDF 103 KB To submit the report of the Head of Finance. Additional documents:
Minutes: The Senior Finance Manager submitted the report, and noted
that it was a new requirement by CIPFA (Chartered
Institute of Public Finance) on
Councils, that came into effect
for the 2019/20 financial year onwards. It was explained that the report's intention was to give the long-term context to capital expenditure decisions and investments
by Councils and considering the risks. The report brought the capital programme and the usual Treasury
Management report together within one report. Details were
given on the contents of the report and attention was drawn to the intention to spend £35 million of capital expenditure in 2019/20, and nearly £18.8 million for 2020/21 and £9.3 million in 2021/22. It was noted that the main capital projects for 2019/20 included expenditure of £8.7m on Twenty First Century Schools, £2.7m on highways repair
and £2.7m on the Housing Strategy, with £11.7m for the Assets Management Plan to be allocated. It was highlighted that the Treasury Management section of the report included information about the borrowing strategy, investment, commitments, liquidity management, economic forecast and credit forecast with the supporting information and details included in Appendix C. It was explained that the Committee was required to adopt the information in the report and
to consider any risks that would
arise from the strategy prior to its submission to the Full Council on 7 March 2019. A member
noted appreciation of the training held on
16 January, 2019 for Committee members in treasury management
with consultants from Arlingclose company, namely the Council's treasury management consultants, and that thanks
should be conveyed to the consultants. In response to an enquiry from
a member about finance for the Housing Strategy, the Chief Executive noted that the Adults, Health and Well-being Department were discussing specific plans with the Housing, Leisure and Culture Cabinet Member and the Housing Strategy would be submitted to the Cabinet soon. In response to a further enquiry, the Chief Executive explained that the £2.7 million for highway
repairs was a grant received
from the Welsh Government and that the £2.7 million for the Housing Strategy was Council Tax Premium income. The Head of Finance elaborated and stated that the Housing Strategy was ambitious and looked
at an extended period of 5 to 10 years and was currently being fine-tuned. The member noted that
he was looking forward to hearing about the plans attached with the Housing Strategy. In the context of past decisions, a member enquired about Council borrowing and were any changes anticipated in interest rates. In response, the Head of Finance Department explained that there were higher interest rates on loans dating back to the 1980s and most of them were coming to an end. He added that this would be a positive adjustment to the budget as the Council would not pay higher interest rates and it was ... view the full minutes text for item 9. |
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INTERNAL AUDIT OUTPUT 19/11/18 - 1/2/19 PDF 211 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 12
reports on audits from the action plan and one grant audit had been completed.
Attention was drawn in terms of follow-up audits that
acceptable action had been taken on 71.17% of the agreed steps, namely 116 out
of 163. Consideration was given to each individual
report and during the discussion reference was made to the following main
matters – Safeguarding Arrangements - Establishments In response to an enquiry by a member, the Audit Manager explained that
the system highlighted when it was necessary to renew a disclosure by the Disclosure
and Barring Service (DBS). She expanded that it was a long process and that it
was the individual's responsibility to submit an application. She added that
weaknesses had been identified in terms of presenting safeguarding training
modules to staff and as a result an audit in the context of a review of
training arrangements on the range of safeguarding modules had been included in
the 2019/20 Internal Audit Plan. A member noted her concern regarding the variety in the number of staff
who had completed the safeguarding modules at the leisure centres. She asked
what the arrangements would be following the transfer of the leisure centres to
Byw’n Iach Cyf. In response, the Audit Manager noted that follow-up
work on leisure centre audits would be completed
before transfer to the company on 1 April 2019, and the findings would be
reported to Committee. She elaborated that the audit reports would
be presented to Byw'n Iach
Cyf Board following transfer. In response to a further question, the Audit Manager noted that it was
likely that the company would operate in accordance with the Council's
procedures in the context of disclosures.
