Agenda and draft minutes
Venue: Conference Room 1a, County Hall, Ruthin
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APPOINTMENT OF CHAIR To appoint a Chair of the Corporate Governance Committee for the ensuing year. Minutes: RESOLVED
– that Councillor
Jason McLellan be appointed Chair of the Corporate Governance Committee for the
ensuing year. |
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APPOINTMENT OF VICE CHAIR To appoint a Vice Chair of the Corporate Governance Committee for the ensuing year. Minutes: RESOLVED – that Councillor W. Mullen-James be appointed Vice
Chair of the Corporate Governance Committee for the ensuing year. |
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APOLOGIES Minutes: Councillors Jason
McLellan, Peter Duffy and Alice Jones. |
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DECLARATION OF INTERESTS Members to declare any personal or prejudicial interests in any business identified to be considered at this meeting. Minutes: No Members declared any personal or prejudicial interests in any business identified to be considered at the meeting. |
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URGENT MATTERS Notice of items, which in the opinion of the Chair should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency pursuant to Section 100B(4) of the Local Government Act 1972. Minutes: No items were raised which in the opinion of the Chair, should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency pursuant to Section 100B(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972. |
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To receive the minutes of the Corporate Governance Committee meeting held on the 27th April, 2016. Minutes: The Minutes of a meeting of the
Corporate Governance Committee held on the 27th April, 2016. Matters arising:- 12. Internal Audit of West Rhyl Coastal Defence Scheme
Phase 3 - In response to positive comments made by Mr P. Whitham regarding the
West Rhyl Coastal Defence Phase 3 Scheme having being the first project to be
reviewed using the checklist, the HIA confirmed that this process would be
adopted for other projects. RESOLVED – that the
minutes be received and approved as a correct record. |
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COUNCIL CONSTITUTION PDF 56 KB To consider a report by the Monitoring Officer (copy
enclosed) which sought comments and
observations on the draft Constitution. Additional documents: Minutes: A
report by the Monitoring Officer (MO), which provided Members with a copy of
the draft Constitution for comments and observations in advance of presenting
this to the Full Council at its July meeting, had been circulated previously. The MO provided a detailed
summary of the report and explained that the Corporate Governance Committee
Terms of Reference required any intended changes to the Council Constitution to
be considered first before formal adoption by the Full Council. Previous reports had considered proposed amendments to the Articles of
the Constitution, proposals regarding the delegation of decision making to
Cabinet Members, in respect of non-key decisions, and amendments to the Officer
Employment Rules and Member remuneration; the updated Officer Scheme of
Delegation reflecting the changed senior officer restructure and the Protocol
on Member/Officer Relations. Over the past twelve months the Constitution Working Group had
considered the proposed changes; prior to the Monitoring Officer reporting each
step of progress to the Committee. A
number of areas had been debated including greater transparency and advance
notice of decision making by either a Member or Senior Officer, in respect of
certain decisions they were about to make under delegated powers; whether
Members of the public should be able to put questions to the Cabinet or Full
Council; limits on the timing of a meeting; the Chair signing off all legal
documents under seal; substitutes on Committees and amending the protocol on Member/Officer
relations. A Member Workshop had been held in March, 2016 in order to introduce the
wider membership to the proposed new Constitution. The document had been attached as Appendix 1
and the MO provided a detailed summary of the following changes:- ·
Extended
Definition section. ·
Section
3 sets out how members of the public can get information and get involved ·
Section
4 Updated Policy framework ·
Section
9 - Listed all the regulatory and other Committees, including the Joint
Committees. ·
Section
11 – sets out who were the statutory ‘Proper’ Officers of the Council and their
functions and areas of responsibility. ·
Section
12 – Finance, Contracts and Legal Matters and removing the requirement for the
Chair of the Council to sign each and every contract or property transaction
made under seal. ·
Section
13 sets out the revised Cabinet Member Scheme of Delegation and a revised
Officer Scheme of Delegation. The new
