Agenda item

Cabinet Member: Leader of the Council, Councillor Hamida Ali

Officer: Interim Executive Director Resources, Asmat Hussain

Key decision: no

The Leader of the Council delegated authority to the Cabinet to make the following decisions:

RESOLVED: To

1.    Note and agree the progress the Council has made in regard to achieving the recommendations set out by external auditor in the Report in the Public Interest (at appendix 1 of the report) with 35 out of 99 actions complete;

2.    Note that the recommendations as suggested by General Purposes and Audit Committee and the Scrutiny & Overview Committee that were agreed at Cabinet on January 18th have been added to the action plan (at appendix 2 and 3 of the report);

3.    Agree the refreshed action plan for the recommendations including actions marked complete, new actions and amended deadlines;

4.    Note the current proposed reporting structure, including dates, as set out in this paper that quarterly reports go to Cabinet, General Purposes and Audit Committee, Scrutiny & Overview Committee and Full Council; and

5.    Agree to recommend to Full Council the approval of the refreshed action plan.

The Leader of the Council (Councillor Hamida Ali) stated that the report provided an updated on the Report in the Public Interest (RIPI) and specifically the action plan and progress against the action plan which had been agreed by Council in November 2020. It was noted that there were 99 actions in total, some of which had been added as a result of consultation with the General Purposes & Audit Committee (GPAC) and the Scrutiny & Overview Committee (SOC); around a third of which had been completed.

The updated action plan the Leader stated included an updated timeline from that which was agreed by Council in November as that initial timeline had been indicative. Following review of the timeline it was noted that half of the actions were due to be completed by June 2021.

It was highlighted that the report contained updated on the recommendations from the external auditor which had been deemed to be high priority; seven of which had been completed and progress updates were provided on the remaining two actions. Further updates were provided on key actions which had been completed; including around the budget setting process, the strategic review of the council’s companies, the interim asset disposal strategy, delivery plans for children and adult’s social care, monthly reporting and learning and development for members.

The Leader highlighted that the report set out future reporting against the action plan, with the key reporting points being to Cabinet, Council, GPAC and SOC. Reporting, it was proposed, would be incorporated within the quarterly renewal improvement plan reporting.

The Cabinet Member for Families, Health & Social Care (Councillor Janet Campbell) noted that it would be beneficial if a log of Members training was recorded. In response the Interim Executive Director of Resources (Asmat Hussain) advised that as part of the Ethics Committee review a register would be development which recorded the training Members had attended. This would provide oversight not only for Members, but for residents also.

The Leader of the Opposition (Councillor Jason Perry) raised concerns that over a third of the original actions had slipped by a number of months. It was noted that the RIPI had been issued as a result of the council’s financial situation and corporate blindness and the Leader of the Opposition expressed concern that the council was reverting to form with key milestones being missed and a perceived lack of transparency with an important housing investigation report being withheld.

In response the Leader of the Council noted that the agenda signified the grip that the Administration had on addressing the situation the council faced and ensuring progress continued to be made to change that situation. It was noted that the timeline considered and agreed by Council in November 2020 included a timeline of no later than April 2021; however those timelines had been reviewed as a result of a large amount of activity to develop a detailed submission to the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) for a capitalisation direction and the Croydon Renewal Improvement Plan which included over 400 recommendations. The Leader felt that there could be no doubt as to the scale of work which had gone into both securing the capitalisation direction and providing assurance to residents and Government that there was a clear understanding the work which was required to secure improvement.

It was noted that the updated timeline included many of the actions being completed by June 2021 which recognised and reflected the work which had been done across the council. It was further highlighted that five months after the action plan had been published a third of actions had been completed. This, the Leader felt, set out both the clarity of grip and acknowledgement of progress made, however to ensure the council remained realistic it had been important to review and update the timelines.

The Leader raised concerns in relation to the manner the Leader of the Opposition was describing a legal observation and determination as to what could be published during a pre-election period. The Interim Executive Director of Resources advised Members had received guidance in relation to the pre-election period and that the council was acting in compliance with statutory obligations. The Leader of the Opposition was advised that if he had concerns in relation to the publication of documents that he was welcome to speak with the Interim Executive Director of Resources. The Cabinet Member for Croydon Renewal (Councillor Stuart King) further added that matters such as appropriateness of publishing investigations during a pre-election period was a matter for officers to advise on. It was noted that the RIPI included concerns that decisions had been taken following improper interference from Members and that the council was following the advice of the Interim Executive Director of Resources showed how the council was learning from prior failings.

The Shadow Cabinet Member for Croydon Renewal (Councillor Jason Cummings) reflected that the RAG rating used within the report was one that he had not seen before and which had given rise to an item having a RAG rating of green and an action completion rating of 0/1 (R3 – Use of Transformation Funding). In terms of transformation funding, the Shadow Cabinet Member expressed concern that this issue had been outstanding for a while, especially as it was listed as a risk on financial reports, and queried when the actions on this item would be recorded as 2/2 being completed.

