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The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
RESOLVED – That the Governance and Audit Committee Terms of Reference be noted.
RESOLVED – That the Audit Wales Work Programme and Timetable be noted.
RESOLVED – (i) That the Governance & Audit Committee considered the external regulators’ reports and the council’s response to them (Appendix A). (ii) That the Governance & Audit Committee considered progress with actions to address recommendations / proposals for improvement reported since February 2022 (Appendix B).
RESOLVED – That the Work Programme be approved.
RESOLVED – That the Governance and Audit Committee agrees the Governance and Audit Committee Development Programme 2022/23.
RESOLVED – The Governance and Audit Committee considered the report and obtained satisfactory explanations regarding any areas of concern.
RESOLVED - That the press and public be excluded from the Meeting during consideration of the following item(s) as it is likely that, if they were present, there would be disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 18 of Part 4 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).
Apologies for absence was submitted on behalf of Councillor Dana Davies and Lay Member Trevor Coxon.
Matters Arising: 5th July 2022 - Item 11 - Counter Fraud Annual Report 2021-22 It was highlighted that the emphasis of the North and Mid Wales Counter Fraud Group was to generate and encourage collaborative working and that the two bullet points at the bottom of page 10 of the minutes were linked. Members were updated on the following: · Access to Corporate training and the intranet for Lay Members had been actioned. · That the Risk and Control Registers Report will be brought to the meeting in December 2022. · The Chief Officer Social Care was scheduled to attend the Governance and Audit Committee in September 2022 but due to the change of the Committee meeting dates the Chief Officer Social Care will attend the October 2022 meeting instead. RESOLVED - Subject to the above that the Minutes of the Meetings held on 5 and 28 July 2022 be signed as a correct record.
Members were reminded of their responsibility under Paragraph 11 of the Members’ Code of Conduct, to declare the existence and nature of any personal interest in respect of any of the business to be transacted at this meeting. The following declarations were made:- Agenda Item 5 – Audit Wales Programme and Timetable – Quarter 1 Update- Personal and non-prejudicial – Independent Lay Member David Stewart. The Lay Member was in receipt of an occupational pension.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED – That the Governance and Audit Committee Terms of Reference be noted.
The Terms of Reference was submitted for information. RESOLVED – That the Governance and Audit Committee Terms of Reference be noted.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED – That the Audit Wales Work Programme and Timetable be noted.
(Member’s declarations of interest in relation to this item are set out in Minute reference above). A copy of the Audit Wales Work Programme and Time Table Quarter 1 update was submitted for information. The Chair informed Members that Item 5 and 6 would be cross referenced and that a structured approach will be implemented whilst presenting the two Items. Reference was also made to the Governance and Audit Committees Terms of reference. The Audit Manager for Audit Wales updated Members of the Committee regarding the status of the Audit of the Council’s 2021-22 Statement of Accounts. It was highlighted that the Council had adopted a rolling revaluation model which saw all land and buildings revalued within a five year cycle. However, due to the economic climate there was a high degree of uncertainty associated with the revaluation of properties. Audit Wales met with the Chartered Institute of Public Finance (CIPFA) and relevant bodies and it was decided that: a) All local government bodies (Wrexham Council included) would have to review the valuations of their properties to consider whether the valuations were still materially correct b) That the Council’s 2021/22 Statement of Accounts would have to be updated to reflect the updated revaluation figures and that this could take a significant amount of time to complete due to the work involved. It was highlighted that there also issues around the valuation of infrastructure of assets, which was a UK wide matter. A resolution to this was being discussed with Welsh Government Added to the above matters, the resources for Audit Wales were very stretched. Meetings have been held with the Chief Officer Finance and ICT and the Head of Service Accountancy to discuss these matters because Audit Wales could not guarantee that the finalised Audit of the Statement of Accounts for 2021/22 would be signed off by the 21st November 2022. Members were assured that all of North Wales Authorities have not had their Statement of Accounts for 2021/22 signed off and that everyone was working very hard to finalise them. Audit Wales asked whether it was possible for there to be a potential relaxation of reporting requirements regarding the timing of papers issued to the Governance and Audit Committee which may help meeting the November Committee date. The Audit Wales Lead updated the Members about the Performance and Audit Work. As follows: · Audit Wales were in the process of finalising the work on the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act and the Carbon reduction plans. · The Thematic Review – Unscheduled Care was a regional piece of work and was progressing well. · The Management response relating to Sharing of Information through Committees was noted in Item 6 of the report. RESOLVED – That the Audit Wales Work Programme and Timetable be noted.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED – (i) That the Governance & Audit Committee considered the external regulators’ reports and the council’s response to them (Appendix A). (ii) That the Governance & Audit Committee considered progress with actions to address recommendations / proposals for improvement reported since February 2022 (Appendix B).
