Agenda and minutes

24/21 – APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND NOTIFICATION OF SUBSTITUTES: Notification had been received that Councillor Sue Lumby was to act as substitute for Councillor John Ennis. An apology for absence had been received from Councillor Alex Raubitschek.

(5.30 pm)

Member to advise of any declarations of interest.

25/21 – DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST: No declarations of interest were made at the meeting.

(5.31 pm)

of the meeting of 21 June 2021.

26/21 – MINUTES: The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 21 June 2021 were approved as a correct record.

(Two Members voted for the motion and there were two abstentions.)

(5.31 pm)

To determine whether to exclude the press and public during the consideration of any exempt information items.

27/21 – EXEMPT INFORMATION: Appendices 1b and 2 of the item considered at Minute 33/21 were considered exempt under paragraph 3 of schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972. This item was discussed in open session.

(5.32 pm)

To consider any questions under Standing Order 27.

28/21 – PUBLIC ARRANGMENTS - QUESTIONS: There were no public questions to consider under Standing Order 27.

(5.32 pm)

The External Auditors (Mazars LLP) to provide a verbal update.

29/21 – EXTERNAL AUDIT PROGRESS UPDATE: Mark Kirkham, Partner at Mazars LLP provided a verbal update on the external audit for 2021. He explained that it had been agreed with HBC’s management that the audit for the final accounts would begin in October, with the aim to complete the audit by the end of November.

RESOLVED (UNANIMOUSLY):

That the Audit Progress Update be received and noted.

(5.32 pm – 5.33 pm)

          (D)

The Head of Legal and Governance to submit a written report.

30/21 – STATUTORY GUIDANCE ON SPECIAL SEVERANCE PAYMENTS: Further to Minute 42/20 the Head of Legal and Governance (HoLG) submitted a written report which proposed that the New Best Value Statutory Guidance regarding Special Severance Payments be adopted as the Council’s response to a recommendation in the Audit Completion Report for the year ended 31 March 2020 which proposed that the Council should consider updating its risk management arrangements for settlement agreements. Paragraph 4.4 of the report defined Special Severance Payments as payments made to employees, officeholders, workers, contractors, and others outside of statutory, contractual or other requirements when leaving employment in public service.

The draft statutory guidance was attached at Appendix 1 of the report. The HoLG advised that the government had undertaken consultation on the guidance between 2 July and 13 August 2021 and that the outcome of the consultation or any amendments to the draft guidance were not yet available. The guidance set out the government’s position on the use of Special Severance Payments made by local authorities which the Council should consider before making a Special Severance Payment. The guidance indicated the exceptional circumstances that should exist when Special Severance Payments were made as well as details on who should approve the payments and the arrangements around disclosure and reporting of those payments.

The HoLG proposed that the pro forma report set out at Appendix 2 be completed in advance of an agreement being reached to collate the appropriate written evidence and legal and HR advice to support any decision on a Special Severance Payment. As per paragraph 4.19 of the report, it was recommended that the Constitution be amended to include delegation to the Chief Executive Officer with the approval of the Leader and in consultation with the s151 officer, Monitoring Officer and a senior HR officer to approve any Special Severance Payment below £100,000 upon receipt of the completed report.Finally the report proposed that all Special Severance Payments be reported annually to the Committee and on an anonymised basis in order to comply with data protection law.

As adoption of the statutory guidance would require an amendment to the Constitution the report would also be considered at the meeting of the General Purposes Committee to be held on 18 November 2021, which would be asked to include the delegation in the Constitution to the Chief Executive Officer with the approval of the Leader to authorise Special Severance Payments following receipt of the completed pro forma report at Appendix 2 and in consultation with those officers listed at paragraph 4.18 of the report.

RESOLVED (UNANIMOUSLY):  

That   (1) the statutory guidance on the making and disclosure of Special Severance Payments by local authorities at Appendix 1 is noted and the General Purposes Committee receive a verbal update on any outcome of the government consultation;

           (2) it is agreed that in accordance with the statutory guidance that a recommendation be made to the General Purposes Committee for inclusion of a delegation in the Constitution  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.

The Internal Auditor to submit a written report.

31/21 – INTERNAL ANNUAL AUDIT PLAN 2021/22: Further to Minute 11/21, the Auditor submitted the Internal Audit Plan for 2021/22 for consideration and approval which had previously been presented in draft form to the Committee on 29 April 2021. The Auditor reported that the Audit Plan had since been updated with further details surrounding the assignments and the risks linked to them.

The schedule at Appendix 1 of the report set out the proposed Internal Audit Plan for 2021/22. The Auditor reported that there were 771 available days for audit assignments which included 180 days of work allocated to Craven District Council as per the Shared Internal Audit Service Agreement. Appendix 2 presented the draft 2021/22 Audit Plan in greater detail which considered the Council’s strategic risks. The Auditor explained that additional business support grant schemes had resulted in an additional 105 days being allocated to support the grant work. She highlighted that the majority of the work had been completed and planned work would resume mid-quarter two. The Audit Plan had been rebalanced to ensure that its completion by 31 March 2022 was still achievable. As set out in paragraph 5.5, the plan included days allocated to work related to fraud awareness and counter fraud measures, risks that have emerged due to the COVID-19 pandemic and risk management.

RESOLVED (UNANIMOUSLY):   

That the Internal Audit Plan for 2021/22 as set out in the report and attached appendices be approved.

(5.44 pm – 5.47 pm)

 (D)

The Internal Auditor to submit a written report.

32/21 – INTERNAL AUDIT RECOMMENDATION REPORT 2021: The Auditor submitted a written report which informed the Committee of the current audit recommendation implementation position. Appendix 1 of the report detailed three outstanding priority one recommendations which had been brought forward from earlier reports. The Auditor reported that the implementation dates for two of these recommendations had been extended. Exempt Appendix 1b showed a list of outstanding priority two and three recommendations which had been deemed low priority recommendations but had since become aged and required greater focus to be completed. Management Board had requested that the progress of these items be reported back for review in three months. Appendix 2 presented a detailed report of recommendations completed in the period of which there were 9, and Appendix 3 provided a summary of all outstanding recommendations. It was highlighted that good progress was being made and the closing balance was 36 audit recommendations.

RESOLVED (UNANIMOUSLY):     

That the contents of the report and appendices are noted.

Appendix 1 – Outstanding Priority One Internal Audit Recommendations

Appendix 1b – Outstanding Priority Two and Three Audit Recommendations

Appendix 2 – Internal Audit Recommendation Movements in the Period

Appendix 3 – Summary of All Outstanding Internal Audit Recommendations

(5.47 pm – 5.50 pm)

                                 (D)

The Internal Auditor to submit a written report.

33/21 – AUDIT SERVICES AUGUST MONITORING REPORT 2021: The Auditor submitted a written report which provided a summary of internal audit activity for the period 1 April to the end of August 2021 and highlighted any incidence of significant control failings or weaknesses of which it was reported that there were none. The Auditor explained that two audits had been postponed, one due to an internal review in the service area and the other related to the risk management framework due to an update of the policy. The Auditor highlighted the key points to consider which were set out at paragraph 5.4 of the report. Overall the audit plan remained on track to be completed by the 31 of March 2022.

RESOLVED:

That the contents of the report are noted.

RESOLVED (UNANIMOUSLY):     

(5.50 pm – 5.55 pm)

                             (D)