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The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
RESOLVED a) That the update report on the progress of action points since the previous meeting be noted. b) That in respect of the Council endeavouring to recover lost income after the late delivery of rent increase letters, the Committee await the outcome of a subsequent meeting of Full Council on how this issue be taken forward.
RESOLVED That the external assessment of Pembrokeshire County Council’s Internal Audit Service be noted.
RESOLVED a) That the update provided on Business Risk Management and the contents of the Corporate Risk Register be noted. b) That no recommendations to Overview and Scrutiny Committees for further action or monitoring were necessary at this stage. The vote, undertaken by way of a show of hands, was carried. [Councillor Aled Thomas joined the meeting at this juncture]
RESOLVED a) That the Committee scrutinised the County Council’s Budget Quarter 2 Monitoring Report for 2023-24. b) That no recommendations to Overview and Scrutiny Committees for further action or monitoring were necessary at this stage.
RESOLVED That the report be noted.
RESOLVED a) That the updates provided within the Annual Governance Statement (AGS) 2022-23 be noted. b) That no recommendations to Overview and Scrutiny Committees for further action or monitoring were necessary at this stage.
RESOLVED That the update provided by Audit Wales be noted.
RESOLVED That the findings of the Audit Wales National Report ‘Cracks in the Foundations – Building Safety in Wales’ be noted.
RESOLVED That the findings of the Audit Wales National Report ‘Springing Forward: Lessons from our Work on Workforce and Assets in Local Government’ be noted.
Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Guy Woodham.
There were no declarations of interest made.
The Chair welcomed Members to the meeting and invited any comments on the Minutes of the meeting held on 28 September 2023 that had already been circulated. He then raised matters on the status of action points not listed for discussion elsewhere on the Agenda. These included: · The tracking of outstanding recommendations on page 9. The Assistant Chief Executive advised the monitoring scorecard was scheduled to return to subsequent meetings of the Cabinet and Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee for further consideration. With regard to 53 recommendations that were graded as high risk, on page 10 of the Minutes, the Audit, Risk and Counter Fraud Manager confirmed monitoring of these recommendations formed part of the reporting by Internal Audit monthly and to each Governance & Audit Committee. He assured Members there were no further issues to raise at this point. · Clarification of the order of nursing home and residential home costs, at £152 and £184 respectively, on page 196 of the Officer’s report to the previous meeting. The Chair had suggested the order costs be reversed to reflect the higher cost of nursing care than residential care. Councillor Alec Cormack, the Cabinet Member for Corporate Finance, believed an explanation to that effect was put forward at the last meeting. · Referral of the Time for Change - Poverty in Wales report by the Auditor General for Wales to the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee for consideration. The Head of Democratic Services affirmed the matter was referred to the Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee and was added to their Forward Work Programme. In addition, Dr Norma Barry requested that the status of actions be recorded in the Minutes going forward. Moved by Mr. John Evans; Seconded by Dr Norma Barry. The vote, by way of show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That the Minutes of the Meeting held on 28 September 2023 be approved as a correct record, in both English and Welsh.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED a) That the update report on the progress of action points since the previous meeting be noted. b) That in respect of the Council endeavouring to recover lost income after the late delivery of rent increase letters, the Committee await the outcome of a subsequent meeting of Full Council on how this issue be taken forward.
The Audit, Risk and Counter Fraud Manager provided updates on two action points from the previous meeting, which included: • Dr Norma Barry had sought clarification regarding the status of the new Annual Performance and Wellbeing plans for staff and the 360 degree appraisals for Chief Officers. The Audit, Risk and Counter Fraud Manager stated a further update would be provided to a subsequent Committee meeting as part of the Corporate Governance Improvement Plan. • Councillor Mike Stoddart requested that the Council’s protocol for handling time-critical correspondence sub-contracted to external bodies be presented to Committee for review. The Audit, Risk and Counter Fraud Manager then referred to the protocol used by the Revenues and Benefits Service to issue letters about rent increases and services charges contained within his report. In considering the protocol, the following key points were made: • Following a question from Councillor Stoddart, the Head of Financial Services confirmed that “seed letters” were sent to a cross-section of key officers within Revenues and Benefits to monitor delivery. • Councillor Jacob Williams then made reference to a question Councillor Mark Carter, had tabled on the matter to Full Council as had he. Councillor Williams understood from email correspondence outside of meetings that the Council had concluded it had no prospect of recovering any loss in rental income and pursuing anyone for it. The Head of Financial Services stated he had confirmed this to be the case with Elected Members. He went onto explain that while the Council has an arrangement with a mail provider, final-mile delivery is made by Royal Mail. The mail delivery supplier confirmed that the letters left their centre, however, Royal Mail could not provide a