Agenda, decisions and minutes

No declarations of interest were made.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 12 March 2015.

            That the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman. 

The minutes of the meetings of the Committee held on 12 March 2015 had been circulated to Members with the agenda.

                        Councillor Andy Dunbobbin thanked the Revenues & Benefits Manager for providing a prompt response to questions he had raised at the previous meeting on sanctions. 

            RESOLVED:

            That the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman. 

            That the Annual Improvement Plan be accepted, subject to an amendment to the response to proposal 5 and the response following consultation with the Audit Committee be endorsed with the addition of comments from this Committee.                            

The Chairman introduced Mr. Paul Goodlad from the Wales Audit Office (WAO) to the meeting.  The Chief Executive explained that the report had previously been considered at Audit Committee, Cabinet and County Council.

                        Mr. Goodlad introduced the report to present the Annual Improvement Report of the Auditor General which for 2015 incorporated the first Corporate Assessment.  He detailed the background to the report and explained that the Corporate Assessment had taken place in September 2014 but had included works undertaken both before and after this date.  The report was cautiously positive about the new operating model which had been implemented around this time but emphasised that this would introduce a new set of challenges.  The report had identified seven proposals for improvement but Mr. Goodlad indicated that no statutory recommendations had been made.  In some areas the Council had recognised that it was under performing and corrective action had been taken, which he welcomed.  He highlighted the use of task and finish groups to review Council’s approach to issues such as target setting but reports submitted to Overview & Scrutiny Committees were usually for noting which limited its contribution to the Council’s policies or priorities.  Some areas of progress had been identified and he added that it was encouraging to see the way the Council had continued to identify improvements required and any corrective action that was needed.  However, the assessment found considerable inconsistency in the quality of business and service planning to deliver the Council’s Improvement objectives.  Some performance reports to Committees were too long and contained a large amount of detail and the Council had now implemented an ‘exception reporting’ format which highlighted only those areas where performance was worse than anticipated or where there were significant risks to future progress.  Mr. Goodlad stated that the way progress was now summarised was much clearer.          

                        Mr. Goodlad highlighted the second proposal about making improvements to the quality of reports to Committee and Cabinet.  It was reported that the Council had sound structures and arrangements in place to support good governance, but some of its strategies and supporting documents were out of date.  He explained that strategies were not well integrated in HR, ICT, Asset Management and People Strategies and therefore did not fully support the governance framework.  Implications for budget savings were not always clear in all areas but work had been undertaken to ensure that budget planning was now clearer.  He commented on Member development training which was not always well attended and the take-up of Member personal development reviews had not been a success.  Mr. Goodlad spoke of the forward work programmes for Overview & Scrutiny Committees and commented that it was not always clear how they were influenced by corporate priorities, the Cabinet agenda or the corporate risk profile.  The WAO now had more confidence in how the Medium Term Financial Plan was delivered following work undertaken by the Council.  The assessment had also highlighted that the successful completion of the Single Status agreement and Equal Pay Review  ...  view the full minutes text for item 87.

(a)       That the report be received; and

            (b)       That the following issues be brought to the attention of Cabinet:-

(i)         the levels of spending on overtime and agency staff within Streetscene resulting in a projected overspend of £0.086m

(ii)        cost implications of the decision not to proceed with the John Summers High School project

(iii)       Areas where it would appear that projected income had been over-stated

(iv)       Areas where potential losses have been over-stated

(v)        Recycling income potential under-achievement due to market volatility and the requirement for assurance that the most beneficial contracts are being sought and secured

(vi)       That the successful work undertaken to secure Welsh Government support for the Council’s expenditure on the former Euticals site be supported and that it be noted that all efforts were being made to recover the costs from the parent company. 

The Finance Manager introduced a report to provide Members with the Revenue Budget Monitoring 2014/15 (Month 10) information for the Council Fund and Housing Revenue Account (HRA) which was being submitted to Cabinet on 21 April 2015. 

