Agenda and minutes
Venue: Civic Centre, Windmill Street, Gravesend, Kent
Contact: Committee Section
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Apologies for absence Minutes: An apology for absence was received from Cllr Elizabeth Mulheran. Cllr John Caller attended as her substitute.
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To sign the minutes of the previous meeting. Minutes: The minutes of the meeting on Tuesday, 21 September 2021 were agreed and signed by the Chair.
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To declare any interests members may have in the items contained on this agenda. When declaring an interest a member must state what their interest is. Minutes: Cllr Sarah Gow declared an Other Significant Interest as an appointed Director of Rosherville Limited, the Council’s Local Authority Trading Company.
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Update on 2019/20 external audit / draft statement of accounts 2020/21 Minutes: The Assistant Director (Corporate Services) gave a verbal update on the 2019/20 external audit and draft statement of accounts for 2020/21 and highlighted the following:
· The external audit for 2019/20 is still ongoing. As reported previously the two main outstanding items to resolve are the accounting treatment of The St George’s Shopping Centre transaction and the valuation of HRA dwellings. · External advice is being sought from CIPFA regarding the St George’s Shopping Centre transaction. The finance team are currently working with Grant Thornton with regard to the HRA dwellings valuation. · Once the 2019/20 accounts are finalised and reviewed by Grant Thornton, the audit of the 2020/21 financial statements would commence. · Following on from a question, the Assistant Director (Corporate Services) confirmed that at the moment there is no definitive date when the 2019/20 audit will be concluded, however Members will be kept updated on progress.
The Chair thanked the Assistant Director (Corporate Services) and the finance team for all their work to resolve the outstanding issues.
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General Fund Budget Monitoring Q2 Additional documents:
Minutes: The Principal Accountant (General Fund) updated the Committee with information on actual performance against the approved Revenue and Capital budgets for 2021/22, including projected variances agreed or identified through budgetary control activity. Updated Members on other key areas of financial performance that may have an impact on the Council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy, Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP), or Financial Statements and informed Members of a proposed in year addition to the Capital programme.
The Principal Accountant (General Fund) highlighted the following: -
Following Members comments and questions, the Principal Accountant (General Fund) highlighted the following:
· At Cabinet on Monday 8 November, the addition of the St George’s Creative Hub had been approved as an addition to the Capital Programme, funded through a combination of S106 contributions and existing balances. · Following a question regarding homelessness in section 3.11.3 various grants have been received from Central Government funding for homelessness and homeless prevention. The ... view the full minutes text for item 128. |
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HRA Budget Monitoring Q2 Additional documents:
Minutes: The Principal Accountant (Housing & Exchequer) provided the Committee with information on actual performance against the approved Revenue and Capital budgets for 2021/22, including known variances agreed or identified through budgetary control activity. Updated Members on other key areas of financial performance that may impact on the Council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy, Medium Term Financial Plan, HRA Business Plan or Financial Statements.
The Principal Accountant (Housing & Exchequer) updated Members on the report and highlighted key points:-
· At the end of Q2 the HRA forecast expected to draw some £417k from the general reserve against an original budget of £297k. A slightly worse position than reported in Q1 and mainly due to a reduction in the forecasted rental income. This has risen as a result of the new build programme delivered at a slightly slower rate than originally assumed. The repairs and maintenance budget showed a nil variance. However, the Housing Team are continuing to monitor the effects of a challenging environment with supply chain issues and increasing material costs that have impacted both the in-house team and contractors. There is sufficient balance within HRA General Reserve to absorb this worsening position. This was shown in section 3.9.1. · The Housing Capital Programme and capital schemes for housing totalled £24m with general fund housing schemes totalling £2.1m. · Expenditure and commitments to the end of Q2 is £12.5m, which is a significant improvement on the position we were in this time in the last financial year. · Regarding the maintenance programme, the capital programme was affected by the same increases in the costs of material and difficulty in sourcing materials, previously mentioned. The Housing Team are carefully monitoring this situation. · The New Build programme is set out in section 4.5 and the table showed the Committee properties that had been delivered, in various stages, since the scheme started in 2012. · The HRA Business Plan is found at appendix 2 and 3 and it is being reviewed in conjunction with the Director of Housing.
