Agenda and minutes
Venue: Council Chamber, District Offices, College Heath Road, Mildenhall IP28 7EY
Contact: Christine Brain
Email: christine.brain@westsuffolk.gov.uk
Items
No. |
Item |
173. |
Substitutions
Any Member who is substituting for another
Member should so indicate, together with the name of the relevant
absent Member.
Minutes:
The following substitution was declared:
Councillor Susan Glossop for Councillor Jane
Midwood.
|
174. |
Apologies for Absence
Minutes:
Apologies for absence were received from
Councillors Beccy Hopfensperger, Jane Midwood and Karen
Richardson.
|
175. |
Minutes PDF 175 KB
To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on
20 September 2017 (copy attached).
Minutes:
The minutes of the meeting held on 20
September 2017, were unanimously accepted by the Committee as an
accurate record and signed by the Chairman.
|
176. |
Public Participation
Members of the public who live or work in
Forest Heath are invited to put one question/statement of not more
than 3 minutes duration relating to items to be discussed in Part 1
of the agenda only. If a question is
asked and answered within 3 minutes, the person who asked the
question may ask a supplementary question that arises from the
reply.
A person who wishes to speak must register at
least 15 minutes before the time the meeting is scheduled to
start.
There is an overall limit of 15 minutes for
public speaking, which may be extended at the Chairman’s
discretion.
Minutes:
Public participation had been undertaken
within the previous informal discussions, and there had been no
questions/statements from members of the public.
|
177. |
External Quality Assessment of Internal Audit against the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards PDF 210 KB
Report No: PAS/SE/17/026
(For reference
purposes, Forest Heath District Council’s Report Number is
PAS/FH/17/030)
Additional documents:
Minutes:
Further to the joint informal discussions held
prior to the meeting with Forest Heath District Council’s
Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee, the Committee formally
considered Report No: PAS/SE/17/026.
Members considered the report, and there being
no decision required, noted the contents of the
report.
|
178. |
Mid-Year Internal Audit Progress Report 2017-2018 PDF 208 KB
Report No: PAS/SE/17/027
(For reference
purposes, Forest Heath District Council’s Report Number is
PAS/FH/17/031)
Additional documents:
Minutes:
Further to the joint informal discussions held
prior to the meeting with Forest Heath District Council’s
Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee, the Committee formally
considered Report No: PAS/SE/17/027.
Members had scrutinised the report and asked
questions, to which responses were provided.
There being no decision required, the
Committee noted the contents of the Mid-Year Audit
Progress Report 2017-2018.
|
179. |
Balanced Scorecards and Quarter 2 Performance (2017-2018) PDF 224 KB
Report No: PAS/SE/17/028
(For reference
purposes, Forest Heath District Council’s Report Number is
PAS/FH/17/032)
Additional documents:
Minutes:
Further to the joint informal discussions held
prior to the meeting with Forest Heath District Council’s
Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee, the Committee formally
considered Report No: PAS/SE/17/028.
Members had scrutinised the report in detail
and asked questions, to which responses were provided.
There being no decision required, the
Committee noted the Council’s performance
using the Balanced Scorecards for Quarter 2, 2017-2018.
|
180. |
West Suffolk Strategic Risk Register Quarterly Monitoring Report - September 2017 PDF 220 KB
Report No: PAS/SE/17/029
(For reference
purposes, Forest Heath District Council’s Report Number is
PAS/FH/17/033)
Additional documents:
Minutes:
Further to the joint informal discussions held
prior to the meeting with Forest Heath District Council’s
Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee, the Committee formally
considered Report No: PAS/SE/17/029.
Members had considered the report, and there
being no decision required, noted the contents of
the Quarter 2 West Suffolk Strategic Risk Register Monitoring
Report.
|
181. |
Work Programme Update PDF 140 KB
Report No: PAS/SE/17/030
(For reference
purposes, Forest Heath District Council’s Report Number is
PAS/FH/17/034)
Minutes:
Further to the joint informal discussions held
prior to the meeting with Forest Heath District Council’s
Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee, the Committee formally
considered Report No: PAS/SE/17/030.
Members considered the report, and
there being no decision required,
noted the contents of
the report, including the additional report “Appointment of
External Auditors”, to be presented to the Committee at its
January 2018 meeting.
|
182. |
Building Control - Improvement Plan PDF 461 KB
Report No: PAS/SE/17/031
(For reference
purposes, Forest Heath District Council’s Report Number is
PAS/FH/17/035)
Minutes:
Further to the joint informal discussions held
prior to the meeting with Forest Heath District Council’s
Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee, the Committee formally
considered Report No: PAS/SE/17/031.
Members had scrutinised the report and there
being no decision required, the Committee noted the
contents of the report.
|
183. |
Ernst and Young - Annual Audit Letter 2016-2017 PDF 208 KB
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Committee received Report No:
PAS/SE/17/032, presented by Mark Hodgson, Associate Partner (Ernst
and Young), which updated members on the outcome of the annual
audit of the 2016-2017 financial statements by Ernst and Young (EY)
as detailed in their Annual Audit Letter 2016-2017, attached as
Appendix 1 to the report. The letter
was for information, and confirmed the completion of the audit of
the 2016-2017 financial statements, and was one of the best audit
letters he had issued.
No significant issues were noted by EY,
therefore the planned audit fee of £43,767 for the year
remained unchanged. Work on the
certification of claims and returns was due for completion in
November 2017 and the results of this work, along with the final
fee would be reported in the Annual Certification Report.
