Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Room 1 - Epsom Town Hall

Contact: Tim Richardson, 01372 732122  Email: trichardson@epsom-ewell.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

15.

Question Time

To take any questions from members of the Public.

Please note: Members of the Public are requested to inform the Democratic Services Officer before the meeting begins if they wish to ask a verbal question to the Committee.

Minutes:

No questions were asked or had been submitted by members of the public.

16.

Declarations of Interest

Members are asked to declare the existence and nature of any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests in respect of any item of business to be considered at the meeting.

Minutes:

No declarations of interest were made by Councillors in items on the agenda for this meeting.

17.

Minutes of the Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 102 KB

The Committee is asked to confirm as a true record the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 19 June 2018 (attached) and to authorise the Chairman to sign them.


Minutes:

The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 19 June 2018 were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

18.

Order of business

Minutes:

The Committee noted that the order of business for the meeting would be rearranged, as the Internal Auditor had been delayed in attending.

19.

Annual Governance Statement and External Audit Findings pdf icon PDF 65 KB

This report sets out progress on the actions contained in the Council’s Annual Governance Statement and in the Annual Audit Findings issued by the External Auditor following the audit of the financial statements.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received a report setting out progress on the actions contained in the Council’s Annual Governance Statement and in the Annual Audit findings issued by the External Auditor following the audit of financial statements.

Following consideration, the Committee:

(1)      Agreed to receive the report on progress in implementing the Action Plan contained within the Annual Governance Statement and the actions agreed in the Audit Findings within the External Auditor’s Report.

 

20.

Risk Management Framework Annual Report pdf icon PDF 67 KB

This report enables the Committee to meet its responsibilities for monitoring the development of the Council’s risk management arrangements.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received a report detailing the Council’s risk management arrangements.

The following matters were considered:

a)            Ranking of risks. The Committee was informed that the ranking of risks within the Leadership Team Risk Register was considered regularly by the Leadership Team. The ranking was determined on all elements of the risk, not only it’s “risk level”.

b)            Risk L9 (successful implementation of Plan E Project Plan through SCC). The Committee noted that the risk level for this item would be reviewed following the decision of Strategy & Resources Committee to approve additional funding for the works’ completion.

c)            Risk L10 (Impact of welfare reforms including the Homelessness Act). The Committee was informed that Officers were aware of the recent increased number of homeless rough sleepers within the Borough, and that work was underway to provide assistance to them.

Accordingly, the Committee:

(1)          Considered the contents of the report and confirmed that it was satisfied with the arrangements in place for risk management.

(2)          Reviewed the Leadership Risk Register and did not identify any risks which it wished to raise with the Leadership Team.

21.

Internal Audit Monitoring Report pdf icon PDF 81 KB

This report summarises progress against the audit plan for 2018/19 and provides details on the one outstanding audit from 2017/18.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received a report summarising progress against the audit plan for 2018/19 and providing details on the one outstanding audit from 2017/18.

The following matters were considered:

a)            Audit of Continuous Assurance of key controls – Tree inspection findings.  The Committee expressed concern that a year backlog of tree inspections had developed.

It was noted that Officers would provide an update on this matter at the next meeting of the Committee.

b)            2017/18 Audit of Cyber Security. The Internal Auditor introduced the Audit and highlighted its findings to the Committee. Following this, the Committee received a presentation from the Head of Digital and Service Transformation and ICT Manager which detailed the: ICT service’s current position, actions taken and scheduled in response to the Audit recommendations, service delivery plan, cyber security posture and disaster recovery arrangements. Committee members asked questions to the Head of Digital and Service Transformation and ICT Manager.

It was noted that Officers would provide an update on the implementation of recommendations from the Audit of Cyber Security at the Committee’s April 2019 meeting.

c)            Proposed new arrangements for internal audit. The Committee noted that the Council’s contract with RSM for the provision of internal audit would expire at the end of March 2019. The Council’s internal audit would be provided by Southern Internal Audit Partnership from April 2019.

Following consideration, the Committee:

(1)          Received the internal audit progress report for 2017/18 which provided details on the outstanding audit from 2017/18.

(2)          Received the internal audit progress report for 2018/19.

(3)          Noted the proposed changes to the provision of internal audit services as from 1 April 2019.

The Committee expressed it’s thanks to the Head of Digital and Service Transformation, ICT Manager and Internal Auditor for their work on the matters considered.

22.

Corporate Plan: Performance Report One 2018 to 2019 pdf icon PDF 78 KB

This report provides an update on progress made against the Key Priority Targets 2018/19.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received a report providing an update on progress made against the Key Priority Targets 2018/19.

The following matters were considered:

a)            Allocation of target to Licensing & Planning Policy Committee/Planning Committee. A Member of the Committee enquired why the target “No more than ten percent of major planning applications allowed at appeal (using the two-year rolling assessment period defined by the Government)” had been allocated to the Licensing and Planning Policy Committee rather than the Planning Committee. The Head of Policy, Performance and Governance informed the meeting that the Service Plan for 2018-19 required that all Key Service Priority targets be allocated to one of the Council’s Policy Committees for overview.

b)            Development of two units for residential accommodation in South Street. The Committee was informed that officers intended to present a report regarding the project to the January 2019 meeting of the Strategy and Resources Committee.

Following consideration, the Committee:

(1)          Noted the overview of the Key Priority Targets as at Phase One attached at Annex 1.

(2)          Considered the performance reported in Annex 2 and did not identify any areas of concern.

(3)          Commented on the actions that have been proposed or taken where performance was currently a concern.

23.

Work Programme 2018/19 pdf icon PDF 60 KB

This report updates the Committee on its work programme 2018/19.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received a report presenting an update on the work programme for 2018/19.

Following consideration, the Committee:

(1)          Noted the current position of its work programme 2018/19 attached at Annex 1.