Venue: Meeting Room 1, County Hall, Dorchester, DT1 1XJ. View directions
Contact: Lindsey Watson 01305 252209 - Email: lindsey.watson@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk
No. | Item |
---|---|
To confirm the minutes of the
meeting held on 7 November 2019. Minutes: The minutes of the meeting
held on 7 November 2019 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the
Chairman. |
|
Declarations of Interest To receive any declarations
of interest. Minutes: There were no declarations of
interest. |
|
Public Participation To receive questions or
statements on the business of the committee from town and parish councils and
members of the public. Minutes: There were no representations
from parish or town councils or from members of the public. |
|
Urgent items To consider any items of
business which the Chairman has had prior notification and considers to be
urgent pursuant to section 100B (4) b) of the Local Government Act 1972. The
reason for the urgency shall be recorded in the minutes. Minutes: In
response to a question, the Executive Director of Corporate Development
reported that three sets of accounts for the previous year remained
unsigned. Two proposed final versions
had been received and it was hoped that these would be signed in the following
week. |
|
Finance Report Quarter 2 2019/20 PDF 88 KB To consider the Finance Report Quarter 2 2019/20 as presented to Cabinet on 5 November 2019. Additional documents: Minutes: The committee
reviewed the Quarter 2 Finance Report, which had been presented to Cabinet on 5
November 2019. As requested by the
committee, the Executive Director of People - Children and Portfolio Holder for
Children, Education and Early Help attended the meeting to answer questions in
respect of the Budget for Children’s Services: ·
Where
possible, children would be placed with an appropriate guardian including with
other family members ·
There
was a cost pressure associated with securing accommodation and an issue with
capacity. Cabinet had recently agreed to
re-establish a children’s hub and suitable properties were being looked for ·
Demand
in this area was high and liaison was being undertaken with the Government as
to how they were able to influence national issues in this area ·
Areas
for focus included the development of a residential hub, training and support
for foster parents, preventative work and providing the best service possible
where provision was out of county. Work
had started but would take time ·
The
Executive Director confirmed that there had been involvement and support from
portfolio holders, Cabinet and Council for work in this area ·
In
terms of forecasting for future budgets, there would always be an element of
being led by demand, however there was recognition that more control could be
achieved if the right level of edge of care services were in place ·
Part of
the Blueprint for Change consultation was about locality area partnership
working and working more closely with the community in order to safeguard
children ·
The
Executive Director of Corporate Development noted that part of building the
budget for the following year was about trying to anticipate the level of
demand on the service. There was a model
but it was recognised that some factors could not be anticipated and this
needed to be built into the budget ·
Reference
was made to the disposal of children’s homes by the former Dorset County
Council and the background to this was discussed. The Executive Director of People, Children,
noted that the provision currently being considered by the council was
different to what had been in place before.
Areas currently being explored included the provision of supported
lodgings for 16 to 18 year olds and in particular, a model including partner
involvement and contributions and potential income ·
In
response to a question, the Executive Director of Corporate Development noted
that a number of factors were taken into account when setting the budget and this
included using market intelligence to understand likely inflationary pressures ·
Consideration
was given to the number of looked after children in the council area and the budget
forecast for the next financial quarter · The impact of the recent tranche 2 restructure on finance team support for Children’s Services was raised and it was noted that moving forward, the model was to have a central corporate finance team in place with business partners allocated to each service area. The level of resource and expertise required for Children’s Services was recognised and would be in place moving forward ... view the full minutes text for item 53. |
|
Report of Internal Audit Activity Plan Progress 2019/20 - November 2019 PDF 555 KB To receive a report from South West Audit Partnership (SWAP). Minutes: The committee
received the South West Audit Partnership (SWAP) report of Internal Audit
activity plan progress report for the 2019/20 year. The plan progress reports provided an ongoing
opinion to support the end of year annual opinion and also provided details of
any significant risks that had been identified, along with the progress of
mitigating previously identified significant risks by audit. It was reported that the ongoing audit
opinion remained as reasonable. A number
of partial opinions had been issued and detail was provided within the
report. It was also noted that a number
of high priority recommendations had yet to be implemented and that the Service
Manager for Assurance would be developing a dashboard to enable directorates to monitor the position of recommendations,
which it was hoped would improve the position. Councillors
considered the issues arising from the report and during discussion the
following points were raised: ·
A
discussion was held with regard to Homes Dorset Ltd and the recent review of
the associated governance arrangements. Points
were raised with regard to finances and the directors that were currently
appointed. It was noted that the
governance arrangements required strengthening and finances set aside were still
available. A business case would need to
be developed if the company model was to be retained ·
In
response to a question with regard to checks in place for duplicate payments,
it was reported by the Corporate Director for Finance and Commercial that the
council had a proportionate approach which was supported by SWAP’s use of computerised software to identify
potential duplicate payments. There had been staffing vacancies within the
team and it was hoped to improve the recovery process as the tranche 2
transitional structure process concluded ·
A
discussion was held in respect of progress with policy convergence and the
Corporate Director, Legal and Democratic provided a brief overview. A request was made for a progress report on
this area to be provided to the meeting of the committee in March 2020 ·
The
issue of external audit fees was raised and it was noted that fees had been
negotiated. The issue of pace of work
had been picked up and it was noted that the council had opted for a higher fee
in order to ensure a resourced and timely external audit process. |
|
Risk Management Update PDF 210 KB To receive an update on risk management issues. Minutes: The committee
received and considered a report of the Service Manager for Assurance, which
provided an update on risk management issues in the council. It was noted that a further breakdown of
information would be available in future. |
|
Audit and Governance Committee Forward Plan PDF 75 KB To review the Audit and Governance Committee Forward Plan. Minutes: The committee’s
forward plan was reviewed and the following points noted: ·
The
Executive Director of People, Children and Executive Director of People, Adults
and relevant Portfolio Holders to be invited to the meeting on 24 March 2020
when the committee consider the finance quarterly monitoring report ·
A report
on progress with policy convergence to be provided at the March 2020 meeting ·
It was
noted that a change to the Constitution in respect of the planning committees
had been made and information with regard to this would be provided by email to
committee members by the Corporate Director, Legal and Democratic, following
the meeting ·
It was
noted that the Council had agreed that a review of the Constitution would take
place after 1 year ·
In
response to a question it was confirmed that consideration of the Budget for
2020/21 would take place through the scrutiny committees, Cabinet and Full
Council. |
|
Exempt Business To move the exclusion of
the press and the public for the following item in view of the likely
disclosure of exempt information within the meaning of paragraph x of schedule
12 A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended). The public and the press will
be asked to leave the meeting whilst the item of business is considered. There is no exempt
business. Minutes: There was no exempt business. |