The Chief Executive presented a report (CE/46/22) that provided an account of external regulation and inspection received since the last summary report in July 2022. The Head of Service Performance, Improvement, Partnerships and Scrutiny introduced the report and highlighted the main points contained within it. The Audit Lead for Wales and the Chief Officer Social Care presented and updated Members on the relevant reports summarised below: · Audit Wales Public Engagement – The Council had made good progress with engagement and the report signposted opportunity for further benefits in engagement. The Head of Service Performance, Improvement, Partnerships and Scrutiny was happy to receive the report and work was underway to address the resultant recommendations. · Public Sector Readiness for Net Zero Carbon by 2030 - It was a national report, that had five calls for action that tackled the barriers of de carbonation. Members were informed that there would be a Local Report that would focus on Net Carbon zero at Wrexham in the near future and a briefing letter will be brought to the next Governance and Audit Committee meeting in November 2022. · Ombudsman Report – It was explained that the report dealt with a complaint from a member of the public and that it was brought to the attention of the Ombudsman. A number of actions have been implemented internally within Wrexham Council as noted below: a) A meaningful written apology had been sent to the family concerned. b) The actions contained in the Note have been implemented. c) Officers have held regular meeting with the providers regarding the relevant requirements of their contract monitoring in relation to the delivery of social care services by third party providers. This is to ensure appropriate intervention should concerns arise regarding the provision of the service or change in the client’s needs. · Direct Payments for Adult Social Care - Most of the recommendations related to publishing information and work has been carried out regarding the: a) Strengthening of the intranet; b) Updating of the Website so as to increase the level of awareness to the public. c) Internalising Support services in Wrexham Council. · Arrangements for the Open Sharing of Information Through Committees. a) The budget monitoring reports were now being reported to the Executive Board. b) The Head of Service: Performance, Improvement, Partnerships and Scrutiny has held meetings with the Scrutiny Chairs regarding the Audit Wales recommendations where Wrexham Council shared limited financial and performance information in public committee meetings. It was concluded that the Scrutiny Chairs would prefer to continue to identify key areas of concern during Scrutiny Committee meetings. A discussion pursued regarding Item 5 and Item 6 and the following was highlighted: Item 5 · It was confirmed that the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act (Wales) 2015 (WFG Act) examinations have been integrated into the Audit Wales Performance Work. Members were informed that during every five year cycle Audit Wales would report to the Welsh Assembly which referenced short, medium and long term services provided by Audit Wales. · Assurance that the sustainable development principle (‘5 ways of working’) was fully embedded in the council. A recent internal audit of this was given green assurance. · It was envisaged that Wrexham Council would be making decisions around the five ways of working as a matter of normal and that it would be integrated rather than exception. · Wrexham Council was in the process of developing an integrated impact assessment that would provide assurance around compliance with a number of duties and requirements, and the sustainable development principle would be included in this assessment. Item 6 Ombudsman Report · Members were assured that the Social Care staff were in receipt of regular contact with the third party care providers which formed part of the monitoring process. · Training and individual support was also provided to ensure that the monitoring was right and that the care service was alert to wellbeing issues. · Should a third party provider not deliver on their care service contract then sanctions would be implemented. · The Social Care team would work with the third party provider to address any issues raised regarding their delivery of their care service and an action plan would be given to the third party provider so they could identify the areas for improvement. If there was no improvement then an escalating concerns process would be instigated. Risks would also be taken into consideration during the escalation period. · The individual service users will be allocated a Social Worker and their visits would act as a spot check where these were required An overview of the direct payments system was provided and the explanation of the percentage of the Commissioning of the Care Plans was explained to Members. Members were assured that there were financial and Social Worker controls in place for care plans and were informed that there had been growth within the micro enterprise sector for provision of care. · It was explained that within the self-assessment there were a number of themes covered of which performance management arrangements and performance outcomes were two of the seven themes covered. Public Sector Readiness for Net Zero Carbon by 2030 Report · Members sought clarification on one of the recommendations that was included in the report where it stated there had been clear uncertainty about whether the public sector would meet its ambition to achieve net zero carbon by 2030. · The Audit Wales Lead will consider inviting the authors of the Audit Wales reports to the meetings so that they could answer specific questions raised by the Governance and Audit Committee. · Members sought clarification and feedback from Audit Wales regarding the parameters of taking well managed risks that formed part of the findings and conclusions and the climate emergency element within the report. Arrangements for the Open Sharing of Information Through Committees · Audit Wales compared the arrangements at Wrexham Council with other Councils because there were concerns around the frequency of the budgetary reports. This had shown that other councils presented budget monitoring reports more frequently. Wrexham Council had responded positively to the recommendation and had already increased its reporting to quarterly. · The new performance management system and the project was currently underway and was on track. · In response to the discussion around whether scrutiny committees should consider performance reporting, the Head of Service: Performance, Improvement, Partnerships and Scrutiny reminded members that scrutiny committees’ work programmes are agreed by scrutiny committees, and explained the process that is in place to submit requests for scrutiny to the relevant scrutiny committee. · Clarification was sought about the Value for money angle and if it included clear contributions to the de carbonation processes. It was confirmed that there were new strategies associated with it and that value for money was a matter in progress. · The Head of Service Performance, Improvement, Partnerships and Scrutiny will report back on the status of the place making strategy guidance. RESOLVED – (i) That the Governance & Audit Committee considered the external regulators’ reports and the council’s response to them (Appendix A). (ii) That the Governance & Audit Committee considered progress with actions to address recommendations / proposals for improvement reported since February 2022 (Appendix B).
