Issue - meetings

That the content of the Grant Claim Certification report for 2020/21 be noted.

The Strategic Finance Manager introduced the Audit Wales annual report on grant claim certification for the year ending 31 March 2021.  There were no significant adjustments to any of the three claims and only one minor positive adjustment to the Housing Benefits Subsidy Return.  Following consideration of specific findings by the Finance Management Team and relevant service areas, progress was underway on actions to address the recommendations and to enhance systems for the 2021/22 audit.

In summarising the key findings, Mike Whiteley of Audit Wales said that the Council had demonstrated generally adequate arrangements for the production and submission of grant claims, with scope for improvement.  Overall performance was good and there had been good engagement and co-operation from officers throughout the audit.

In response to a question from Reverend Brian Harvey about risks relating to workforce pressures, the Chief Executive gave examples of the range of support mechanisms available to staff as well as a greater emphasis on well-being within the employee appraisal system in recognition of this important issue.

In welcoming the positive report, Allan Rainford spoke about the complexity of housing benefit subsidy claims and suggested that more detail would help to provide more clarity on the scale of caseload compared with cases tested.  This was noted by Mike Whiteley who gave an overview of the sample testing method used by Audit Wales.

Following a comment by the Chair on qualified grant claims, Mike Whiteley said that although not significant, a similar level of errors was identified each year within similar areas.  He added that substantial workload in processing housing benefit subsidy claims inevitably led to errors arising which impacted year on year.

The Chief Executive agreed that information on the volume of housing benefit subsidy cases would be shared to provide context to the Committee.

The recommendation was moved and seconded by Reverend Brian Harvey and Councillor Glyn Banks.

RESOLVED:

That the content of the Grant Claim Certification report for 2020/21 be noted.