Agenda, decisions and minutes

A presentation will be made to the following:-

• Lawrence Gotts, Horticulture Modern Trainee

Garden Design Exhibited at the RHS Tatton Show

Lawrence’s design was accepted for the RHS Tatton show which took place from the 25^th to 28^th July 2013. 

• Mental Health Services

Joint winner of the Better Outcomes Through Working Together category of the Social Care Accolades

• Disability Services ‘Citizen Directed Support Services’

Highly commended in the Citizens Controlling Services category of the Social Care Accolades

(i)         LawrenceGotts Horticulture Modern Trainee

The Chair welcomed LawrenceGotts whose design was accepted for the RHS Tatton show which took place 25 to 28 July 2013.  Judged in the small garden section – GreenfieldValley Heritage park ‘The Industrious Force of Nature’ received a commendation.

(ii)        Mental Health Services

            The Chair welcomed the Mental Health Services team members who were joint winners of the Better Outcomes Through Working Together category of the Social Care Accolades.

(iii)       Disability Services ‘Citizen Directed Support Services’

            The Chair welcomed the Disability Services Team who had been highly commended in the Citizens Controlling Services category of the Social Care Accolades.

            Councillor C.M. Jones, Cabinet Member for Social Services, congratulated the teams on their success and referred to the special recognition of their hard work and commitment.

            Councillor R. Dolphin also expressed congratulations to the Mental Health Services and Disability Services teams and to LawrenceGotts for his achievement.  

Councillor A.P. Shotton, Leader of the Council, reiterated the sentiments expressed by Councillors C.M. Jones and R. Dolphin and added his appreciation for the awards gained on behalf of the Authority.

            The Chair presented LawrenceGotts, the Mental Health Services Team and the Disability Services Team with their awards. 

The Chair confirmed that no questions had been received.

To receive any declarations of interests from Members.

The following Members declared a personal interest in agenda item number 17: Clwyd Pension Fund Update:-

Councillors: J.B. Attridge, C.A. Ellis, J.M. Johnson, R.K. Jones, S. Jones, A. Minshull,  N. Matthews, N. Phillips, I.B. Roberts, A.P. Shotton, and I Smith 

            Councillor H.D. Hutchinson declared a personal interest in agenda item number 7: concerning a petition on consultation on the withdrawal of the “Shopper Bus”. 

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 25^th June 2013.

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

The minutes of the meeting held on 25 June 2013 were submitted.

RESOLVED:

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

A copy of the Chair’s communication had been circulated to all Members before the meeting. 

The Chair referred to the Armed Forces Community Covenant Signing and Commemorative Parade event.  She read out a letter of thanks received from Brigadier Gerhard Wheeler CBE, Royal Welsh, for the Authority’s work and hospitality which made the event such a success.  He also expressed appreciation for the warm welcome provided by the residents of Flint and their support for the parade and thanked officers for their work in the signing of the Covenant. 

Councillor I.B. Roberts referred to the Last Night of the Proms event held at Ysgol Gwynedd, Flint, and expressed his thanks to the Chair for her assistance in the provision of special transport arrangements to ensure all attendees arrived home safely due to unforeseen circumstances.

Councillor H.D. Hutchinson referred to the Treuddyn Book celebrating 90 years of the Urdd Gobaith Cymru and expressed his appreciation and thanks to the Chair on the success of the publication.

Councillor H.D. Hutchinson withdrew from the meeting at this point.

            Councillors C.A. Ellis and R.G. Hampson submitted a petition concerning the County Council’s consultation on subsidised bus services in Flintshire and the proposal to withdraw the “Shopper Bus”.

            CouncillorN.M. Matthews submitted a petition from residents of Cadole Road and surrounding area with regard to the road speed limit.  

            Councillor H.D. Hutchinson returned to the meeting. 

The Chair confirmed that no notices of motion had been received.

To note the answers to any questions submitted in accordance with County Council Standing Order No. 9.4(A).

The Chair confirmed that no questions had been received.             

The Minute Books, Editions 1 and 2 2013/14 have been circulated to Members.  Members are now entitled to ask questions on these minutes, subject to certain limitations, and answers will be provided at the meeting.  Members are requested to bring to the meeting their copy of the Minute Book.  Any questions must have been received by the Democracy and Governance Manager prior to the close of business on Thursday, 19 September 2013.

The Chair confirmed that no questions had been received.

That the Annual Governance Statement be approved.

The Democracy and Governance Manager introduced the Annual Governance Statement (AGS).  He provided background information and explained that the preparation of the draft AGS had been coordinated by the corporate governance officer working group who had reported to the Chief Executive, the Monitoring Officer and Section 151 Officer on its work.  The core membership of that working group was detailed in appendix 1 to the report.

The Democracy and Governance Manager advised that pages 130 to 145 of the agenda detailed the AGS part of the Statement of Accounts 2012/13.

Councillor R.B. Jones referred to section 5 on Significant Governance Issues and asked if it should correspond to what was in the former Strategic Assessment of Risks and Challenges (SARC).  He commented on the need for consistency.  The Democracy and Governance Manager explained that the significant governance issues went beyond risk management.  The Chief Executive acknowledged the point made and commented that whilst there was a degree of consistency between the two risk commentaries a fuller ‘match’ would be planned for the 2014 Annual Governance Statement. 