Constitution contained the following Codes and Protocols which had remained
unchanged as the consultation process confirmed that they were fit for purpose
and working already:- ·
Standards
Committee hearings procedure ·
Code of
Conduct for Employees ·
Role
descriptions for Members ·
Members’
Self-Regulatory Protocol ·
Protocol
for Liaison with Members ·
Protocol
on Members’ Access to Information ·
Code of
Best Practice for Councillors and Officers Dealing with Planning Matters ·
Protocol
on Role of Chair and Leader in Representing the Council ·
Protocol
and Guidance for Elected Members Appointed to Outside Bodies The new
Constitution also contained the following which had recently been updated and
approved by the Full Council:- ·
Whistleblowing
Policy ·
Contract
Procedure Rules ·
Revised
Member Code of Conduct The importance and relevance of a fit for purpose modern constitution
had been highlighted in the report. The
Council’s Constitution Working Group, Corporate Governance Committee, SLT and
the wider membership via a workshop, had been involved in the debate on the key
proposals in the new constitution. Councillor S.A. Davies made reference to Page 9 of the report “getting involved - members of the public” and he emphasised the importance of Local Members being informed immediately of any issues or complaints relating to their Wards. The MO provided details of the adopted protocol for liaison with Members, which specified that a Member ... view the full minutes text for item 7. |
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STRATEGY FOR THE PREVENTION AND DETECTION OF FRAUD, CORRUPTION AND BRIBERY PDF 50 KB To consider a report by the Monitoring Officer (copy
enclosed) on the revisions to the
Council’s strategy for the prevention and detection of fraud, corruption and
bribery. Additional documents: Minutes: A
report by the Monitoring Officer (MO), which detailed the revisions to the
Council’s strategy for the prevention and detection of fraud, corruption and
bribery, had been circulated previously. The MO introduced the report which provided
details of the updated
strategy. He explained that the Council
employed large numbers of staff and spent many millions of pounds per
year. It commissioned and provided a
wide range of services to individuals and households and worked with a wide
range of private, public and voluntary sector organisations. He referred to the ongoing risk of loss due to fraud and corruption from
both internal and external sources.
There was also an ongoing risk of bribery as the Council provided and
procured goods, works and services, and it had put in place proportionate
systems to minimise this risk and these were kept under review. The Council recognised that as well as
causing financial loss, fraud and corruption was also detrimental to the provision
of services and damaged the reputation of the Council and public bodies in
general. A draft Strategy, Appendix 1, had been included with the report. The Policy had been a single lengthy
document, however, a policy statement was now a single page at the beginning of
the strategy document containing the main principles upon which the Council
would approach fraud, bribery and corruption.
The Policy Statement and the procedures supporting it enabled the
Council to provide a clear message that it would not tolerate any impropriety
by employees, Elected Members or third party organisations. Any Policy purporting to counter the threat
of fraud and corruption was kept up to date and reviewed in light of new
legislative, technological and professional developments. The Council's existing Anti-Fraud and Corruption Policy had been
approved in 2006, and the revised draft strategy had taken into account changes
to legislation brought about by the Bribery Act 2010. The guidance included best practice guidance,
such as the CIPFA Code of Practice on Managing the Risk of Fraud and
Corruption. Although the Council had experienced a relatively low level of detected
fraudulent activity in recent years it was most important that vigilance was
maintained and that all employees, Elected Members and partners were aware of
the risk of fraud and how to report concerns or suspicions. The strategy provided clear advice as to how,
and to whom, suspicions should be reported.
In addition there was a clear statement of the Council's commitment to
taking robust enforcement action where illegal or corrupt activity was
detected. The CIPFA Code recommended that an organisation should acknowledge
responsibility for ensuring that the risks of fraud and corruption were managed
effectively, identify specific exposure to risk, develop a counter fraud
strategy, provide resources to support that strategy and include policies to
support the strategy. The Council would
continue to adapt and adopt a proactive approach to countering fraudulent
activities and Internal Audit would undertake an annual review of the
effectiveness of these controls. The following points were raised by Mr P.
