Agenda and minutes

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.

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

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.

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

The Committee is asked to confirm as a true record the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 23 June 2015 and Minutes of the Special Meeting of the Committee held on 6 October 2015 (attached) and to authorise the Chairman to sign them.

The Minutes of the meeting of the Audit, Crime & Disorder and Scrutiny Committee held on 23 June 2015 and the Minutes of the Special Meeting of the Committee held on 6 October 2015 were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

This report informs the Committee of the work of the Epsom and Ewell Community Safety Partnership (CSP) for the first half of 2015/16.

The Committee received a report informing it of the work of the Epsom and Ewell Community Safety Partnership (CSP) for the first half of 2015/16.

The Committee was informed that financial pressures on all partners of the CSP were affecting their level of involvement in its work, and noted that this was an issue which the CSP itself would need to consider and manage.

Following consideration of the report, the Committee:

(1)          noted the work and expenditure of the CSP for the first half of 2015/16, and requested that further information regarding increases in incidents for the following categories be provided by the Community Safety Officer following the meeting :

·           serious sexual

·           violence (with injury)

This report provides an update of work being carried out by the Council’s External Auditor and identifies emerging issues for the Committee to note.

The Committee received and considered a report providing an update on work being carried out by the Council’s External Auditor, and identifying emerging issues for the Committee to note. No actions were identified by the Committee as a result of its consideration of the report.

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 audit of the Financial Statements.

The Committee received and considered 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 audit of the Financial Statements. No actions were identified by the Committee as a result of its consideration of the report.

This report summarises progress against the audit plan for 2015/16.

The Committee received a report summarising progress against the Internal Audit Plan for 2015/16.

The Committee considered the following matters:

·         Use of REC01 form for recruitment activities. The Committee noted that the completion of a REC01 form was standard procedural practice for the Council when undertaking recruitment activities, and was required prior to creating any staff post.

·         Gypsy site rent receipts. The Committee noted that receipts were now issued by the Gypsy Site Officer for all gypsy site rent monies collected. The Gypsy Site Officer was not responsible for inputting rents into the rent system and the Committee noted that this responsibility was held by the Council’s Housing Operations Manager.

·         Venues catering contracts. The Committee was informed that the Council had not run a procurement exercise for its venues catering services since 2006, and that existing contracts had been extended on a short-term basis.

This report provides an update on the Council’s risk management arrangements and identifies key risks at corporate level and operational level.

The Committee received a report providing an update on the Council’s risk management arrangements and identifying key risks at corporate and operational levels.

The Committee considered the following matter:

·         Risks related to procurement activities. The Committee was informed that a Procurement Group had been set up to address audit issues previously reported and the level of risk encountered by the Council in relation to procurement activities. The Committee was also informed that some of the issues encountered by the Council with regard to procurement activities were historic, and not current. The Committee expressed that the level of risk encountered with regard to procurement activities was a matter which it wished to continue to review.

Following consideration of the report, the Committee:

(1)  noted the improvements within the risk management arrangements;

(2)  noted the key risks to the Council within the Leadership Risks.

This report presents the Committee with the first Performance Management Progress report for 2015/16, providing an overview of progress made against the policy committees’ actions and highlighting those actions recorded as ‘not met’.

The Committee received a report presenting it with the first Performance Management Progress report for 2015/16.

The following matters were considered:

·         Colouration of pie charts. The Committee noted that the colouration of pie charts on page 101 of the agenda appeared to be transposed (with ‘on target’ activities displaying in red, and ‘not met’ activities displaying in green). It was requested that this be amended in future to aid recognition of whether they represent the ‘achieved’, ‘on target’ or ‘not met’ classifications.

·         Action EV4 – retail store and housing on Depot Road and Upper High Street. The Committee received an update on the sale of the Upper High Street site by Tesco from the Head of Legal and Democratic Services, following recent national media coverage of Tesco’s disposal of a number of sites across the country.