                        For the Council Fund, the projected net in-year expenditure was forecast to be £1.716m lower than budget which was a decreased underspend from Month 9.  Appendix 1 detailed the reasons for the changes from Month 9 and this was mainly as a result of adjustments relating to the  John Summers High School no longer being progressed within the 21^st Century Schools Programme as agreed by Cabinet on 17 February 2015.  Section 3.07 detailed the efficiencies and it was currently projected that £7.688 of the £8.840m (87%) would be achieved.  Details of the efficiencies currently projected to not be achieved in full were shown in appendix 3.  The overall net underachievement on all workforce related efficiencies was £0.211m; an increase of £0.091m.   

                        Section 4 detailed the carry forward requests to 2015/16 and section 5 detailed amounts included for inflation and underspends on the amounts for non-standard inflation were detailed in paragraph 5.02.  Emerging and existing risks were detailed in the report and section 7 and appendix 4 provided details of the unearmarked reserves and contingency reserve which, at Month 10, was projected to be £4.657m at 31 March 2015.  

                        The HRA was projected to have an overall underspend of £0.354m and a projected closing balance at month 10 of £1.519m which at 5.06% of total expenditure satisfied the prudent approach of ensuring a minimum level of 3%. 

                        Councillor Carolyn Thomas queried the decrease in overall revenue underspend of £0.250m as a result of the John Summers High School programme not progressing and sought clarification on whether prudential borrowing to match fund the amount had been used and whether there were any implications from this.  The Corporate Finance Manager advised that some costs that had previously been from the capital fund but now had to be reflected in the revenue account; it was expected that the amount of funding would reduce.  The Chief Executive provided an explanation of what the funding may be required for but explained that it was mainly for internal costs that would be reflected from one account to another.  He confirmed that this would not have an impact on the service and that it would be netted off against the outturn level at the end of the year. 

                        Councillor Richard Jones referred to the emerging risk for recycling and queried how this would affect future years and asked for further clarification on the costs associated with the Former Euticals site and the non-progression of the John Summers High School within the 21^st Century Schools Programme.  He also asked about the loss of income for Deeside Leisure Centre and income from garages and how these overstated incomes would affect the 2015/16 budget. 

                        In response, the Corporate Finance Manager explained that in relation to John Summers High School, the initial estimate  ...  view the full minutes text for item 88.

            That the Committee are assured that there are adequate procedures in place governing the virement of budgets. 

The Corporate Finance Manager introduced a report to provide an overview of the rules and procedures in place governing the virement of budgets and the provide assurance that there are adequate budget management arrangements in place. 

                        He detailed the background to the report and highlighted the definition of virement as referred to in the report.  There were two main types of virements and these were detailed and examples of both were provided.  The vast majority of budget changes were in relation to accounting adjustments to deal with the effects of significant change.  The Corporate Finance Manager explained that one of the key principles underpinning the control of budget virements was that any virement in excess of £75,000 had to be submitted to Cabinet for approval.  The Internal Audit report on Financial Management and Budgetary Control in April 2014 gave substantial assurance that controls were in place but it was recommended that a documented process be put in place for undertaking virements.  Overall control of budget virements was undertaken within the Strategy, Accounting and Systems team which tracked the movements and ensured that any virements that changed the purpose of the funding were subject to the relevant approval.  As Section 151 Officer, he was satisfied that there were adequate arrangements in place.  Appendix 1 detailed all of the virements for 2014/15.

                        In highlighting the content of the appendix, Councillor Richard Jones queried what was listed.  In response, the Corporate Finance Manager responded that all accounting adjustments were detailed in appendix 1 and that there had not been any formal budget virements that changed the purpose in 2014/15. 

                        Councillor Tim Newhouse raised concern about actions over virements that had taken place in the past and sought assurance that it would not be repeated.  In response, the Internal Audit Manager stated that a review of virements had been undertaken and that account movements that were not formal virements had been identified but this was not an error.  He was satisfied with the overall control of virements.    

            RESOLVED:

            That the Committee are assured that there are adequate procedures in place governing the virement of budgets. 

            That the Committee welcomes the report and advises the Cabinet that it supports the policy subject to the third bullet point on paragraph 3.3 being amended to read ‘the wider financial and social consequences of not making an award’.         

The Benefits Manager introduced a report to seek input from the Committee on the Draft Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) Policy 2015 prior to its consideration by Cabinet on 21 April 2015. 