satisfactory answer as to what happened thereafter. The Head of Financial Services stated that the Council had sought legal advice, with it advised that the Council could not take legal action against the mail provider as they had fulfilled their side of the contract. • Councillor Stoddart then questioned the impact of having a £300K loss in rental income on the Council’s rent setting policy in future years. While the Chair understood the point Councillor Stoddart raised, he reminded Members that the Committee had asked to look at the mail protocol to avoid a repetition of late letters being sent out in future. The Cabinet Member for Corporate Finance acknowledged that rent setting was on the Agenda for consideration at the next Full Council meeting, therefore, the Chair proposed to await the outcome of that meeting. • In response to concerns expressed by Dr Norma Barry regarding tenants living in properties and not paying rent, the Head of Financial Services explained that due to Welsh Government guidance, the Council could only increase rents once in a 12 month period from 1 July instead of 1 April. He added the Head of Housing had been in discussion with Welsh Government to find ways of mitigating that loss. • Referring to his previous point, Councillor Williams offered to forward the chain of email correspondence to the Lay Members of the Committee so that they could be appraised of the situation. Dr Norma Barry Moved the recommendation within the report, with an addition from the Chair that the Committee await the outcome of the next Full Council meeting before adding an item to the agenda for the next Committee meeting; Seconded by Councillor Jacob Williams. The vote, by way of show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED a) That the update report on the progress of action points since the previous meeting be noted. b) That in respect of the Council endeavouring to recover lost income after the late delivery of rent increase letters, the Committee await the outcome of a subsequent meeting of Full Council on how this issue be taken forward.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED That the external assessment of Pembrokeshire County Council’s Internal Audit Service be noted.
The Audit, Risk and Counter Fraud Manager briefly outlined the key points to his report on the external assessment of the Council’s internal audit service. He explained internal audit must confirm to the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards (PSIAS) and, as such, carry out an annual self-assessment and be assessed externally every five years. The external assessment by Gwynedd County Council had just concluded and he was pleased to report the findings that Pembrokeshire County Council complies with all the requirements in place and no recommendations were made. The Audit, Risk and Counter Fraud Manager thanked his team for their work in accordance with the Standards. The Chair also expressed his gratitude to the Audit, Risk and Counter Fraud Manager and the team for conforming with all 304 (100%) of the requirements. Moved by Councillor Steve Alderman; Seconded by Dr Norma Barry. The vote, undertaken by a show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That the external assessment of Pembrokeshire County Council’s Internal Audit Service be noted.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED a) That the update provided on Business Risk Management and the contents of the Corporate Risk Register be noted. b) That no recommendations to Overview and Scrutiny Committees for further action or monitoring were necessary at this stage. The vote, undertaken by way of a show of hands, was carried. [Councillor Aled Thomas joined the meeting at this juncture]
The Audit, Risk and Counter Fraud Manager presented his report on the Council’s risk management position for Quarter 3 as at the end of October 2023. He reported, at its meeting on 9 September 2023, the Council’s Corporate Risk Management Group (CRMG) deescalated the Social Services Failure to Deliver Statutory Duties risk from the Corporate Risk Register as the Group felt that the risk was too large in its entirety. The Audit, Risk and Counter Fraud Manager stated that two new risks were due to be considered by the CRMG for inclusion within the Risk Register. An update would be provided to Committee at its next meeting. The Committee proceeded to debate the report. • On the increase in the number of children requiring Out of County specialist placements to support complex needs, Dr Norma Barry queried whether a referral be made to the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee. The Chair advised Members to await the outcome of the next CRMG meeting, which was due to discuss the Corporate Risk Register the following week, reported back to them by the Audit, Risk and Counter Fraud Manager before considering the matter further. Additionally, the Audit, Risk and Counter Fraud Manager undertook to ensure that the Head of Children’s Services attend the next Committee meeting should Members have any questions. He also agreed to provide updates to Dr Barry on the further points raised in relation to the Supply of Affordable Housing risk, and the Recruitment, Retention of Loss of Key Staff risk. Moved by Councillor Mike James; Seconded by Dr Norma Barry. The vote, undertaken by a show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED a) That the update provided on Business Risk Management and the contents of the Corporate Risk Register be noted. b) That no recommendations to Overview and Scrutiny Committees for further action or monitoring were necessary at this stage. The vote, undertaken by way of a show of hands, was carried. [Councillor Aled Thomas joined the meeting at this juncture]
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED a) That the Committee scrutinised the County Council’s Budget Quarter 2 Monitoring Report for 2023-24. b) That no recommendations to Overview and Scrutiny Committees for further action or monitoring were necessary at this stage.
