Agenda and minutes

Venue: QEII Room, Shoreham-Centre, Shoreham-by-Sea

Contact: Simon Filler
Democratic Services
01903 221439  Email: simon.filler@adur-worthing.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

JGC/12/23-24

Declarations of Interest

Members and officers must declare any disclosable pecuniary interests in relation to any business on the agenda.  Declarations should also be made at any stage such an interest becomes apparent during the meeting. 

 

If in doubt contact the Legal or Democratic Services representative for this meeting.

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest

JGC/13/23-24

Substitute Members

Any substitute members should declare their substitution.

Minutes:

There were no substitute Members

JGC/14/23-24

Minutes

To approve the minutes of the Joint Audit and Governance Committee meeting held on 30 May 2023, copies of which have been previously circulated.

Minutes:

Resolved: that the minutes of the meeting of the 30th May 2023 were approved as a correct record and be signed by the Chairman

JGC/15/23-24

Public Question Time

So as to provide the best opportunity for the Committee to provide the public with the fullest answer, questions from the public should be submitted by 12.00 noon on 10 July 2023

 

Where relevant notice of a question has not been given, the person presiding may either choose to give a response at the meeting or respond by undertaking to provide a written response within three working days.

 

Questions should be submitted to Democratic Services democratic.services@adur-worthing.gov.uk 

 

(Note: Public Question Time will operate for a maximum of 30 minutes.)

Minutes:

There were no public questions.

JGC/16/23-24

Members Questions

Councillors who are not members of this committee can ask questions under CPR 12  Questions should be relevant to the committee where the question is being asked and also relevant to an item on the agenda. Please contact Democratic Services for more information

 

Members question time is 30 minutes and questions should be submitted no later than 12.00 noon on 10 July 2023.

 

Questions should be submitted to Democratic Services democratic.services@adur-worthing.gov.uk 

(Note: Members’ Question Time will operate for a maximum of 30 minutes.)

 

Minutes:

There were no questions from Members.

JGC/17/23-24

Items Raised under Urgency Provisions

To consider any items the Chairman of the meeting considers to be urgent.

Minutes:

There were no urgent items.

JGC/18/23-24

Audit Results Report pdf icon PDF 2 MB

To consider a report by the external auditors from Ernst and Young, a copy is attached as item 7

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee had a report before it attached as item 8, a copy of which had been circulated to all Members and is attached to the signed copy of these minutes.

 

Members asked for clarification on some terms and acronyms and whether the audit process matched up with government requirements. Members were told that REFCUS stood for revenue funded from capital under statute; the Beacon approach applied to housing valuation and whilst the government non-statute deadline had passed, there was currently no penalty.


Resolved: the committee noted the contents of the report.

JGC/19/23-24

Enquiries to those charged with Governance pdf icon PDF 282 KB

To consider a report by the Director for Digital and Sustainability, a copy is attached as item 8

Minutes:

The Committee had a report before it attached as item 9, a copy of which had been circulated to all Members and is attached to the signed copy of these minutes. 

 

The external auditors, Ernst and Young, had asked that the Committee consider a letter about how the Joint Audit and Governance Committee gained assurance from management regarding the financial governance arrangements of the Councils.

 

The Chairs of the Committee had received two letters, one for Adur District Council and one for Worthing Borough Council. The letter to Adur District Council was attached as Appendix 1, which was identical to the letter to Worthing Borough Council. 

 

To assist the Committee in its deliberation of the letter, attached at Appendix 2 was the proposed response to each of the questions raised. This would form the basis of a formal letter if approved.

 

Resolved: 

 

That the Joint Audit and Governance Committee

I.                Noted the contents of the report; and

II.                Agreed the proposed responses to the assurance letters.

 

JGC/20/23-24

Risks & Opportunities Update Report pdf icon PDF 130 KB

To consider a report by the Director for Digital and Sustainability, a copy is attached as item 9

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee had a report before it attached as item 10, a copy of which had been circulated to all Members and is attached to the signed copy of these minutes.

