Agenda, decisions and minutes

Members are required to notify any substitutions by midday on the day of the meeting.

Late substitutions will not be accepted and Members attending as a substitute without having given the due notice will not be able to take part in the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Adem Ruggiero-Cakir.

Audio Recording – 1 Minute

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Adem Ruggiero-Cakir.

To take as read and approve as a true record the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on the 23 June 2021.

RESOLVED:That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 23 June 2021 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chair.

Audio Recording – 1 Minute 11 Seconds

RESOLVED:That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 23 June 2021 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chair.

Members should notify the Chair of other business which they wish to be discussed at the end of either Part I or Part II business set out in the agenda. They must state the circumstances which they consider justify the business being considered as a matter of urgency.

The Chair will decide whether any item(s) raised will be considered.

There was no other business notified.

Audio Recording – 2 Minutes 57 Seconds

There was no other business notified.

Members are reminded that any declarations of interest in respect of any business set out in the agenda, should be declared as either a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest or Declarable Interest and are required to notify the Chair of the nature of any interest declared at the commencement of the relevant item on the agenda.  Members declaring a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest must withdraw from the meeting for the duration of the item. Members declaring a Declarable Interest, wishing to exercise a ‘Councillor Speaking Right’, must declare this at the same time as the interest, move to the public area before speaking to the item and then must leave the room before the debate and vote.

(1)       The Chair welcomed Councillor Sean Prendergast who had joined the Committee following a change in the membership. The Chair advised that Councillor Prendergast had replaced Councillor Sam Collins;

(2)       The Chair advised that, in accordance with Council Policy, the meeting would be audio recorded and streamed on YouTube;

(3)       The Chair drew attention to the item on the agenda front pages regarding Declarations of Interest and reminded Members that, in line with the Code of Conduct, any Declarations of Interest needed to be declared immediately prior to the item in question.

Audio Recording – 3 Minutes 3 Seconds

(1)       The Chair welcomed Councillor Sean Prendergast who had joined the Committee following a change in the membership. The Chair advised that Councillor Prendergast had replaced Councillor Sam Collins;

(2)       The Chair advised that, in accordance with Council Policy, the meeting would be audio recorded and streamed on YouTube;

(3)       The Chair drew attention to the item on the agenda front pages regarding Declarations of Interest and reminded Members that, in line with the Code of Conduct, any Declarations of Interest needed to be declared immediately prior to the item in question.

To receive petitions, comments and questions from the public.

There was no public participation.

Audio Recording – 3 Minutes 33 Seconds

There was no public participation.

REPORT OF THE SHARED ANTI-FRAUD SERVICE (SAFS)

To review the Councils work to combat fraud in 2020/21 and review the performance of SAFS in meeting its KPIs in 2020/21.

RESOLVED:

(1)       That the Councils work to combat fraud in 2020/21 be noted; and

(2)       That the performance of SAFS in meeting its KPIs in 2020/21 be noted.

REASON FOR DECISIONS: To enable the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee to review the Council’s work to combat fraud in 2020/21 and the performance of SAFS in meeting its KPIs in 2020/21.

Audio Recording – 3 Minutes 40 Seconds

The Head of the Shared Anti-Fraud Service (SAFS) presented the report entitled Anti-Fraud Report 2020/21 along with Appendix A - North Hertfordshire District Council Anti-Fraud Plan 2020/21, including:

·                The Plan was developed at the time of the emerging Covid pandemic in March 2020 and, although some ‘delivery methods’ and activity was reviewed, a decision was made to keep the plan much as it was;

·                All actions proposed for the 2020/21 Anti-Fraud Plan commenced in year with the vast majority being completed in-year;

·                Two separate fraud awareness/ publicity campaigns were launched in 2020 which were successful;

·                Fraud referrals decreased during the pandemic;

·                Members were directed to the SAFS KPI Performance 2020/21 in Section 3 and it was reported that all targets were achieved;

·                Section 4 - Transparency Code – Fraud Date was also included in the report; and

·                There was a further reading list outlined in Section 5.

The Chair thanked the Head of SAFS for the presentation and work undertaken.

The following Members asked questions:

·                Councillor Terry Hone; and

·                Councillor Adam Compton.

In response to questions raised, the Head of SAFS advised:

·                In regards to Table 1- Types of fraud being reported -  the 10 fraud referrals recorded as ‘other’ related to covid council tax refund, planning, local housing provider, local businesses and DWP benefits;

·                In relation to Case Study 1 on page 18 within the report, he would be happy to investigate the type of referrals received as a result of the awareness campaign.