The Committee considered a report by the Deputy Chief Finance Officer on the Council’s position as at Quarter 2 of the 2023-24 financial year. Councillor Alec Cormack, the Cabinet Member for Corporate Finance, introduced the report stating the approved net revenue expenditure budget for this year was £287.6m, which was approved by Cabinet on 6 November 2023. The Quarter 2 projected outturn for the year was £291.2m and represented a projected overspend of £3.6m, which was an ‘improved position’ to the £4.8m projected overspend reported at Quarter 1. Councillor Cormack stated that inflation had stabilised, but continued to be around 2.1% higher than the previous projections from the Office for Budget Responsibility. He stated that the UK Government had pledged that inflation would be 5% or below by the end of the year. Councillor Cormack then referred to the projected outturn at Quarter 2, increased level of demand in regards to School and Social Care services, additional budget pressures, slippage in the Capital Programme, a moratorium on all non-essential expenditure, as well as the commentary from the Director of Resources, as outlined in the report. Councillor Cormack stated that the financial challenge for 2024-25, and throughout the Medium Term Financial Plan, would potentially be the greatest challenge ever faced by the Council. He highlighted that some extremely hard decisions would need to be made, and in order to balance the budget and ensure financial sustainability for 2024-25 and beyond, it was suggested that the Council would need to move its Band D Council Tax level to at least the average in Wales, whilst also making significant budget savings across virtually all Council services. The Committee then debated the report’s contents and the key points were highlighted as follows: · Councillor Jacob Williams sought clarification on the percentage increase needed to bring Council Tax in line with the average Band D figure set by local authorities across Wales. Councillor Cormack responded that the Council was approximately 13% underneath the Welsh average and expected Pembrokeshire’s Council Tax would rise by this amount and more on 2024-25 figures. He announced the budget savings measures faced by the Authority would be discussed at the next Full Council meeting and were due to be published on the https://budgetoptions.pembrokeshire.gov.uk web page, so that the potential implications of rises in Council Tax levels and on the premiums for empty and second homes on service delivery could be viewed. · Dr Norma Barry, making reference to page 92 of the report, queried whether the Council could find further savings as she had noted the number of people in Bed and Breakfast (B&B) accommodation had increased to 118 as well as a rise seen in void properties representing a loss of rental income to the Authority. The Deputy Chief Finance Officer admitted B&B accommodation made up the majority of the overspend in the Housing General Fund, however, Housing Services were actively looking at other alternatives aimed at reducing those costs. She agreed to determine the individual costs of B&Bs and report back to Dr Barry. · In response to further questions from Dr Barry, the Cabinet Member confirmed the Initiative Fund was used to fund two additional posts to hasten the recovery of Council Tax and housing rent arrears as part of the Accelerated Change Programme. Furthermore, the Initiative Fund was made available to support the opening of the Council’s West Lodge Children’s Residential Home, in St Ishmaels. Councillor Cormack indicated that the Chief Executive was also considering the possibility of opening up additional facilities. On the future of Haverfordwest Airport, Councillor Cormack advised a draft proposal considering the Council’s ownership of the Airport and whether to involve third parties to deliver the service would be discussed by Cabinet shortly. · Councillor Stoddart questioned whether the Council could generate income from charges for its services and look at how its charges compare with other local authorities. The Chair reminded the Committee’s remit was not to adjudicate on budget setting, but to seek assurance that appropriate budget measures were being taken. Moved by Councillor Mike Stoddart; Seconded by Mr Martin Veale. The vote, undertaken by a show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED a) That the Committee scrutinised the County Council’s Budget Quarter 2 Monitoring Report for 2023-24. b) That no recommendations to Overview and Scrutiny Committees for further action or monitoring were necessary at this stage.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED That the report be noted.
The Committee received an update from the Audit, Risk and Counter Fraud Manager on the Council’s handling of complaints, concerns and compliments. Since the last report, he revealed Pembrokeshire was the first Welsh local authority to introduce bespokeiCasework case management software to strengthen complaints handling. He highlighted the benefits of the software that had enabled the complaints handling team to gather and interpret greater amounts of data and provide it to Cabinet and the Senior Leadership Team. The software was now being rolled out to schools, following an internal complaints audit in 2022-23 and to ensure a consistent approach to complaints handling. In 2022-23, the Audit, Risk and Counter Fraud Manager reported the Council received a total of 819 complaints, which was just under a 5% increase on what was received in 2021-22. The number of complaints that were reported to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales for the first two quarters of this financial year was currently 475, which was about a 12% increase on the first two quarters of last year. Wherever possible, the Audit, Risk and Counter Fraud Manager explained the Complaints Team aims to address all complaints at Stage 1 within 10 working days and within 20 working days for Stage 2 complaints. He understood that handling complaints relating to Social Services had taken longer than the 25 working days timeframe as issues were more complex. In previous years, he added the Council had a good track record of resolving complaints at Stages 1 and 2, with about 80% of the complaints closed within the prescribed timescales. However, during the first two quarters of this financial year, Building Maintenance had seen a spike in complaints and the Complaints Team had worked with the service to reduce the number to 16. In 2023-24, 39% of complaints received had been upheld by the Council compared to 32% in 2022-23. The Audit, Risk and Counter Fraud Manager then summarised the annual letter from the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales, which stated 44 complaints were referred to the Ombudsman in 2022-23 – a 5% increase on the previous year. Of the 44 complaints, the Ombudsman intervened in three cases concerning Housing, Building Maintenance and Waste. As well as complaints, the Council also keeps a record of the compliments received. While these decreased slightly last year, the Audit, Risk and Counter Fraud Manager anticipated that compliments would exceed last year’s figure based on the first two quarters of this financial year. Moved by Mr Martin Veale; Seconded by Councillor Mike Stoddart. The vote, undertaken by a show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That the report be noted.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED a) That the updates provided within the Annual Governance Statement (AGS) 2022-23 be noted. b) That no recommendations to Overview and Scrutiny Committees for further action or monitoring were necessary at this stage.