Whitham and responses provided:- -
The word “theft” had been included in
number 1 of the Policy Statement but not elsewhere. He suggested that it should
either be omitted or included consistently. -
Confirmation was provided
that the assurance work pertaining to the annual risk assessment, referred to
on page 15 of the report, would be undertaken by Internal Audit and this would
then inform the Risk Register. -
The officers provided
confirmation that details of the Policy would be included on the intranet,
presented to SLT and incorporated in the induction training provided for
members of staff. Following further discussion, it ... view the full minutes text for item 8. |
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UPDATING THE COUNCIL'S FINANCIAL REGULATIONS PDF 158 KB To consider a report by the Chief Finance Officer (copy enclosed) on the Council’s Financial Regulations. Additional documents: Minutes: A
report by the Chief Finance Officer (CFO), which outlined the factors for
making amendments and to present the key areas of change, had been circulated
previously. Councillor J. Thompson-Hill,
assisted by the Chief Finance Officer (CFO), provided a detailed summary of the
report. It was explained that the
Financial Regulations formed part of the Council’s Constitution and provided a
framework for managing its financial affairs.
The Regulations were reviewed and updated periodically and the report
presented proposed amendments for consideration and recommendation to Full
Council. Financial
Regulations set out a number of principles and rules which assisted in ensuring
that the Council operated with a robust system of internal control and
effective governance. The principles and
rules were predominantly consistent but the organisation and application could
change as the Council reorganises, technology changes and statute was updated. The Council’s Financial Regulations include
procedural application as well as setting out the rules, and were based on the
model recommended by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy. Some of the main
changes to the Regulations, Appendix 1, in summary included:- ·
Updating
to reflect the latest management structure and terminology ·
Removal
of redundant regulations ·
Updating
procedures to reflect the latest technological changes ·
Noting
changes to or new legislation, such as the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act Members were
informed that this was a substantial review of the Regulations. It was proposed that in future, the
Regulations were reviewed in sections annually to make the process more
manageable. Any significant specific
changes required before the review period would be implemented. Reference was made
by Mr P. Whitham to the heading in Section 13 “Preventing Fraud and Corruption”
and he suggested that consideration be afforded to amending the heading to
include the word Bribery. In reply to
concerns raised by Mr P. Whitham, it was explained that schools were required to have a set of Financial Regulations and could
adopt the Council’s Policy if they wished, or adopt a similar policy
which would need to provide the same level of assurance. Councillor B.A. Smith explained that the
Council were in the process of revising their Policies and she felt it would
not be relevant to make specific reference to schools in the Policy. RESOLVED – that the
Corporate Governance Committee recommends approval of the proposed amendments
to Financial Regulations by Full Council. (RW to Action) |
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BUDGET PROGRESS 2017/18 Minutes: A report by the
Chief Finance Officer (CFO), which provided an update on the process to deliver
the revenue budget for 2017/18, had been circulated previously. A copy of the report and appendices presented
to Council Briefing on the 7th June, 2016 had also been circulated
with the papers for the meeting Councillor J.
Thompson-Hill explained that there had been little change since the submission
of the previous report to the Committee in April, 2016. The aim of the budget process was to ensure
that the Council delivered a balanced budget and reference had been made to the
uncertainty over the level of financial settlements in recent years which had
made financial planning more challenging.