It was voted upon and:

RESOLVED:

(1)       That the Councils work to combat fraud in 2020/21 be noted; and

(2)       That the performance of SAFS in meeting its KPIs in 2020/21 be noted.

REASON FOR DECISIONS: To enable the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee to review the Council’s work to combat fraud in 2020/21 and the performance of SAFS in meeting its KPIs in 2020/21.

REPORT OF THE POLICY AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT MANAGER

To review the draft Annual Governance Statement (AGS) including Action Plan for the year 2020/21.

RESOLVED: That the draft AGS Action Plan be noted in order for it to be finalised for approval as soon as possible after the Council’s External Audit has been completed.

REASON FOR DECISION: The Committee is the legal body with responsibility for approval of the AGS. Reporting the draft AGS and Action Plan at this stage provides an opportunity for the Committee to assess and comment on the draft, before it is finalised and brought back for approval after the External Audit has been completed.

Audio Recording – 13 Minutes 30 Seconds

The Policy and Community Engagement Manager presented the report entitled Annual Governance Statement 2020/21 as well as Appendix A and drew Members’ attention to the following items within the report:

·                The Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 and the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015/234 placed a requirement on the Council to undertake an annual review of the effectiveness of the system of internal controls and prepare an Annual Governance Statement (AGS);

·                The AGS must be considered by Members of the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee and the AGS approved under Regulation 6(4)(a) AAR 2015;

·                The draft AGS had been prepared following an in-depth review/ input and scoring of arrangements by the Leadership against the Framework 2016; and

·                The final AGS needed to be approved and accompany the Statement of Accounts. By presenting the draft AGS to this Committee before the audit of the accounts had concluded, the Committee would have time to raise any points that may need to be addressed. The Council had been notified by Ernst and Young that the audit of the Council’s Statement of Accounts would not commence until at least November.

The Policy and Community Engagement Manager advised Members that Appendix A was not the entire Annual Governance Statement but a shorter more meaningful communication of the key areas that were being reported on.

It was:

RESOLVED: That the draft AGS Action Plan be noted in order for it to be finalised for approval as soon as possible after the Council’s External Audit has been completed.

REASON FOR DECISION: The Committee is the legal body with responsibility for approval of the AGS. Reporting the draft AGS and Action Plan at this stage provides an opportunity for the Committee to assess and comment on the draft, before it is finalised and brought back for approval after the External Audit has been completed.

REPORT OF THE SERVICE DIRECTOR – RESOURCES

To receive the SIAS Review of the effectiveness of the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee 2020-21.

RESOLVED: That the SIAS Review of the Effectiveness of the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee 2020-21 be noted.

REASON FOR DECISION: To allow the Committee to consider the conclusions reached by the review and comment on the recommendations made.

Audio Recording – 16 Minutes 50 Seconds

The Service Director – Resources presented the report entitled SIAS review of the effectiveness of the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee 2020-21, including:

·                The Committee had operated well and legally in 2020/21;

·                To move things forward, he would be speaking to the Service Director – Legal and Community in relation to having an independent member sit on the Committee;

·                Members were encouraged to suggest topics for future meetings; and

·                Members were requested to complete the training matrix if they had not already done so.

The following Members asked questions:

·                Councillor Terry Hone; and

·                Councillor Sean Prendergast.

In response to questions raised, the Service Director – Resources advised that only two skill assessment matrixes had been completed and returned.

The Service Director – Resources affirmed that he would send the matrix to Councillor Sean Prendergast who had joined the Committee.

It was voted upon and:

RESOLVED: That the SIAS Review of the Effectiveness of the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee 2020-21 be noted.

REASON FOR DECISION: To allow the Committee to consider the conclusions reached by the review and comment on the recommendations made.

The Chair to lead a discussion regarding possible agenda items for future meetings.

It was agreed that the CIPFA Financial Management Code be an agenda item at the next meeting of the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee scheduled to take place on 15 September 2021.

The Chair welcomed Members to contact him in order to suggest possible agenda items for future meetings.

Audio Recording – 21 Minutes 30 Seconds

It was agreed that the CIPFA Financial Management Code be an agenda item at the next meeting of the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee scheduled to take place on 15 September 2021.

The Chair welcomed Members to contact him in order to suggest possible agenda items for future meetings.