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Agenda and minutes

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Contact: Democratic Services  Email: Democratic.Services@croydon.gov.uk

Note: Please note that this meeting will reconvene at 19:15 this evening (23 March 2021) 

Items
No. Item

5/20

Urgent Business (if any)

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

Minutes:

There was none.

6/20

Independent Investigation in Response to the Report in the Public Interest pdf icon PDF 110 KB

To consider a report of the Interim Chief Executive.

 

Minutes:

Members considered a report that asked the Committee to receive the report of the independent investigation into corporate management actions, organisational systems and environment in response to the Report in the Public Interest (‘the report of the independent investigation’). In receiving the report of the independent investigation, the Committee was further asked to assure itself that the methodology followed in the production of that report enabled the Committee to place reliance upon it in considering the recommendations detailed in the accompanying Part B report.

 

At the outset of the item, the Committee noted that there were both Part A and Part B recommendations and expressed a desire to consider as much of the report in Part A as possible. Members also noted that an additional Part B supplementary paper had been circulated prior to the meeting.

 

In introducing the Part A report, the Interim Chief Executive clarified the purpose of the report to the Committee and highlighted three points, namely: to recognise that it was necessary for the Committee to consider the report of the independent investigation for the limited purposes set out in this report only and that due to a number of ongoing confidential processes, the report of the independent investigation would not be publicly accessible at this time; to seek assurance on the methodology of the report of the independent investigation and, while extensions had been granted to two individuals named in the report to complete a factual accuracy check, this did not prevent the Committee from considering the methodology followed; and to consider the suggested lines of enquiry listed at para 4.12 of the covering report.

 

The Committee heard that the investigation into senior management actions had been commissioned in response to the Report in the Public Interest (RIPI) issued by the Council’s external auditors, Grant Thornton. That RIPI had detailed significant issues relating to the Council’s financial position, its financial governance and its overall effectiveness as an organisation. The independent investigation had been commissioned by the Interim Chief Executive to gain an understanding into how the Council had reached the situation identified in the RIPI and, if any concerns were identified, then due consideration would be given to whether any action would need to be taken under the relevant processes. This action had been noted by the Council at its extraordinary meeting on 19th November 2020.

 

The Council had subsequently committed itself to delivering a comprehensive improvement plan as part of its bid for a capitalisation direction from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG). The Council was required to deliver that wide reaching plan as part of the conditions made by MHCLG when it approved the capitalisation direction.

 

Understanding how the Council had arrived in the position described in the RIPI was essential to ensure that the improvement plan contained the necessary actions so that the Council could avoid finding itself in a similar situation in the future. Members were further informed that the RIPI had been followed by a Non-Statutory Rapid  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6/20

7/20

Exclusion of the Press and Public

The following motion is to be moved and seconded where it is proposed to exclude the press and public from the remainder of a meeting:

 

“That, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information falling within those paragraphs indicated in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended.”

Minutes:

The following motion was proposed by Councillor Young, seconded by Councillor King and agreed by the Committee to exclude the press and public for the remainder of the meeting.

 

“That, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information falling within paragraphs 1 and 2 as indicated in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended”.

8/20

Independent Investigation in Response to the Report in the Public Interest

Minutes:

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 8/20