 

The report provided the latest updates on the management of the Councils’ Risks and Opportunities.

Members asked questions about plans for the Orchard Housing system; plans to create solutions to job vacancies by talking with neighbouring authorities; the cost of living crisis as a risk; timeframe to start bringing risks down; what measures existed to protect staff from stress; staff retention and measuring savings. 

 

Members were advised that the Councils were looking at how to upgrade and improve Orchard but could look at procuring a new, more comprehensive system. Discussions with other authorities had an aim of creating career pathways, creating specialist hubs within authorities and an ability to share resources. Members were informed that the cost of Living Crisis could indeed be considered a risk with the Councils having a duty to protect the vulnerable, while people’s inability to pay had a knock on effect on the Councils’ budgets. That the People and Change team had been working hard on staff engagement and open communication, the potential for solving issues varied across departments so establishing a timeframe would be difficult. Members were also advised that CLT regularly looked at the savings performances vs the expectations.

 

Resolved: 

 

That the Joint Audit & Governance Committee

I.                Noted the progress in managing the Risks and Opportunities

II.                Agreed to receive a further progress report in January 2024

 

JGC/21/23-24

Capita Data Breach pdf icon PDF 484 KB

To consider a report by the Director for Digital and Sustainability, a copy is attached as item 10

Minutes:

The Committee had a report before it attached as item 11, a copy of which had been circulated to all Members and is attached to the signed copy of these minutes.

 

The report provided the Committee with a comprehensive overview of the Capita data breach incident that occurred in April 2023. The report presented an analysis of the incidents, the implications, and the investigatory actions taken by Adur and Worthing Councils. Additionally, it outlined the measures implemented by the supplier to address the breaches and mitigate the risk of similar incidents in the future.

 

Members asked about the resources available to review all current digital contracts; contact with Capita; any potential impact on Adur & Worthing Residents; Member access to agreements; contracts and procedures; the ability to assist other councils; future auditing and monitoring of suppliers and the MoveIt data breach.

 

Members were informed that a lot of resources had been used in the past six months looking at all the existing policies and procedures, examining what was used and required, that the council was still in contact with Capita and other systems also in use but the relationship needed to improve. Members were assured that the impact on Adur and Worthing residents was minimal and only one, out of date, information record had been accessed.Members were invited to attend the town hall with the Data protection officer to review all agreements, contracts and procedures. 

 

Members were advised that there was an opportunity to assist and form lasting relationships with other authorities to share best practice and alerts. The incident had given sharper focus to all future auditing and monitoring of suppliers and a report would come to a later meeting regarding the MoveIt data breach.


Resolved: the committee noted the report

JGC/22/23-24

Amendments to the Constitution pdf icon PDF 141 KB

To consider a report by the Director for Digital and Sustainability, a copy is attached as item 11

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee had a report before it attached as item 12, a copy of which had been circulated to all Members and is attached to the signed copy of these minutes.

 

The report updated Members of the Committee with recent amendments made to Adur District Council’s and Worthing Borough Council’s Constitutions by the Monitoring Officer. 

 

The Monitoring Officer had a duty to maintain an up-to-date version of the Council’s Constitutions and to ensure that they were publicly available. The Monitoring Officer had the authority, as set out in Article 11, paragraph 11.03, of each Constitution, to “make minor and inconsequential amendments to the Constitution at any time”. 

 

Members asked about changes to roles and responsibilities of portfolio holders, details on the parental leave scheme and the Working Group. Members were advised that a meeting was to be held shortly to discuss the proposed changes to the roles and responsibilities; that the parental leave policy would be a discussion for the working group and that the working group would reconvene and possibly be reconstituted in September.


Resolved: That the Joint Audit & Governance Committee noted the use of the Monitoring Officer’s delegation to make minor and inconsequential amendments.