·         Action S2 – Reducing the environmental impact of Council operations. Following a question regarding the use of renewable energy sources, the Head of Legal and Democratic Services informed the Committee that a number of actions had been undertaken by the Council in recent years, which had been successful in reducing energy consumption.

Following consideration, the Committee:

(1)  received Performance Management Progress Report One 2015/16;

(2)  did not identify any issues requiring action.

This report sets out progress against the actions outlined in the Council’s Data Quality Strategy 2012 to 2016 and asks the Committee to identify any issues it considers require additional action.

The Committee received a report setting out progress against actions contained in the Data Quality Strategy 2012-2016.

The following matter was considered:

·         Status of Action 9 (page 125 of the agenda). The Committee identified that the status of this item read as ‘on target’, but that the update as at October 2015 stated that it had been completed. It was noted that the Consultation and Communication officer would be informed of this discrepancy.

Following consideration, the Committee:

(1)  noted the progress made in implementing the Data Quality Action Plan for 2015/16;

(2)  did not identify any issues which it considered required additional action.

A report to update members in relation to the Council’s arrangements for Information Governance, in light of previous audit reports and good practice.

The Committee received a report updating it on the Council’s arrangements for information governance.

The Committee considered the following matters:

·         Incidents experienced by the Council. The Head of Legal and Democratic Services informed the Committee that a small number of minor incidents (information being mistakenly emailed to the incorrect recipient) had occurred within the Council, but that these had been declared and managed as soon as possible following their occurrence. It was noted that it was not possible to eliminate all incidents from occurring, but that the steps taken by the Council had been designed to reduce the possibility of them doing so.

·         Actions from Internal Audit report on Information Governance. The Committee noted that follow-up on recommendations made in the Internal Audit report on Information Governance would be included in future Internal Audit Monitoring reports to be considered by the Committee.

·         Emergency Planning and Business Continuity Plans. The Head of Legal and Democratic Services informed the Committee that the Council maintained robust business continuity plans for key services and infrastructure such as ICT and Operational Services. Business continuity plans for other areas were not as developed, but were considered to be flexible enough to manage emergency situations.

·         Information Governance training for Councillors. It was noted that an introductory briefing on information governance had been provided to all Councillors following the 2015 Borough Council Elections. The Committee considered that a further session regarding this matter would be of interest to Councillors, and requested that officers provide a Members’ Briefing Evening on the topic in the future.

 Following this consideration, the Committee:

(1)  noted the current position in respect of the Council’s Information Governance arrangements.

This report lists references to officers outstanding as at 26 November 2015 and asks the Committee to agree its ongoing Work Programme for 2015/16.

The Committee received a report listing references to officers outstanding as at 26 November 2015, and requesting it to agree its ongoing work programme for 2015/16.

Following consideration, the Committee:

·         noted the references to officers detailed at Annexe 1 to the report;

·         noted the progress made to date against its work programme 2015/16;

·         agreed the updated work programme for 2015/16 attached at Annexe 2 to the report.

Under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the Committee may pass a resolution to exclude the public from the Meeting for Part Two of the Agenda on the grounds that the business involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 3 and 4of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act (as amended) and that pursuant to paragraph 10 of Part 2 of the said Schedule 12A the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

The Committee passed a resolution under Section 100 (A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 to exclude the public from the meeting for Part Two of the Agenda on the grounds that the business involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 3 and 4 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act (as amended) and that pursuant to  paragraph 10 of Part 3 of the said Schedule 12A, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information.

This report has not been published because the meeting is likely to be closed to the press and public in view of the nature of the business to be transacted/nature of the proceedings.  The report deals with information relating to the business affairs of the Council and contemplated consultations between the Council and its employees, and the public interest in maintaining the exemption currently outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

The Not for Publication Minutes of the Special Meeting of the Audit, Crime & Disorder and Scrutiny Committee held on 6 October 2015 were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chairman.