Agenda and minutes

The Chair formally opened the meeting and welcomed all persons present including those that were viewing the meeting externally via the live broadcast.

Jill Korwin, one of the Directors, was acting as facilitator for the meeting and, upon being invited to do so by the Chair, detailed the housekeeping matters and guidance as to how the meeting would operate within the virtual setting.

No apologies for absence were received.

It was not possible to see on screen all those present in the virtual meeting room at any one time, so for the benefit of all persons present and those viewing the live broadcast, the facilitator verbally listed the names of those present, which included all Cabinet Members, one non-Cabinet Member and several Officers who were supporting the meeting.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 26 May 2020 (copy attached).

The minutes of the meeting held on 26 May 2020 were confirmed as a correct record.

At each Cabinet meeting, up to 15 minutes shall be allocated for questions or statements from and discussion with, non-Cabinet members.  As this meeting is being held virtually, Members wishing to speak during this session must notify Democratic Services by 9am on the day of the meeting that they wish to attend.  Who speaks and for how long will be at the complete discretion of the person presiding.

No non-Cabinet Members in attendance wished to speak under this item.

Members of the public who live or work in the District are invited to put one question or statement of not more than three minutes duration relating to items to be discussed in Part 1 of the agenda only. If a question is asked and answered within three minutes, the person who asked the question may ask a supplementary question that arises from the reply.

As the meeting is taking place virtually, a person who wishes to speak must register by 9am on Monday 22 June 2020 to ensure that there is time to brief them on how they can speak at the meeting.  This can be done by sending the request to democratic.services@westsuffolk.gov.uk or by telephoning one of the numbers provided on the Public Information Sheet at the start of this agenda.  Members of the public will be provided with a telephone number they can call when prompted to do so during the meeting to enable them to participate.

If a member of the public cannot attend the meeting remotely, they may submit a written question or statement to Democratic Services by midday at the very latest on the day of the meeting and this will be read out on their behalf during the meeting.

There is an overall time limit of 15 minutes for public speaking, which may be extended at the Chairman’s discretion.

There were no members of the public present within the virtual setting.  No members of the public viewing the live broadcast had registered to speak.

Report No:   CAB/WS/20/038

Portfolio Holder: Cllr Sarah Broughton                

Chairman of the Committee: Cllr Ian Houlder

Lead Officer: Christine Brain

(Report No: CAB/WS/20/038)

The Cabinet received and noted this report, which informed Members of the following substantive items discussed by the Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee at its meeting held on 28 May 2020:

1.           Ernst and Young – Presentation of External Audit Plan and Fees (2019-2020).

2.           Internal Audit Annual Report (2019-2020).

3.           Internal Audit Plan (2020-2021).

4.           2019-2020 Performance Report – Year End Outcome.

5.           Work Programme Update 2020-2021.

Councillor Houlder, Chair of the Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee, drew relevant issues from the report to the attention of Cabinet.  Councillor Houlder particularly referred to the current COVID-19 pandemic and how this was having a significant impact on the Council’s financial position, which would become more apparent in forthcoming reporting.

Councillor Griffiths, Leader of the Council, also expressed his thanks to the Committee for their continued work on the monitoring of the Council’s performance and financial position.

To consider the most recently published version of the Cabinet’s Decisions Plan

Report No:   CAB/WS/20/039

Portfolio Holder: Cllr John Griffiths           Lead Officer: Ian Gallin

(Report No: CAB/WS/20/039)

The Cabinet considered this report which was the Cabinet Decisions Plan covering the period 1 June 2020 to 31 May 2021.

Members took the opportunity to review the intended forthcoming decisions of the Cabinet.  However, no further information or amendments were requested on this occasion.

On conclusion of the meeting, the Chair thanked all present for their attendance at this virtual meeting.  The live broadcast subsequently ended at this point.