In response, the Interim Director of Finance, Investment & Risk (Chris Buss) advised that he had spoken to the external auditor in relation to the matter of transformation funding the previous week and it was hoped that this issue could be concluded by the end of April 2021 in terms of the appropriateness, or otherwise, use of the funding in 2019/20. It was recognised that these matters took longer than would be desired due to availability of both council and external audit staff to provide and assess evidence. The Interim Director of Finance, Investment & Risk advised that should the use of transformation funding be detrimental to 2019/20 accounts it could possibly have a positive impact on 2020/21 accounts. This was due to any capital receipts which were not used in 2019/20 for transformation purposes were then available for either transformation funding or capital expenditure in 2020/21 and future years. Members were advised that the outcome of the discussions with the external auditor would not impact the bottom line of the council’s finances but would be matter of the money coming out of different parts of the budget.

In light of the pre-election period, the Shadow Cabinet Member queried whether a report on the outcome of discussion on the use of transformation funding would be available prior to the election. In response, the Interim Director advised that the use of transformation funding did not form part of a report and was a matter in relation to 2019/20 accounts. However, should the Shadow Cabinet Member or a colleague ask a question in relation to the matter at the GPAC meeting at the end of April an appropriate answer would be provided as to the current situation. The Leader added that the future reporting on the action plan would also provide opportunities to question areas of the plan.

Councillor Robert Ward stated that the Brick by Brick 2019/20 accounts had been published late and that he felt the auditors comment were particularly damning. He queried why the directors pay had not been published as part of the accounts. In response, the Interim Director of Finance, Investment & Risk advised that directors pay would only be published if they were direct employees, such as the Chief Executive, of Brick by Brick. It was his understanding that the non-executive directors were not directly paid by Brick by Brick in 2019/20.

The Shadow Cabinet Member for Children, Young People & Learning (Councillor Helen Redfern) noted that the RIPI had highlighted the overspend in children’s social care required effective action to be taken to manage both demand and resulting cost pressures. It was highlighted that appendix 1 of the report showed that a number of deadlines had been missed in relation to the requirement. As such, the Shadow Cabinet Member queried what had been done to ensure the department responded to the time critical nature of the recommendations and ensured Croydon’s children continued to receive the right support without incurring unintended future costs. In response, the Leader reiterated that the original timeline had only gone to April 2021 and the updated timeline went to June 2021 and would ensure the council would realistically be able to complete and track actions.

The Cabinet Member for Children, Young People & Learning (Councillor Alisa Flemming) welcomed Councillor Redfern to her new role as Shadow Cabinet Member and thanked Councillor Maria Gatland for her years of service to the borough and her commitment to the children of the borough. It was recognised that she had always been a passionate advocate for supporting the most vulnerable and the Cabinet Member wished her well in her future endeavours.

The Cabinet Member stated that benchmarking was being undertaken closely with the finance department and external auditors to ensure the council was getting best value for money in the commissioning of contracts and placements. Members were informed that this work was being undertaken in a timely manner and was being supported by the Department for Education and the Local Government Association. Whilst the council was looking to drive down costs, the Cabinet Member stressed that children’s safety was at the forefront of all work.

It was noted by the Cabinet Member that discussions had been held at scrutiny committees in relation to ensuring the council had the right number of children within social care and the plans to return children home, where appropriate, in a safe manner. It was noted that that reducing costs whilst maintaining high levels of service and returning children home safely went hand in hand.

The Cabinet Member further highlighted that as the country came out of lockdown there would be hidden harm which would need to be responded to. This was an area which the council was monitoring closely alongside responding to the actions within the RIPI.

It was stressed that the council was committed to delivering good services at value for money whilst ensuring that vulnerable residents were safeguarded.

The Leader of the Council delegated authority to the Cabinet to make the following decisions:

RESOLVED: To

1.    Note and agree the progress the Council has made in regard to achieving the recommendations set out by external auditor in the Report in the Public Interest (at appendix 1 of the report) with 35 out of 99 actions complete;

2.    Note that the recommendations as suggested by General Purposes and Audit Committee and the Scrutiny & Overview Committee that were agreed at Cabinet on January 18th have been added to the action plan (at appendix 2 and 3 of the report);

3.    Agree the refreshed action plan for the recommendations including actions marked complete, new actions and amended deadlines;

4.    Note the current proposed reporting structure, including dates, as set out in this paper that quarterly reports go to Cabinet, General Purposes and Audit Committee, Scrutiny & Overview Committee and Full Council; and

5.    Agree to recommend to Full Council the approval of the refreshed action plan.