Venue: Cyfarfod Rhithiol / Virtual Meeting. View directions
Contact: Lowri Evans 01286 679878
No. | Item |
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APOLOGIES To receive any apologies for absence. Minutes: Apologies
received from Paul Smith (Secondary Schools' Representative) |
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DECLARATION OF PERSONAL INTEREST To receive any declaration of personal interest. Minutes: No declaration of personal interest was made by any
member present. |
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URGENT ITEMS To note any items that are a matter of urgency in the view of the Chairman for consideration. Minutes: No urgent matters to note. |
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MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING The Chair
shall propose that the minutes of the previous meeting of this committee held
on 2nd October 2024 be signed as a true record. Minutes: The Chair accepted the minutes of the previous meeting
of this committee, held on 2 October 2024. |
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THE JOINT COMMITTEE'S FINAL ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024 AND RELEVANT AUDIT To submit
The Statement of Accounts post-audit, The Wales Audit Office’s report and the Letter of representation. Additional documents: Decision: DECISION: ·
To accept and note the ISA260 report by the Auditor General for
Wales ·
To approve the Statement of Accounts 2023/24 ·
To authorise the Chair and Gwynedd
Council Head of Finance (as the GwE Statutory Finance Officer) to sign the letter of
representation. Minutes: A report from the Head of Finance, Cyngor Gwynedd, was
presented asking the Joint Committee to consider and approve the Statement of
Accounts for 2023/24 (post-audit), the Audit Wales ‘ISA260’ report and the
Letter of Representation before authorising the Chair and Head of Finance to
endorse the letter electronically. The Assistant Head of Finance - Accounting and Pensions
(Cyngor Gwynedd), guided Members through the Statement reminding them that
conditional accounts had been presented to the Joint Committee in October 2024
when the main issues and relevant notes were highlighted. It was reported that
there had not been any changes to the main financial statements of that report
(Balance Sheet, Income and Expenditure Statement, Cash Flow and Statement of
Movement in Reserves) however that there had been a few amendments to the notes
supporting the Statement; • Note 17b
'Officers Remuneration - there has been no change in the number appearing in
the table for 2023/24 (43 officers), but rather a change in which salary band
three officers appeared. It was noted that Soulbury 2022/23 pay inflation had
not been confirmed until 2023/24 which complicated matters. The note now
reflects the picture about salaries in the 2023/24 financial year only. • Note 20
Related Parties/Members - it had been possible to remove the disclosure as
there was no requirement for it to be included to comply with CIPFA
requirements. In addition to this, there were a small number of minor
narrative amendments. The Committee was asked to consider and approve the
Statement of Accounts and ISA260 by Audit Wales for the accounts in 2023/24. On behalf of Audit Wales, Osian Roberts noted that Audit
Wales proposed to give an unqualified audit opinion on the 2023/24 accounts
adding that the accounts give a true and fair view of the financial position,
comply with proper practices and that Audit Wales work to a materiality level.
