Issue - meetings

At 3.35pm the Committee returned to Part A and agreed to adjourn the meeting until 23 March 2021. The meeting reconvened at 2pm on 23 March 2021. Attendance at the meeting was unchanged from 17 March 2021, save for the addition of an officer in attendance, namely Richard Barlow, who was also an external legal advisor to the Council and was attending in place of Ros Foster.

The Chair summarised the Committee’s earlier deliberations in regard to agenda item 5, Independent Investigation in Response to the Report in the Public Interest, and the corresponding Part B item. The Chair also confirmed that the Committee had been circulated a supplementary Part A paper in relation to agenda item 5, a second supplementary paper in relation to the corresponding Part B item and three further Part B appendices. The Interim Chief Executive clarified that there were a number of aspects for the Committee to consider in relation to the report of the independent investigation. The first was to satisfy itself that the methodology of the report was sound and a fair and proper process.

The Committee would also hear the feedback from the Independent Investigator in relation to the fact checking process that had been underway in relation to the report of his investigation and would be asked to consider additional submissions received from those involved in the fact checking process. The Committee would be required to give full consideration to the legal, financial and risk paragraphs of both the Part A and Part B reports.

Finally, the Committee would be asked to give consideration to both the Part A and Part B recommendations. The Interim Chief Executive further drew the Committee’s attention to the importance of the other reports that had been published in relation to the Council’s recent failings, and explained that the report of the independent investigation should be considered in the context of the wider body of reports into the Council’s failings. Before returning to the consideration of the methodology of independent investigation, the Interim Chief Executive explained her rationale for commissioning that investigation.

Members heard that the receipt of a Report in the Public Interest from external auditors would ordinarily be enough to commence formal processes against Members or Officers. However, in light of the seriousness of the Council’s failings, the Interim Chief Executive commissioned the Independent Investigation in order to gain a more detailed understanding of how the Council had reached the position that it was in. The investigation was an additional step that had also been taken in recognition of the seriousness of the Council’s situation, the seniority of the individuals involved and to support the Council’s commitment to developing an improvement plan.

The Committee was also advised that the report of the independent investigation would look and read differently in its construction to a disciplinary report, as it had been drafted to help develop an understanding of how the Council reached the position that it found itself in, by listening to as many people  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8