Issue - meetings

(a)       That the report be accepted; and

(b)       That the officer responsible for Highways be invited to attend in July 2023 to update the Committee on progress with Amber Red overdue actions identified within the report.

The Internal Audit, Performance & Risk Manager presented the regular update on progress against the Plan, final reports issued, action tracking, performance indicators and current investigations.  Since the last update, two Amber Red (some assurance) reports had been issued and there had been a reduction in overdue actions although some were long-standing.

The Chairman asked about progress with medium overdue actions relating to Payroll as this was an important service.  Officers agreed to liaise with the service and share the response.

Sally Ellis referred to discussion at the previous meeting on the Amber Red overdue actions for Highways Structures and proposed that another invite be extended for the Chief Officer to attend the next meeting so that the Committee could receive an update on progress.  On the Amber Red report issued for Corporate Complaints, she suggested that the relevant officer attend the September meeting to give assurance on actions.

Concerns about timely updates on overdue actions were echoed by Councillor Andrew Parkhurst who referred to the SARTH follow-up.  He sought more detail on the two current investigations shown in the report and was informed that a summary of outcomes would be shared in closed session once those reviews had been completed.  The Chairman suggested that any requests for information on the outcomes of completed investigations could be discussed in closed session at future meetings.

In response to Councillor Bernie Attridge’s concerns about the number of days taken by departments to return draft reports, it was clarified that this was an average outturn for management responses to the findings of reviews.

Explanation was also given to Rev Brian Harvey on trend analysis for performance indicators where the direction of arrows showed comparison to last year.

Concerns were also raised by Cllr Glyn Banks about the number of high/medium overdue actions where no update had been provided.  On outstanding actions relating to Domestic Energy, the officer agreed to liaise with the service to clarify how value for money was assessed.

The recommendations, as amended, were moved by Sally Ellis and seconded by Councillor Marshall.

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the report be accepted; and

(b)       That the officer responsible for Highways be invited to attend in July 2023 to update the Committee on progress with Amber Red overdue actions identified within the report.