It was reported that the materiality level is set to try and identify and
correct misstatements that might otherwise cause the user of the accounts to be
misled. A materiality level of £356,000 was set for the 2023/24 audit and the
reporting threshold for misstatements was £17,000 (calculated as 5%
materiality). He added that the procedure steps had now been completed and that
there were no additional issues to report. In terms of ethical compliance, it was noted that Audit
Wales had remained independent and the Finance Team at Cyngor Gwynedd were
thanked for their support. The report was welcomed and everybody thanked for their
work. A motion to accept the report was seconded. IT WAS RESOLVED: • To
accept and note the ISA260 report by the Auditor General for Wales • To
approve the Statement of Accounts 2023/24 • To
authorise the Chair and Cyngor Gwynedd Head of Finance (as the GwE Statutory
Finance Officer) to sign the letter of representation |
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GwE BUDGET 2024/2025 - REVIEW TO END OF OCTOBER 2024 To update
Joint Committee members of the latest financial review of GwE’s
budget for the 2024/25 financial year. Additional documents: Decision: DECISION:
·
To accept and approve the
report. Minutes: A
report by Cyngor Gwynedd Head of Finance was presented updating members on the
latest financial review of GwE revenue budget for the 2024/25 financial year and
the forecasts towards the end of the financial year. The Assistant Head of
Finance - Accounting and Pensions (Cyngor Gwynedd) explained that the report
focuses on the significant financial variances along with full financial
information and that the review was conducted based on information up to the
end of October 2024. Reference was made to a summary of the closing position with forecasts suggesting
that there will be an underspend of £78 thousand by the end of the financial
year. Attention was drawn to the main issues: Employees
- underspend of £18 thousand. GwE's budget for the current year was set based
on the number of staff back in February 2024. A saving has been made with some
members of GwE staff leaving their posts, and a grant allocation being received
and used to finance posts. It was added that these figures have also
incorporated the decision of the Joint Committee on the 1st of August,
including the restructuring of the Senior Management Team. Rent
- overspend of almost £10 thousand. This is in accordance with the historical
trend, and it is foreseen that GwE will overspend on this heading again this
year as a result of GwE renting a bigger space at the Caernarfon office. Transport
- the picture is still consistent with previous reviews, with an underspend of
£50 thousand in the transport heading, as travel costs have reduced as a result
of new ways of working over the last few years. Supplies
and Services - An underspend of almost £20 thousand is foreseen on this
heading. As
regards reserves, it was noted that the sum of the opening fund was £221
thousand and that the fund will increase to £300 thousand after adding the
anticipated underspend. The
report was appreciated and staff were thanked for completing the work in a
difficult period. A
motion to approve the report was seconded. IT WAS RESOLVED: To accept and approve the report. |
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To present
a progress report to Joint Committee members on the ‘Reform’ element of the
Local Authority Education Grant (LAEG), specifically: Curriculum for Wales and
Professional Learning and Leadership. Additional documents: Decision: DECISION:
To
accept and approve the report Minutes: GwE Head of Service - Professional Learning
presented a report. He explained the decision of Welsh Government to combine
the main education grants under one heading, namely the Local Authority
Education Grant (LAEG) from 2024-25 onwards. The
grant will be paid directly to the Local Authorities/Schools with requirements,
risks, terms and conditions of grant now being the responsibility of the
individual Local Authority. It was explained that, in order to ensure
continuity of support for schools during the middle tier review of the Welsh
education system, Welsh Government noted the expectation for any current
regional working arrangements to continue during this period and be facilitated
through the specific grant funding to support the curriculum and professional
learning in schools. It was added that 'Curriculum for Wales' and 'Professional
Learning and Leadership' have been fully transferred from the 'Reform' LAEG to
GwE by all Local Authorities in the region to deliver support on these aspects
whilst meeting the terms and conditions of the grant. As
agreed in GwE and Local Authority business plans for 2024-25, GwE will report
to the Joint Committee on the Reform element - 'Curriculum for Wales' and
'Professional Learning and Leadership'. In addition, and in accordance with
LAEG monitoring requirements, GwE will report biannually on these elements in
order for Local Authorities to present monitoring reports against set aims and
objectives to Welsh Government. Reference was made to the
progress report for the period 01/04/2024 - 30/09/2024 included with the
report, noting no service curtailment and no risks to support at present.
Attention was drawn also to the high levels of staff attending training
sessions despite the limitations of the service. Thanks were expressed for
the report. The Chair noted that the
data is remarkable given all the changes within GwE and staff were thanked for
ensuring continuity of service and support for schools, despite the situation.
She added that she very much appreciated their commitment to the work. In
response to a question about regional data and availability at an individual
Local Authority level, it was confirmed that the information is shared with the
region's individual Local Authorities. A motion to approve the report was seconded. IT WAS RESOLVED: To accept and approve the report. |