                        She detailed the background to the report and explained that following criticism from Welsh Government regarding a perceived inconsistency in the awards process, colleagues from 20 of the 22 Welsh Local Authorities had worked together to establish an all Wales DHP policy framework.  The Council were already undertaking a large number of the recommendations put forward by the group.  A detailed analysis was also being undertaken on the DHP workload to identify the need for future budget commitments more easily and also to work proactively with customers to identify issues and problems.  The Benefits Manager explained that DHP was not a long term solution and was a limited pot of money and examples of how a DHP could help were detailed in the report.  The new policy enabled the Council to apply a level of conditionality to the DHP awards and a range of support options, which included working with a debt advisor, were reported.  It was the customer’s responsibility to demonstrate that they were making every effort to make changes or access/accept support or advice.  The table in the report detailed the DHP Government contribution, Flintshire Top-up and total spend for 2012/13 to 2015/16 and showed that DWP funding had increased for the previous three years but had reduced for 2015/16. 

                        The Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Finance spoke of the Welfare Reforms and the work that had been undertaken to assist tenants.  He raised concern about the reduction in the DHP Government contribution but fully supported the proposals in the Discretionary Housing Payment Policy. 

                        Councillor Richard Jones stated that an officer had previously indicated that the Welfare Reforms had not had the impact that had been expected as Housing Benefit and unemployment had reduced.  The policy reported that the DHPs were paid from a fixed budget and Councillor Jones asked whether work was being undertaken to identify whether any further funding was available to ensure consistency for customers.  The Chief Officer (Community & Enterprise) indicated that a reduction in funding had not been expected for 2015/16 and it was difficult to say what pressures this would put on the budget.  The policy would assist with consistency of claims but there would be a need to monitor claims during this year and each case would be reviewed individually.  The Council provided funding for staff to deal with people affected by Welfare Reform which included support to the Citizen’s Advice Bureau.  However, an area of concern was the further rollout of Universal Credit and this would need to be monitored closely to ensure any additional in-year pressures were identified quickly. 

                        The Leader of the Council disagreed with the comments made by Councillor Jones about the impact of Welfare Reform and he spoke of the significant amount of work undertaken to assist and support those affected the Welfare  ...  view the full minutes text for item 90.

            That the Committee welcomes the report and advises the Cabinet that it supports the policy. 

The Benefits Manager introduced a report to seek input from the Committee on the draft Housing Benefit Overpayment Policy 2015 prior to its consideration by Cabinet on 21 April 2015. 

                        She detailed the background to the report and highlighted the different reasons for why an overpayment could occur.  Although the recovery of Housing Benefit Overpayments was included in the Council’s Fair Debt Policy, due to the specific nature of the debts and the guidance from the Department of Work and Pensions around recovery options, a specific policy was appropriate. 

            RESOLVED:

            That the Committee welcomes the report and advises the Cabinet that it supports the policy. 

            (a)       That the Forward Work Programme be approved as submitted; and

(b)       That the Member Engagement Manager, in consultation with the Chair and officers, be authorised to vary the work programme between meetings.     

The Member Engagement Manager introduced the report to consider the Forward Work Programme for the Committee. 

                        He explained that a report had been submitted to the Constitution Committee the previous day on new structures for each of the six Overview & Scrutiny Committees which was to be submitted to the Annual Meeting of the Council for consideration.  This remit for this Committee would include Crime and Disorder and would therefore require one meeting to be designated to a Crime and Disorder meeting.  He explained that the Chief Officer (Community and Enterprise) had earlier spoken of a joint meeting on Welfare Reform which was yet to be confirmed.  The Member Engagement Manager suggested that he liaise with the Chair, Vice-Chair and officers to amend the Forward Work Programme as necessary. 

                        Councillor Arnold Woolley suggested that payments through Post Offices was a concern and should be considered at a future meeting.  The Member Engagement Manager advised that this would be within the remit of the Community & Enterprise Committee in the new structure and added that he would ensure that the request was passed on to the appropriate Facilitator. 

            RESOLVED:

            (a)       That the Forward Work Programme be approved as submitted; and

(b)       That the Member Engagement Manager, in consultation with the Chair and officers, be authorised to vary the work programme between meetings.     

                        There were no members of the public or press in attendance.