Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED:            (on a motion by Councillor Shouler, seconded by Councillor Darke and carried nem. con.) that Councillor Wilmshurst be elected to chair the Committee for the current Council year. 

RESOLVED:            (on a motion by Councillor Shouler, seconded by Councillor Stratford and carried nem. con.) that Councillor Mathew be elected as Deputy Chairman for the current Council year. 

Members thanked the former Deputy Chairman, Councillor Ray Jelf for his work in that role.   

Briefing by the Chief Executive, Assistant Chief Executive and Directors on the Corporate and Directorate Business Strategies and the process of governance that underpins the delivery of the Strategies.   

On 20 April 2011 the Committee had resolved, at the suggestion of the Chairman who was also Member Champion for Risk Management, to hold this additional meeting with the main business being the Corporate and Directorate Business Strategies and the process of governance that underpinned their delivery, to be led by the Chief Executive with Directors in attendance.  Committee members had before them copies of the Business Strategies of the Chief Executive’s Office and Directorates, which had been circulated previously.

The Chief Executive thanked the Committee for the opportunity to update councillors on the Business Strategy whose success was a critical matter for the Council.  She then presented an overview of the Strategy which focused on four main areas, namely challenging current methods of working, the financial pressures, Government policy and local needs / feedback.  The presentation looked at the background in terms of structures which had emerged during periods of economic growth, the legacy of different initiatives and the growth of bureaucracy, information silos and multiple management layers.  The presentation then looked forward to the aims and objectives of the Strategy, changing the way we work, the reshaping of management, the Customer Service Centre and improved customer focus, asset management, service and resource planning, community self-help / Big Society and ICT.  The Governance arrangements were clearly shown together with monitoring, the timetable and red, amber & green rated reporting with a summary of savings and estimates for 2011/12-2014/15.  The Chief Executive, the Assistant Chief Executive & Chief Finance Officer and the Head of Human Resources then responded to members’ questions and comments including the aims of the Strategy, the reshaping of management and rationalisation of structures, tiers and establishment/posts, training and development of staff, further planned reductions to 2013/14 and members’ roles in the formal decision making process.  The officers considered that the Strategy was placing the Council in a good position to participate fully in the localism agenda.  (A copy of the presentation slides is attached to the signed Minutes and is available on request). 

The Chairman thanked the Chief Executive for the comprehensive presentation and for the reassurance that appropriate and adequate governance and monitoring arrangements were in place. 

Ms. Callanan, Performance Improvement & Development Manager who represented the Director, Children Education & Families then outlined the context of and planning and transformation process underway in the directorate to improve services through, for example management review/restructuring and the continuous review of quality, compliance and joint commissioning.  She also reported on mechanisms to seek user/public participation/views, the management of key risks during the process and monitoring the impact and savings achieved. 

The Director for Social & Community Services spoke about the four key elements of the directorate’s overall strategy (prevention, personalisation, protection and partnerships), changes in the directorate including planning, staffing &resourcing and the rationalisation and management of projects through the directorate Change Board, performance management and the management of key risks.  There was regular liaison with and inputs from finance, legal and HR together with mechanisms for effective engagement with stakeholders and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30/11

Members are invited to comment on the draft response (AU7 - to be circulated separately following the Audit Working Group on 16 June 2011) to the Department for Communities & Local Government (DCLG) consultation on the future for Local Public Audit. Following the Committee meeting, a final version will be submitted to the DCLG before their deadline of 30 June 2011.   

Members considered the draft response (AU7) to the Department for Communities & Local Government (DCLG) consultation on the future for Local Public Audit following consideration by the Audit Working Group (AWG) on 16 June 2011.

Mr Dyson reported that he had amended the initial draft response to take on board AWG members’ views.  The paper contained a response to all 50 questions and he had  pulled out the key issues/messages as a summary at the beginning. 

He commented on two issues in the draft that in particular:

- he had included a statement that we believe that appointed auditors should not be allowed to provide any other services to the Council during the term of their contract. This could have a detrimental impact on the cost and reduce the overall market place. What was proposed by the DCLG included the Audit Committee being the body who had to approve the provision of other services, once they were satisfied the risk of compromising independence was not material; and

- there was much debate about the Value for Money (VFM) role of the public auditor (Q29); he thought  the Group may have been minded towards option 2, whereby the Auditor was required as now to provide a VFM opinion. In the draft response he had left in Option 1, but provided more context as there were cost/control implications that may need further consideration.  

Committee members’ expressed themselves to be content with the text in AU7 and thanked Mr Dyson for his work.

RESOLVED: to approve the draft response at AU7 and note that following the Committee meeting it would be submitted to the DCLG before their deadline of 30 June 2011.   (The response as submitted to the DCLG is attached).