The revenue settlement for 2016/17 had been better than anticipated but
there was still a lack of any meaningful financial planning indications for the
future. It was hoped that this would be
addressed following the elections in May, 2016 as the uncertainty and
variations from year to year that had been the norm since 2013 posed a
significant risk to the delivery of future budgets. Although the precise levels were not known it
was likely that funding reductions to Local Authorities in Wales would continue
in the medium term, and while the Council would always endeavour to be more
efficient to save money, this in itself may not be sufficient in future years. It had been
explained that the proposed budget process for 2017/18 would help deliver a
balanced budget and enable the Council to take account of key funding
assumptions, service pressures, levels of cash reserves and of fees and charges
within the Council. RESOLVED –
that the Corporate Governance Committee receive and note the contents of the
report. |
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To consider a report by the
Head of Business Improvement and Modernisation (copy enclosed) which details breaches of the data protection act and
complaints relating to Freedom of Information legislation. Additional documents: Minutes: A
report by the Head of Business Improvement and Modernisation (HBIM) had been
circulated previously. The HBIM introduced
the report which covered the period April, 2015 to March, 2016 and detailed
breaches of the Data Protection Act by the Council which had been subject to
investigation by the Senior Information Risk Officer (SIRO). It also covered complaints about the Council
relating to Freedom of Information legislation which had been referred to the
Office of the Information Commissioner (ICO), and provided information about
the Access to Information/FOI requests made to the Council. The Council’s Data Protection Policy required
an annual report on progress to the Corporate Governance Committee. The Data Protection
Officer (DPO) and Senior Information Risk Owner (SIRO) had a responsibility to
ensure that information held by the Council was managed safely, effectively in
accordance with the legislation. Details
of the process were provided. There had been no
significant breaches of the Data Protection Act in the Council during the
2015/16 year. There had been five
instances where personal data had been lost or compromised and these had been
investigated by the SIRO. None had been
deemed serious enough to warrant reporting to the ICO and details of the
breaches had been provided. As a consequence of
one of the outcomes of the SIRO investigations there had been an increased
focus on the systems and processes in the teams where these breaches had
occurred. Workshop sessions had been
held with the admin support teams in Childrens’
Services and in Education to explore how their processes could be reviewed, and
to ensure that the information they held was kept up to date by other
professional groups. Details of the practical
initiatives which had been introduced had been included in the report. The new General
Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) were expected to be published in July,
2016. There would be 2 year transition period before they became
enforceable in 2018 and would replace the current Data Protection Act
1998. The GDPR would include some new requirements which would
necessitate Data Controllers to consider and have the right people, processes
and procedures in place ready for 2018.
Details of the new requirements had been included in the report,
together with, an outline of the WASPI agreement (Wales Accord on Sharing
Personal Information). The new
Regulations would place greater emphasis on organisations demonstrating the
legal basis for sharing information in future, which should be achievable
within the current WASPI arrangements. A summary of
Freedom of Information (FOI) and Environmental Information Regulation (EIR)
requests had been incorporated in the report.
Table 1 provided details of the number of completed requests for 2015/16
and 2014/15. The FOI and EIR requests
were concentrated on specific areas and were predominantly business related or
from individuals. Particulars pertaining
to the most frequent requesters over the last 12 months had been incorporated
in a table in the report. Details of
Applicant Types for 2015/16 had been included in Table 2. In some cases decisions regarding access to information were
challenged by the requestor, or there was disagreement internally about whether
information held by the Council should be released or not. These cases were reviewed by a Panel chaired
by the HLHRDS, and Appendix A provided a list of the cases reviewed. In the 2015/16 period, no complaints about the Council under the FOI Act were investigated by the Information Commissioner’s Office. In response to last year’s complaints, procedures were improved to ensure that complex cases were recognised early in the process to ensure timely responses were provided, and it appeared that this action had improved the Council’s performance. ... view the full minutes text for item 11. |
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MANAGEMENT OF VOLUNTARY SCHOOL FUNDS - AUDIT REPORT PDF 43 KB To consider a report by the Head of Internal Audit, which provided details of the recent Internal Audit report on the Management of School Funds that received a ‘Low’ assurance rating (copy enclosed). Additional documents: Minutes: A