            Councillor W. Mullin proposed that the County Council approve the Annual Governance Statement and this was seconded by Councillor J.B. Attridge.     

RESOLVED:

That the Annual Governance Statement be approved.

(a)       That the final Statement of Accounts for 2012/13 be approved and that the uncorrected misstatement in relation to the Clwyd Pension Fund not be amended; 

(b)       That the Letter of Representation – Flintshire County Council be approved; and

(c)       That the Letter of Representation – Clwyd Pension Fund be approved

The Head of Finance introduced the Statement of Accounts 2012/13, together with the Wales Audit Office (WAO) reports in connection with the audit of the 2012/13 financial statements for Flintshire County Council and the Clwyd Pension Fund. 

The Head of Finance advised that the statutory deadline for the approval of the Statement of Accounts was 30 September 2013 and commented on the opportunities which had been provided since July for Members to raise comments or questions beforehand.  She reported that as part of the final accounts process the WAO had presented the ISA 260 reports ‘Audit of the Financial Statements – Flintshire County Council’ and ‘Audit of the Financial Statements – Clwyd Pension Fund’ to a meeting of the Audit Committee which was held prior  to the meeting of the County Council.  She also explained that during the audit process a number of changes to the draft Statement of Accounts had been agreed with the WAO and these were incorporated into the final document  appended to the report.  The Letters of Representation – FlintshireCounty Council and Clwyd Pension Fund were also attached to the report for consideration. 

Councillor A. Woolley explained that he had been interim Chair at the meeting of the Audit Committee held on the morning of the meeting of County Council.  The Statement of Accounts which incorporated the agreed changes with the WAO had been thoroughly considered by the Committee.  The WAO had been present and fully explained their findings in respect of the accounts for FlintshireCounty Council and the Clwyd Pension Fund.  He gave an outline of the main points of discussion relating to the accounts and moved the recommendations of the report.  The proposal was seconded by Councillor I.B. Roberts.

The Head of Finance introduced and welcomed Mr John Herniman and Ms Amanda Hughes of the Wales Audit Office to the meeting. 

Mr. Herniman advised that an unqualified opinion on the financial statements would be issued when the Letter of Representation from the Authority had been received by the WAO.   Referring to the Statement of Accounts he explained that there were some minor typographical errors which would be corrected in the final version.  He reported that there had been no misstatements identified in the financial statements for FlintshireCounty Council which remained uncorrected.  There were misstatements that had been corrected by management which were detailed with explanations in appendix 3 of the Audit report.

Mr. Herniman referred to other significant issues arising from the audit and said there was concern about some of the qualitative aspects of the Authority’s accounting practices and financial reporting.  He referred to matters concerning non-current assets, the functionality of Technology Forge, general issues relating to the quality of accounts,  and liability for pension contributions on equal pay liabilities.  Mr. Herniman also referred to the liquidation of AD Waste which was finalised in September 2013 and explained that the accounts had been amended to reflect the final position following liquidation.

In conclusion, Mr Herniman summarised that there were  ...  view the full minutes text for item 39.

That the report be noted.

The Head of Finance introduced the report to provide Members with supplementary financial information to accompany the Statement of Accounts 2012/13 as requested in the notice of motion approved by County Council on 29 January 2013.

Members were advised that the information requested by the notice of motion was detailed in Appendix 1 to the report.

Councillor C.S. Carver thanked the Head of Finance and the Finance Manager Strategy and Technical for the report.  He referred to the information provided in Table 3 for consultants and non permanent posts and raised a query concerning costs.  In his response the Chief Executive explained that the majority of individuals were in position for significantly less than a year and that the information provided related to the arrangements to acquire specialist advice on particular matters or issues.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

That the Annual Treasury Management Annual Report for 2012/13 be approved.

The Head of Finance presented the Annual Treasury Management Report for 2012/13.  She provided background information and outlined the key considerations which were detailed in the report.

RESOLVED:

That the Annual Treasury Management Annual Report for 2012/13 be approved.

That the updated Financial Procedure Rules be approved.

The Head of Finance introduced the report on the proposed updated Financial Procedure Rules (FPR’s), as detailed in the appendix to the report, following consideration by the Audit Committee and Constitution Committee.  The report detailed the changes to the existing rules.

RESOLVED:

That the updated Financial Procedure Rules be approved.

That the revised Contract Procedure Rules be approved.

The Chief Executive introduced a report on the revised Contract Procedure Rules (CPRs).  A copy of the proposed new CPRs was appended to the report and a summary of the key changes between the new and the current CPRs was provided in appendix 2. 

RESOLVED:

That the revised Contract Procedure Rules be approved.

That the update be noted.

The Head of Finance introduced a report to update on issues relating to the Clwyd Pension Fund (“the Fund”).  She provided background information and gave an overview of the work undertaken during the Summer period to formulate responses to a number of consultations on the future structure of the Local Government Pension Scheme. 

The Head of Finance reported on developments in relation to:

• Local Government Pension Scheme 2014
• Collaborative working - Welsh Pension Funds “Working Together”
• Financial update
• New Investment

RESOLVED:

That the update be noted.

There were two members of the press and no members of the public in attendance.