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 as chose to participate in the review. A Member informed the Committee that they had received correspondence directly from a third party in relation to this agenda item and sought clarity on whether or not they could ask questions on it.
The Committee was advised that they should focus only on the information that had formally shared with them by the Council and also noted that it was anticipated that further correspondence would be circulated to them in the Part B session in relation to this item. In response to a question, the Independent Investigator informed the Committee that he stood by his responses in the earlier session of the Committee meeting and that there were points that had come out of the Maxwellisation process subsequently that he would speak to in the Part B session of the meeting.
A Member of the Committee expressed concern regarding information being supplied by third parties directly to the Council and sought clarity on how direct contact should be dealt with. The Committee heard from the Interim Executive Director of Resources and Deputy Monitoring Officer that any information received should be referred to her in the first instance for consideration and that any information not received through the proper Council process should be disregarded. The Interim Executive Director of Resources and Deputy Monitoring Officer also agreed to advise Members following the meeting on the difference between the consideration of the proper business before a Committee and how Members should treat lobbying by external parties.
RESOLVED:
1.1 That the report of the independent investigation into corporate management actions, organisational systems and environment, commissioned in response to the Report in the Public Interest be received;
1.2 That the Committee’s assurance of the processes followed in the production of the report was confirmed;
1.3 That the further recommendations detailed in the accompanying Part B report, as amended, were agreed as detailed in the accompanying Part B minutes;
1.4 That the necessity for the members of the Committee to consider the report of the independent investigation for the limited purposes set out in this report only was recognised and that, in view of the ongoing confidentiality of the report of the independent investigation pending the outcome of any and all individual processes, the report of the independent investigation shall not, at this time, be made publicly accessible;
1.5 That an executive summary of the report be produced, that will enable the lessons learned and the understanding of how the council has reached this position to be shared. In taking this decision, the committee also confirmed its aspiration to publish the report in full; and
1.6 That the commitment to publish the Investigation Report be brought back to a future meeting of the Committee for consideration following the conclusion of all the Council’s related confidential processes.