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED – That the Work Programme be approved.
The Chief Officer Finance & ICT submitted the proposed Work Programme for 2002/23. During discussion, the following points were raised: · The Self-Assessment report will include an explanation of the new Self-Assessment process and it was advised that it would not warrant a full training session. · Members were reminded that there will be a delay regarding the submission of the finalised approval of the Annual Statement of Accounts report 2021/22. RESOLVED – That the Work Programme be approved.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED – That the Governance and Audit Committee agrees the Governance and Audit Committee Development Programme 2022/23.
The Chief Officer Finance and ICT submitted a report (COFI/24/22) requesting that the Governance and Audit Committee agreed the Governance and Audit Committee Development Programme. The Head of Service Audit and Technical introduced the report and highlighted the main points within it. During discussion the following was raised:- · It was confirmed that the Lay Members had access to the intranet. · A Member requested that the Committee members undertook a skills audit because it would be useful to know what skills each of the Committee Members had. · CIPFA has recently produced a UK position paper for Committees which could include relevant surveys and guidance that could be used as a skills benchmark for Governance and Audit Committee Members. · Training related to the effectiveness of the Governance and Audit Committee will be factored into the Governance and Audit Committee Development Programme 2022/23. RESOLVED – That the Governance and Audit Committee agrees the Governance and Audit Committee Development Programme 2022/23.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED – The Governance and Audit Committee considered the report and obtained satisfactory explanations regarding any areas of concern.
The Chief Finance and ICT Officer submitted a report (COFI/23/22) asking Members to consider the Internal Audit Interim Report between April and August 2022. The Head of Service and Technical and the Audit Lead introduced the report and highlighted the main points within it. During consideration of the report the following matters were discussed: · A Member raised concern that it was the third follow up for the breakfast club and required an explanation as to why not all Breakfast Clubs could evidence that employees had undergone the appropriate pre-employment checks, including a DBS, with satisfactory results. · It was clarified that the Breakfast Club recommendation related to the evidencing of pre-employment checks and that it was not raising the concern that no pre-employment checks have been undertaken. · There was a new Officer in post that was overseeing the Breakfast Clubs that had historic experience in the service area. The new Officer required time to deal with the remaining issues because the Schools had been closed during the summer period. · It was explained that the Audit Plan had reduced in size for this current year and that the planned amount of audits have been based on risk assessments. · A paper providing an explanation about the Audit Plan process was brought to a previous Governance and Audit Committee meeting. · Members were assured that there were 34 planned audits for 2022/33 and that the current Internal Audit plan work was on track and that it had not been affected. · It was explained that three delayed audits that had been classified as amber had occurred due to changes in staffing within the Governor Support and the School transport teams and there had been a bereavement within the Single point of Access department. · The Head of Service and Technical will report back on the amount of audits that were planned during the previous years. · It was clarified that the Amber Assurance Level was classified as a problem but it was not widespread across the Council. · A Member enquired about the degree of testing controls for the two major financial systems. It was confirmed that an Auditor carried the substantial tests on site. · There were a number of Audits that had been carried over to the current Audit year that included three key financial audits comprising of Council tax, payroll and Housing rents of which two of those audits were in progress. · The payroll audits have tight timescales and the Head of payroll was currently compiling the information for the planned audit. · A Member informed the Committee that there were three areas of high risk that related to fraud and they were within Housing, Planning Development and Human processes all of which would be an area for concern and should be featured in Audit Programmes. RESOLVED – The Governance and Audit Committee considered the report and obtained satisfactory explanations regarding any areas of concern.
There were matters arising relating to the Statement of Accounts 2021/22 and the following was discussed: · The Chief Officer for Finance and ICT will provide Members with a wider answer in relation to providing assurance that the Council obtains a fair return on their investments. It was confirmed that the investment would be reflected in the valuation. · Members were assured that the administration of the court protection orders to action court payment were part of the audit plan and was part of a risk assessment. · The Chief Officer for Finance and ICT will provide Members with a report on the volume of Waivers by means of exemptions for procurement during 2019/2020, 2020/21, 2021/22 and to date.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED - That the press and public be excluded from the Meeting during consideration of the following item(s) as it is likely that, if they were present, there would be disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 18 of Part 4 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).
RESOLVED - That the press and public be excluded from the Meeting during consideration of the following item(s) as it is likely that, if they were present, there would be disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 18 of Part 4 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).
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