Agenda and minutes

In accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct and the statutory provisions of the Localism Act, Members and co-opted Members of the Council are reminded that it is a requirement to register disclosable pecuniary interests (DPIs) and gifts and hospitality to the value of which exceeds £50 or multiple gifts and/or instances of hospitality with a cumulative value of £50 or more when received from a single donor within a rolling twelve month period. In addition, Members and co-opted Members are reminded that unless their disclosable pecuniary interest is registered on the register of interests or is the subject of a pending notification to the Monitoring Officer, they are required to disclose those disclosable pecuniary interests at the meeting. This should be done by completing the Disclosure of Interest form and handing it to the Democratic Services representative at the start of the meeting. The Chair will then invite Members to make their disclosure orally at the commencement of Agenda item 3. Completed disclosure forms will be provided to the Monitoring Officer for inclusion on the Register of Members’ Interests.

There were no disclosures of interests received from Members.

To receive notice of any business not on the agenda which in the opinion of the Chair, by reason of special circumstances, be considered as a matter of urgency.

There were no items of urgent business.

The Committee is asked to approve as a correct record, the minutes of the last meeting held on 3 March 2022.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the previous meeting, held on Thursday 3 March 2022, be approved as an accurate record.

The Committee is asked to note the progress as detailed in the attached Minutes Action tracker.

RESOLVED that the contents of the Action Tracker, be noted.

The Committee will receive an update on the Council’s Assurance Map (moving forward).

The Committee considered a report, which recognised assurance mapping as a good tool to support Audit Committees in their role of providing independent assurance of the organisation’s internal controls and risk management. It was proposed that this technique be used to plan and prioritise the Committee’s work programme for 2022/23 in order that the Committee fulfilled its terms of reference.

During consideration of the recommendations, the Committee discussed the following:

(i)               The need for ongoing, comprehensive training and briefings to be factored-in, given the complexities of the Committee’s work and to allow Members the freedom to ask questions in relation to the details of the training being provided.

(ii)              That the use of new Members’ induction to outline the functions and responsibilities of the Committee be considered.

(iii)            That consideration also be given to tapping into the knowledge and experience of existing Committee members, post 9 May 2022, as part of the Committee’s training for new and existing Members, moving forward.

(iv)            That more detail be added to some of the points contained within future versions of the Code of Governance.

(v)             That “doing the right thing” be added as a work in progress.

Accordingly, it was RESOLVED that the report be noted.

The Committee is invited to note the Anti-Fraud activity of the Corporate Anti-Fraud Team for the year 1 April 2021 – 31 March 2022 and the corresponding period 1 April 2020 – 31 March 2021.

The Committee considered a report, which detailed the performance of the Council’s Corporate Anti-Fraud Team (CAFT) and included details of the Team’s performance together with an update on developments between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2022 and a comparison with 2020/21.

During consideration of the recommendations, the Committee discussed the following:

(i)               Points of clarification within the report, specifically in reference to “pensions”, “planning” and “schools”, as detailed in Table 2 to the report.

(ii)                                           Provision for any appeals lodged.

(iii)                                          Individual or organisation-led housing and illegal sub-lets.

(iv)                                          Covid grants and Trading Standards

(v)             Any increased costs and whether the Council actively looked for cases of fraud.

(vi)            The use of the Council’s in-house Legal Services in dealing with cases of fraudulent activity.

Accordingly, it was RESOLVED that the report be noted.

The Committee is to receive a report, which highlights the work of the Committee over the last year as provided within the Committee’s ‘Terms of Reference and Scope of Work’.  It also includes a brief forward look into the year ahead on the Committee’s work and developments.

The Committee considered a report, presented by the Chair, which highlighted the work of the Committee over the last year as provided within the Committee’s ‘Terms of Reference and Scope of Work’.  The report also included a brief forward look into the year ahead on the Committee’s work and developments.