Issue - meetings

As detailed in the recommendations.

The Chief Executive introduced the report on the Council’s Improvement Assessment Letter dated October 2012 from the Auditor General for Wales together with the Council’s response.  It was noted that no new recommendations or issues had arisen from consideration of the item at the Corporate Resources Overview & Scrutiny Committee meeting held on the previous day, although there had been agreement that future efficiency projects required more consistent projections of targets which was critical to future success.

Ms. Karen Lees of Wales Audit Office (WAO) was then invited to provide an overview of the key points detailed within the WAO letter, which was to be updated at the end of November 2012.

The Chief Executive responded to the comments made in the WAO letter with the written recommended response of officers.  On equal pay claims, he said that this was a complex issue with the potential for liability and that work had been carried out by the internal team with some reliance on external legal advice led by a specialist advisor and by the legal advisor retained by the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) for member authorities.  He broadly agreed with the comments made on the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) and spoke of ongoing work to develop the contribution of Flintshire Futures programme to future financial forecasts, noting that MTFP risks could not be precise due to national variations in funding and issues outside of the Council’s control, which should be reflected.  In summarising, he felt that the letter was a fair and balanced representation.

RESOLVED:

That the Council’s Improvement Assessment letter received from the Auditor General for Wales and the Council’s response be noted.