report by the Head of Internal Audit (HIA), which informed the Committee of a recent Internal Audit Report on the
Management of School Funds which had received a ‘Low’ assurance rating, had been circulated previously. The Committee received
an Internal Audit Progress report for each meeting which included details of
Internal Audit reports issued, and these were normally ‘High’ or ‘Medium’
assurance reports. The Committee would
receive a report when a ‘Low’ or ‘No’ assurance rating was issued to enable it
to discuss improvements to be implemented with the relevant manager. The full
Internal Audit report on the Management of Voluntary School Funds had been
included as Appendix 1. The HIA provided a detailed summary of the report and explained that
the review had been undertaken to provide assurance on financial controls within the management of
voluntary school funds for the Council’s S151 Officer, and the HIA’’s Annual
Audit report. The review had identified
weaknesses which could lead to financial loss, error and/or fraud. It was explained that the issues arising from
the review would need to be brought to the attention of all Denbighshire
schools. The responsibility
for a school’s voluntary school fund rested ultimately with the school’s Governing
Body, although in practice operational responsibility would be delegated to the
Head Teacher. Governing Bodies must
ensure that funds were utilised appropriately in an open and transparent way,
and for the benefit of pupils. The review
identified a significant number of weaknesses in the management and
administration of school funds. There
was also a lack of clarity around the roles and responsibilities of the school finance
managers, Education Support team and Internal Audit with regard to school funds
to optimise governance and scrutiny of these funds. Guidance has
previously been provided to all schools, although some have not applied them or
were still unaware of them. Audit will work with Education Support to
update and reissue this guidance document to improve schools effective
management of funds. The full list of
the weaknesses found had been included in Appendix 1, and a list of causes
included in the Action Plan. The HIA made
reference to the following salient points:- -
Eight
main issues, root causes, had been identified and listed in the report. -
Root
Cause No 3 was highlighted – “Nobody had taken responsibility for making a
decision on how schools would be held to account for poor school fund
management and made sure that it was included in the Scheme for Financing
Schools”. -
The
need to identify responsibility and accountability was highlighted, and the
importance and significance of providing Audit Certificates was emphasised. He
confirmed that guidance
information detailing how school funds should be managed had been circulated to
schools previously, and this had included spreadsheets and a copy of the Audit
Certificate for completion. Councillor M.L.
Holland endorsed the view that all Audit Certificates should be completed and
submitted accordingly. The following responses were provided to
issues raised by Mr P. Whitham:- -
It was agreed that
details of the aggregate annual turnover and end of year balances of the
schools reviewed could be forwarded to Mr Whitham. -
Concerns were expressed
that Internal Audit had not
received final Audit Certificates for any of the schools that had closed or
amalgamated in the last five years. The
HIA explained that funds would have transferred to the new school. -
The Action Plan had been
agreed by the HIA and Education Planning and
Resources Manager. - There having been no clear acceptance of responsibility by the respective parties had been a cause for concern. ... view the full minutes text for item 12. |
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CORPORATE GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE SELF EVALUATION PDF 220 KB To receive a presentation on the Corporate Governance Committee Self Evaluation (copy enclosed). Minutes: The Committee felt
that in view of the number of Members present at the meeting the HIA contact
Members of the Committee individually to assess their requirements regarding
the Corporate Governance Committee Self Evaluation process. Members agreed that the outcome of the
sessions be reported back to the Committee.
RESOLVED – that the
Corporate Governance Committee agree that the Head of Internal Audit contact
Members of the Committee individually to assess their requirements regarding
the Self Evaluation process, and that the outcome of the sessions be reported
back to the Committee. (IB to Action) |
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CORPORATE GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE WORK PROGRAMME PDF 136 KB To consider the committee’s forward work programme (copy enclosed). Minutes: The
Corporate Governance Committee’s Forward Work Programme (FWP) (previously
circulated) was presented for consideration. The
Committee confirmed the Corporate Governance Committee Forward
Work Programme subject to the inclusion of the following reports:- 13th
July, 2016:- -
The Budget
Process 2016/17 business item be removed from the Forward Work Programme for
the July, 2016 meeting. 28th
September, 2016:- -
The Wales Audit
Office Financial Statement Report be included in the Forward Work Programme for
September, 2016. January,
2017:- -
The Management of
Voluntary School Funds be included in the Forward Work Programme for January,
2017. RESOLVED – that,
subject to the above, the Committee approves the
Forward Work Programme. (CIW to Action) Meeting ended at 11.55 a.m. |