Meeting documents

RESOLVED that Councillor B.A. Stead be elected Chairman of the Committee for the Municipal Year 2015/16.

(Councillor B.A. Stead took the Chair)

RESOLVED that Councillor S. Parnall be elected Vice-Chairman of the Committee for the Municipal Year 2015/16.

• (Attachment: 1)Minutes

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting held on 25 March 2015 be approved as a correct record.

Committee Members: Councillors S. Kulka and D. Powell (substituted by Cllr D. Jackson).
 

Other Members: Councillor C.T.H. Whinney

None.

The Committee received a presentation which set out the role of scrutiny within the Council, and its procedures. The Chairman emphasised the importance of the role of Committee Members.

The Committee noted (in relation to its role in scrutinising Executive decisions) that advance notice of Executive business to be transacted was made available 28 days prior to each meeting on the Council’s website and in the eMembers’ Room, and that a schedule of key business to be decided in 2015/16 had recently been circulated to all Members.
 

RESOLVED that the presentation be noted.

• (Attachment: 2)Provisional Outturn 2014/15 Report (67K/bytes)

The Executive Member for Finance, Cllr Graham Knight, introduced a report that set out the provisional budget outturn, identified and explained key variances, and proposed changes to the levels of the Council’s reserves.

The revenue budget had overspent by £173,000 (1% of the overall budget). It was noted that the main variances were due to factors beyond the Council’s control and had been anticipated early in the year. These had primarily been a significant fall in recyclate prices and an increase in homelessness. It was noted that the overspend resulting from these factors alone would have been considerably greater than £173,000, had effective management action not been taken to mitigate it.

The capital programme had underspent by £5.8m. The majority of projects were on target, but some had seen timetables slip, resulting in underspend within the year. The Committee noted that any unspent budget would remain in the Council’s capital reserves.

The Committee received one advanced question and response regarding the provisional outturn. The response would be placed in the eMembers Room.

The Committee discussed the outturn report, with further questions and comments made regarding:

• Corporate Plan Delivery Fund (CPDF) – it was noted that this had been established to fund short-term projects outside of the normal revenue budget which supported the delivery of the Council’s 5 Year Plan. The current level of usage would enable the Council to deliver its 5 Year Plan 2015-20 (previously the Corporate Plan). Authorisation of CPDF expenditure was delegated to the Deputy Chief Executive in consultation with the Leader and Deputy Leader under the Council’s Scheme of Delegation;
• Implications for the 2015/16 budget – the Committee noted that steps had been taken to mitigate the impact of the major variances referred to above on the current year’s budget. The Committee noted that in-year revisions would be considered if factors such as homelessness continued to show major variances;
• Recycling – the Committee noted that the number of textile banks in the borough had been increased, and that the wording on these banks was being revised to remove any previous ambiguity regarding contributions to the Mayor’s Trust Fund. Surrey County Council received a tax credit from the Government for any materials not sent to landfill, of which a portion was passed on to Reigate & Banstead. Contamination of recyclates presented a challenge, but the Council had recently switched its contractor and continued to provide advice and guidance to residents regarding correct recycling methods.

The Committee requested that information be collated and provided to Members regarding the net benefit of each recyclate category.

RESOLVED that:

(i) the report be noted; and

(ii) the Portfolio Holder for Finance, Executive and Management Team be congratulated for the effective management of the revenue budget variances throughout the year.

• (Attachment: 3)Q4 2014/15 Performance Report (79K/bytes)

The Committee received a report that detailed the major variances on performance in relation to the Council's Key Service Indicators, Internal Audit reports and Risk Management. The detailed performance information had been placed in the eMembers Room.

The Committee discussed the report, with questions and comments made regarding:

• The setting of Key Service Indicator (KSI) targets – the Committee noted that KSIs were no longer set by central Government, and that KSIs and associated targets were set by the Council’s Management Team in consultation with relevant Portfolio Holders;
• Property investment – it was noted that this had been moved from the strategic risk register to the operational risk register for 2015/16 due to the success of the Council’s property investment programme to date;
• Closed strategic risks – the Committee noted that Drafting of the new Corporate Plan 2015/16 (now the 5 Year Plan) and Core Strategy had been closed as strategic risks because both documents had been successfully adopted during 2014/15.
   

The Committee expressed concern that information had not been available in relation to a number of the KSIs referred to in Annex 1. It was noted that this was due to the Council’s reliance on the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) for approved figures. The Chief Executive agreed to provide Members with further information outside of the meeting.

RESOLVED that:

(i) the performance update and advanced question be noted; and

(ii) no observations be made to the Executive.

• (Attachment: 4)Internal Audit Plan 2015/16 Report (575K/bytes)

The Committee received a report on the proposed Internal Audit Strategy 2015/16-2017/18 and Audit Plan for 2015/16, which were set out at Annex 1. The purpose of the Strategy was to ensure that the Council operated within the law and had effective control procedures in place.

The Committee asked questions regarding the key audit areas, the scope of the audits and plans.

The Committee were content that the Audit Strategy and Plan, alongside the continuing work of the Executive and Management Team, would ensure that all areas of key risk were sufficiently covered.

RESOLVED that the Internal Audit Strategy and Audit Plan for the Period 2015/16 be endorsed.
 

• (Attachment: 5)Annual Internal Audit Report 2014/15 (529K/bytes)

The Committee received the annual report of the Chief Internal Auditor, Baker Tilly. The report provided an opinion on the overall adequacy of and effectiveness of the organisation’s risk management, control and governance processes.

The Committee noted that the Annual Governance Statement due to be considered by the Executive on 25 June 2015 contained relevant information relating to the implementation of recommendations made by the Internal Auditors.

RESOLVED that:

(i) the Annual Internal Audit Report 2014/15 be noted; and

(ii) no observations or recommendations be made to the Leader of the Council and Chief Executive.

It was reported that there were no items arising from the Executive that might be subject to the ‘call-in’ procedure in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 15 of the Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules.

None.