A member noted that the audit should receive consideration by the
Controls Improvement Working Group as deficiencies had been
highlighted. In response to a
comment, the Audit Manager noted that as it was a corporate issue training
arrangements varied and with seasonal workers it was
more problematic, but it was also important that they received training. It was explained that if the audit received the consideration
of the working group, that it was the Chair of the Safeguarding Operational
Panel who would be present and it would be difficult for him to explain the
situation in terms of beach and harbour staff. It was noted
that the Operational Panel sent a message to the departmental management teams
and this should be cascaded to managers to ensure action. Attention was drawn to the action to continue
to raise the awareness of Council workers of corporate safeguarding
arrangements and the need to complete training, however, additional work was
required to improve the level of assurance that was currently limited. General Data Protection
Regulation A member noted that the audit should be considered by
the Controls Improvement Working Group as the audit had received a level
of limited assurance. Welsh ... view the full minutes text for item 10. |
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INTERNAL AUDIT PLAN 2018/19 PDF 119 KB To submit the report of the Audit Manager on the progress made on the 2018/19 Internal Audit Plan. Additional documents: Minutes: The report
of the Audit Manager was submitted, providing an update on
the current situation in terms of completing
the 2018/19 internal audit
plan. It was reported that the Internal Audit Service up to 1 February 2019 had completed 58.33% of the plan, with
35 of the 60 audits in the 2018/19
plan released in a finalised version. Attention was drawn to the amendments
to the Plan. RESOLVED to accept and note the contents of the report as an update of progress against the 2018/19 audit plan. |
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DRAFT INTERNAL AUDIT PLAN 2019/20 PDF 98 KB To submit the Draft Internal Audit Plan for the year 1 April 2019 – 31 March 2020. 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 2019/20 financial year were set out for
comment and approval by the Committee. It was
noted in order to ensure that the correct matters are reviewed,
that firstly consideration was given to the Corporate Risk Register as well as the risk registers of each department. It was envisaged that approximately 766 days of audit resources would be available to complete the 2019/20 audit
plan. In response to a member's observation in the context of trends seen across
Council departments,the
Senior Revenue and Risk Manager noted
that recording risks identified trends with departmental
risk registers able to feed into
the Corporate Risk Register. He added that highlighting trends was dependent on the quality of information and the Insurance and Risk Service would contact each
department to support them
to ensure that risks are recorded
appropriately. A member asked if it would be possible to look at corporate plans and how they
can be packaged to respond
to cross-departmental aspects.
The member asked further regarding the number of days designated for the 'Culture and Ethics'
audit and noted that it was a complex issue and
the number of days designated for the audit should be re-considered to get a more comprehensive picture. In response, the Audit Manager noted
that she referred to the Council Plan when drafting the audit plan. Attention was drawn to the fact that it was the project managers who are responsible
for corporate plans and with
the scarcity of audit resources it was difficult to earmark many days
to undertake an audit in a specific
area, however, they did look at project management in terms
of the time-schedule, that
it had been planned correctly
and if a record of the financial elements was maintained. A member noted that measuring 'Culture and Ethics'
would be difficult to achieve and asked
how it was proposed to measure this. In
response, the Audit Manager noted that
it was proposed to draft a simple questionnaire asking questions on issues such
as recording hours correctly and the implementation of the Whistle Blowing Policy. In response to further observations from members regarding
the 'Culture and Ethics' audit, the Audit Manager noted
that she would undertake research into this
area. RESOLVED to approve the draft Audit Plan for the period 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020. |
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GWYNEDD COUNCIL'S ANTI-FRAUD, ANTI-CORRUPTION AND ANTI-BRIBERY STRATEGY AND RESPONSE PLAN PDF 54 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 gave
an update on the Council's anti-fraud and anti-corruption arrangements together with the work programme for the next three
years. It was noted that although 'Risk of Fraud, Bribery and/or Corruption' was considered a low risk the Council continued to be aware of the risk and the Council
had suffered as a result of
major fraud in the past. Further details were given on
the contents of the report.
It was explained that
the Committee would receive regular reports (approximately every six months)
on the Council's anti-fraud, anti-corruption and anti-bribery efforts. A member noted that the fraud linked to Express Motors had been
shocking and it would be useful to have a sub-group of the Committee to look in detail and
to learn lessons from this case.
Reference was made to the Strategy and it was asked how regular
did workshops take place with relevant
officers to discuss issues that arise,
apparent risks and to share good
practice. It was asked which agencies the Council cooperated with and how
regularly the Strategy was reviewed. In response
to the above observations,
the Senior Revenue and Risk Manager noted: ·
That the Committee
had already received a report on the Express Fraud at its meeting
on 29 November 2018 and had discussed the matter in detail.
At the time, the Environment
Department was asked for a report regarding
mitigating the risks to the
Council of committing to a new agreement with
the Welsh Government's Concessionary
Fares Scheme. That it was a decision for the members if they wished
to discuss the two cases of fraud in public transport
at the Controls Improvement Working
Group, however, there was a
danger that by focusing on this
fraud that they would lose
sight of other risks bearing in
mind that the Council has a wide
range of services. ·
The Council
did not have a specific anti-fraud resource, the work will be completed
within the resources with internal audit
undertaking the research.
It was intended to conduct regular workshops with officers from
different services such as audit, benefits, tax and
others, looking at risks that arose
from the experiences of other authorities. ·
Although the Response
Plan had not been revised since 2013, it continued to be
fit for purpose with only changes
in job titles. ·
The Wales Audit
Office led on the National Fraud
Initiative that is held every two
years by comparing agency data and if anything was highlighted then the relevant agency would be contacted. It was noted that once
there was sufficient evidence to be presented to the police following an investigation by internal audit then the information would be referred to the Monitoring Officer. A member noted that he was of the opinion that consideration needed to be given to the ... view the full minutes text for item 13. |