The Committee thanked EY and officers for
their hard work in completing an outstanding audit for 2016-2017,
which was very good news.
There being no decision required, the
Committee noted the contents of the report.
|
184. |
Financial Performance Report (Revenue and Capital) Quarter (2017-2018) PDF 262 KB
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Committee received Report No:
PAS/SE/17/033, which set out the financial performance for the
second quarter of 2017-2018 and forecasted outturn position for
2017-2018.
Attached at Appendix A and B to the report
were details of the Council’s revenue performance and year
end forecasted outturn position. The
current forecast position for the year end was expected to be a
benefit of £127,000 to the council’s General Fund,
which equated to just 0.17% of the council’s gross
expenditure. Explanations of the main
year end forecast under / overspends was set out within the table
at paragraph 1.2.3. Members were
requested to note the current position and the significant
variances over £25,000 (paragraph 1.2.3)
Appendix C to the report set out the
Council’s capital financial position for the six months of
2017-2018, which showed expenditure of
£4,092,000. Finally a summary of
the earmarked reserves was attached at Appendix D, along with
forecast year end position for 2017-2018.
Budget holders would continue to work with
Resources Business Partners and Business Support Advisors and an
updated outturn positon would be presented to the Committee on a
quarterly basis.
The Committee scrutinised the report and asked
questions to which responses were provided.
There being no decision required, the
Committee note the Quarter 2 performance and the
2017-2018 year end forecast financial position.
|
185. |
Delivering a Sustainable Medium Term Financial Strategy 2018-2021 PDF 468 KB
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Committee received Report No:
PAS/SE/17/034, which updated members on progress made towards
delivering a balanced budget for 2018-2019 and sustainable budget
in the medium term.
St Edmundsbury continued to face considerable
financial challenges as a result of increased cost and demand
pressures and constraints on public sector spending (Revenue
Support Grant (RSG)) from central government, as evidenced by the
proposed four year government settlement. It was clear that even without the proposed
reductions in RSG, the council had underlying net cost pressures
which it needed to address.
The Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS)
2017-2021 was approved by Council on 21 February 2017, which set
out the current and future financial pressures and challenges
facing St Edmundsbury.
The budget gap for years 2018-2019 to
2020-2021 were projected in Table 1 of the report. The current budget assumptions for 2018-2019 and
across the MTFS were detailed in Appendix A.
The Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee
was asked to support and recommend to Cabinet the inclusion of
proposals as set out in Section 5 and Table 2 of the report in
order to progress securing a balanced budget for 2018-2019 and
sustainable budget in the medium term.
Members scrutinised the report in detail and
asked questions to which officers duly responded. Discussions held focused on the budget proposals
set out in table 2 of the report. In
particular, the emergency Winter accommodation costs; resources to address
anti-social behaviour issues in Bury Town centre; and Land
Charges.
The Committee noted the budget
assumptions, budget timetable and progress made to date on
delivering a balanced budget for 2018-2019 and sustainable budget
in the medium term.
Councillor Patricia Warby moved the
recommendation, this was duly seconded by Councillor Betty Mclatchy
and with the vote being unanimous, it was:
RECOMMENDED
That the proposals, as
detailed in Section 5 and Table 2 at paragraph 5.1 of Report No:
PAS/SE/17/034 be included in securing a balanced budget
2018-2019.
|
186. |
Mid-Year Treasury Management Report and Investment Activity (April - September 2017) PDF 238 KB
Report No: TMS/SE/17/004 will
be considered by the Treasury Management Sub-Committee on 20
November 2017. The Chairman/Service
Manager (Finance and Performance) will update the Committee
verbally on any issues or recommendations arising from the
consideration of this report.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Committee received Report No:
TMS/SE/17/004, which had been considered by the Treasury Management
Sub-Committee on 20 November 2017. The
Senior Business Partner provided a verbal update on the
Sub-Committee’s consideration of the report, which:
(a)
Provided a summary of investment activities for the first six
months of 2017-2018;
(b) Requested a revision to the
“Red” % of portfolio limit from 35% to 50%, which was
due to the majority of banks now having a Sector
Colour Code rating of “Red” (there were no longer any
Purple or Blue UK banks and only two Orange UK banks). The maximum investment with any one
“Red” institution would remain at
£11m.
The Sub-Committee had scrutinised the report
and asked a number of questions relating to the investment activity
and the requested revision to the portfolio limit, to which
officers duly responded.
The Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee
considered the report and asked questions to which responses were
provided.
Councillor Andrew Smith moved the
recommendation, this was duly seconded by Councillor Betty Mclatchy
and with the vote being unanimous, it was:
RECOMMENDED
That
subject to the approval of Council, the Mid-Year Treasury Management Report 2017-2018, including the
change to the Annual Treasury Management and Investment Strategy
and associated Code of Practice, attached as Appendix 1 to Report
No: TMS/SE/17/004, be approved.
|
187. |
Exclusion of the Press and Public
To consider whether the press and public
should be excluded during the consideration of the following item
because it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be
transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the
public were present during this item, there would be disclosure to
them of exempt categories of information as prescribed in Part 1 of
Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, and indicated
against the item and, in all circumstances of the case, the public
interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest
in disclosing the information.
Minutes:
See Minute Number 188 below.
|
188. |
Exempt Appendix 1: Building Control - Improvement Plan (para 3)
Exempt Appendix 1 to Report
No: PAS/SE/17/031
Minutes:
The Committee considered Exempt Appendix 1 to
Report No: PAS/SE/17/031. However, no reference was made to
specific detail and, therefore, this item was not held in private
session.
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In this section
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