Agenda and minutes

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Contact: Claire Heather, Senior Democratic Support Officer  023 8083 2412

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies and Changes in Membership

To receive any apologies.

Minutes:

The Committee noted the resignation of Councillor Parnell and the appointment of Councillor Laurent in place thereof in accordance with the provisions of Council Procedure Rule 4.3.

 

 

2.

Election of Vice-Chair

To elect a Vice-Chair for the Municipal Year 2018/19

Minutes:

RESOLVED:  Councillor Fielker be appointed as Vice-Chair for the 2018/19 Municipal Year.

3.

Minutes Of Previous Meeting (Including Matters Arising) pdf icon PDF 3 MB

To approve and sign as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 23rd April 2018and to deal with any matters arising, attached.

 

Minutes:

RESOLVED: that the minutes for the Committee meeting on 23rd April 2018 be approved and signed as a correct record.

 

4.

ART COMPLEX (STUDIO 144) pdf icon PDF 75 KB

Report of Chief Internal Auditor providing the full audit report relating to the City’s Art Complex (Studio 144), attached. 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received and noted the full Internal Audit Report for the Arts Complex Project Review (Studio 144) together with the terms of reference for the Capital Board which were requested at the previous meeting of the Committee.  The Committee noted that the report had provided a number of learning points and changes had been implemented as a result of.  In particular it was noted that new governance structures for project management were in place with all project managers now requiring to have a recognised qualification and this incorporated into job descriptions and review points built in at every stage of the project.  The Committee also noted that Internal Audit would be monitoring the identified action points and verify that they were in place.

5.

INTERNAL AUDIT PROGRESS REPORT 2017-18 pdf icon PDF 66 KB

Report of the Chief Internal Auditor providing an update on progress against the Annual Audit Plan, attached.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received and noted the report of the Chief Financial Auditor detailing the Internal Audit Progress Report for the period 6th April – 30th May 2018.  The Committee requested going forward that quarterly comparator figures be incorporated into the report.

6.

Quarterly HR Statistics pdf icon PDF 69 KB

Report of Service Director Human Resources and Organisational Development detailing Quarter 4 Human Resources Casework, attached.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received and noted the report of the Service Director Human Resources and Organisational Development detailing the Quarter 4 2017/18 HR statistics.  The Committee requested that going forward numbers of appeals and those upheld be included in the statistical data.

7.

Annual Governance Statement pdf icon PDF 90 KB

Report of the Service Director Strategic Finance & Commercialisation seeking to review the draft Annual Governance Statement 2017-18 and to note the status of the 2016-17 Annual Governance Statement Action Plan, attached.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received and noted the report of the Chief Finance Officer detailing the draft 2017-18 Annual Governance Statement as detailed in Appendix 1 of the report.  In addition the Committee noted the status of the 2016-17 Annual Governance Statement Action Plan.

 

The Committee requested that an overview and status of future major projects be presented to the next meeting of the Committee for information.

8.

REVIEW OF PRUDENTIAL LIMITS AND TREASURY MANAGEMENT OUTTURN 2017/18 pdf icon PDF 170 KB

Report of the Cabinet Member for Finance informing Governance Committee and Council of the Treasury Management activities and performance for 2017/18 against the approved Prudential Indicators for External Debt and Treasury Management, attached.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered the report of the Service Director Finance and Commercialisation (S151 Officer) detailing Treasury Management activities and performance for 2017/18 against the approved Prudential Indicators for External Debt and Treasury Management.

 

The Committee requested going forward that % indicators be provided on what was in investments and which was bonds/bricks and mortar and comparator figures where these were at and in relation to other Local Authorities.

 

RESOLVED:-

(i)  That the Treasury Management activities for 2017/18 and the outturn on the Prudential Indicators be noted;

(ii)  That the continued proactive approach to Treasury Management had led to reductions in borrowing costs and safeguarded investment income during the year;

(iii)  That authority continued to be delegated to the S151 Officer to make any future changes which benefited the Authority and to report back at the next Treasury Update; and

(iv)  That due to the timing of the report, changes may still be required following the finalisation of capital and revenue budgets and therefore any significant changes to the report would be highlighted in the final version presented to Full Council on 18th July 2018 be noted.

 

9.

DRAFT FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2017/18 pdf icon PDF 98 KB

Report of Section 151 Officer reporting that the Draft Financial Statements 2017/18 have been signed by the S151 Officer and will be approved by Governance Committee once audited, attached.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received and noted the report of the Service Director Finance and Commercialisation (S151 Officer) detailing that in accordance with the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 the Draft Financial Statements 2017/18 had been signed by the S151 Officer and that the approval of the audited Financial Statements 2017/18 by the Governance Committee would take place on 30th July 2018.

10.

External Audit Fee Letter 2018/19 pdf icon PDF 70 KB

Report of External Auditor detailing the External Audit Fee Letter 2018/19, attached.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received and noted the report of the External Auditor detailing the External Audit Fee Letter for year ending 31st March 2019 as indicated in Appendix 1 of the report.

11.

Exclusion of the Press and the Public

Chair to move that in accordance with the Council's Constitution, specifically the Access to Information Procedure Rules contained within the Constitution, the press and public be excluded from the meeting in respect of the appendix to the following item based on Category 7A of paragraph 10.4 of the Access to Information Procedure Rules.

 

The information contained therein is potentially exempt as it relates to information about council contracts and contractors which may be deemed to be confidential.  Having applied the public interest test it is not appropriate to disclose this information.

 

 

Minutes:

RESOLVED: that the Chair moved in accordance with the Council's Constitution, specifically the Access to Information Procedure Rules contained within the Constitution, the press and public be excluded from the meeting in respect of the Appendix to the following item.

 

Confidentiality was based on Category 7(A) of paragraph 10.4 of the Access to Information Procedure Rules. The information contained therein was potentially exempt as it related to information about Council contracts and contractors which may be deemed to be confidential.  Having applied the public interest test it was not appropriate to disclose this information as the legal expectation of privacy outweighed the public interest in the exempt information.

 

12.

STRATEGIC CONTRACTS – ANNUAL REPORT (2017/18) pdf icon PDF 67 KB

Report of Service Director: Business Operations and Digital providing an overview of the performance, governance and other contractual matters relating to the Council’s most strategically important contracts, attached.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered the Annual Report 2017/18 detailing an overview of the performance, governance and contractual matters and setting out how these contracts contributed to meeting the Priority Outcomes, added value to the Council’s operations and achieved value for money.

 

The Committee requested that the “Capita” turnaround plan be submitted to a future meeting of the Committee and also requested that Annual Review of Children’s and Adult Social Care Contracts were provided to the Committee similarly to the way in which the Strategic Contracts were presented.

 

RESOLVED: that the Strategic Contract Annual Report as detailed in the confidential appendix to the report be noted