Resolved that Members noted the information contained within the report.
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Treasury Management Mid-Year Review Additional documents: Minutes: The Principal Accountant (Housing & Exchequer) provided the Committee with a mid-year review update report on treasury management activity undertaken during the period April to September 2021.
The Principal Accountant (Housing & Exchequer) updated Members on the report and highlighted key points:-
Following Members comments and questions, the Principal Accountant (Housing & Exchequer) highlighted the following:
· It was explained that the latest loans are fixed interest rates and fixed duration. There is a policy in the TMSS which states that the Council will not borrow more than, or in advance of its need, purely in order to profit from the investments of the extra sums borrowed. Currently the inter Local Authority market offers a much better rate than the Public Works Loan Board. Loans that had been taken out recently have been secured from other Local Authorities. Where possible the Council looks to pre arrange borrowing ... view the full minutes text for item 130. |
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Corporate Risk Register - Mid Year Review Additional documents:
Minutes: The Assistant Director (Corporate Services) presented the Committee with mid-year progress information in respect of all risks recorded in the 2021/22 Corporate Risk Register, which were set out in an Appendix to the report.
The Committee was reminded that the Corporate Risk Register had been approved by Full Council in April 2021 and a mid-year review of this register had been undertaken by officer. The Council will be starting the progress of collating the Corporate Risk Register 2022/23 and Members are invited to make suggestions to the register either for inclusion or removal which will be feed into the Risk Assessment process in due course.
Following Members comments and questions, the Assistant Director (Corporate Services) highlighted the following:
· Management Team had reviewed the organisation capacity / resilience risk and this was updated in appendix 2. · It was suggested that Risk 4 – “Cyberattack resulting in data breach or corruption of data” included the arrangements in place with our shared services between other Local Authorities. The Assistant Director (Corporate Services) agreed to raise this with the Assistant Director (IT & Transformation). .
Resolved that Members noted the progress made, as set out in Appendix III, in managing or mitigating each risk recorded within the 2021/22 Corporate Risk Register.
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CIPFA Financial Management Code Update Additional documents: Minutes: The Assistant Director (Corporate Services) provided the Committee with an update against the report and action plan that was presented to the Committee in March 2021 and highlighted key points:-
· The Chair and Members thanked the Assistant Director (Corporate Services) and the team their hard work in completing the action plan.
Resolved that Members noted the completion of the action plan that was presented at this committee on 9 March 2021 and the results of the recent self–assessment as being fully compliant with the Code.
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Procurement of External Audit (PSAA) Additional documents: Minutes: The Assistant Director (Corporate Services) updated the Committee of the options available for the appointment of external auditors from April 2023 and of the invitation to opt into the national scheme for auditor appointments from April 2023.
Following Members comments and questions, the Assistant Director (Corporate Services) highlighted the following:
· Indications at this stage suggest that other Kent Local Authorities will accept the invitation to opt into the scheme of local audit appointments. · The recommendation made by this Committee is subject to Full Council approval.
Resolved that the Finance & Audit Committee considered the procurement options set out in the report and the invitation to opt into the national scheme for local auditor appointments. The Committee has endorsed a recommendation being made to Full Council on 7 December 2021 to accept the invitation to opt in to the national scheme for auditor appointments from April 2023.
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Audit and Counter Fraud Update Additional documents: Minutes: The Head of Internal Audit and Counter Fraud Shared Service (Chief Audit Executive) provided Members with an update on the work, outputs and performance of the Audit & Counter Fraud Team for the period 1 August to 30 September 2021.
The Head of Internal Audit and Counter Fraud Shared Service (Chief Audit Executive) outlined the key points from the report and drew Members attention to the following:
Following Members comments and questions the Head of Internal Audit and Counter Fraud Shared Service (Chief Audit Executive) highlighted the following:
The Chair and Members thanked the Head of Internal Audit and Counter Fraud Shared Service (Chief Audit Executive) for the report.
Resolved that Members approved the amendments to the agreed workplan as detailed in section 7 of appendix 2.
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