The Audit, Risk and Counter Fraud Manager introduced his report on the Annual Governance Statement 2022-24, which provided an update on the progress made against the four ‘Significant Issues’ and five ‘Priorities for Improvement’ identified. In discussion, Members requested to be brought up to date on several planned actions and the following key points were raised and noted: · The Chair asked whether recommended actions from Internal Audit and the External Service Review of the Council’s Property Service continue to be addressed and implemented, to which the Audit, Risk and Counter Fraud Manager assured that updates were received from the Interim Chief Property Officer. He went onto say that a new Chief Property Officer had recently been appointed and planned to revisit the recommendations with them to ensure they were embedded in the service. · Following a further question from the Chair, the Assistant Chief Executive confirmed quarterly reporting had resumed on the Council’s Corporate Performance Management Quality Assurance Framework and had been considered by Cabinet and Leadership Team, recently. He continued the Corporate Scorecard was also due to be discussed at the next Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting. · On the development work being undertaken to improve workforce performance indicator information, the Assistant Chief Executive agreed to follow this up further for the Chair with the Head of HR prior to next the meeting. Moved by Mr Martin Veale; Seconded by Councillor Jacob Williams. The vote, undertaken by a show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED a) That the updates provided within the Annual Governance Statement (AGS) 2022-23 be noted. b) That no recommendations to Overview and Scrutiny Committees for further action or monitoring were necessary at this stage.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED That the update provided by Audit Wales be noted.
Alison Lewis,Audit Wales, presented a report highlighting the work undertaken by the body at the end of Quarter 2 of the 2023-24 financial year. She then set out the timetable for when Audit Wales would be conducting their audit activities, which included thematic reviews of Unscheduled Care in Wales and of the Council’s strategic approach to digital. Moved by Councillor Mike Stoddart; Seconded by Councillor Steve Alderman. The vote, undertaken by a show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That the update provided by Audit Wales be noted.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED That the findings of the Audit Wales National Report ‘Cracks in the Foundations – Building Safety in Wales’ be noted.
Alison Lewis, Audit Wales, presented a report by the organisation’s Local Government Studies team reviewing the changes to building safety following the Grenfell Tower Fire tragedy. She informed the meeting that the team found a wide range of problems facing the building control and building safety profession, including significant staffing challenges. In their report, Audit Wales made eight recommendations to Welsh Government and Local Government and identified that numbers five to eight were specific to the Council. The Authority had set out its response to three of those recommendations, however, not to a fourth one recommending that the Council review its risk management processes to ensure risks were systemically identified, recorded, assessed and mitigated and were subject to regular evaluation and scrutiny. The Council’s Building Control Manager replied work was progressing on the action plan in response to the recommendations. In respect of the Council’s response to the fourth recommendation by Audit Wales, the Audit, Risk and Counter Fraud Manager agreed to share this outside of the meeting. Moved by Councillor Mike James; Seconded by Councillor Steve Alderman. The vote, undertaken by a show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That the findings of the Audit Wales National Report ‘Cracks in the Foundations – Building Safety in Wales’ be noted.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED That the findings of the Audit Wales National Report ‘Springing Forward: Lessons from our Work on Workforce and Assets in Local Government’ be noted.
Alison Lewis, Audit Wales, presented the findings of the organisation’s review of asset management and workforce planning across all 22 councils across Wales. She identified some recommendations were specific to the Council and were considered by the Committee on 29 November 2022. An action plan to address those recommendations had been prepared by the Council. Moved by Dr Norma Barry; Seconded by Councillor Jacob Williams. The vote, undertaken by a show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That the findings of the Audit Wales National Report ‘Springing Forward: Lessons from our Work on Workforce and Assets in Local Government’ be noted.
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