Agenda and minutes

Any substitute members should declare their substitution.

Councillor Daniel Humphreys substituted for Councillor Louise Murphy. 

Councillor Nicky Waight substituted for Councillor Roy Barraclough.

Councillor Jim Deen substituted for Councillor Mike Barrett.

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.

Councillor Steve Waight declared an interest in item 7 as a West Sussex County Council Cabinet Member.

To approve the minutes of the Joint Governance Committee meeting held on 29 July 2021, copies of which have been previously circulated.

The minutes of the Joint Governance Committee meeting held on 29 July 2021 were agreed as a correct record.

To receive any questions from members of the public.

Questions should be submitted by noon on Friday 24 September 2021 to Democratic Services, democratic.services@adur-worthing.gov.uk

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

No questions from the public were received. 

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

There were no urgent items raised

To consider reports by the External Auditors, copy attached as item 6.

Before the Committee was an update report from the External Auditors, copies of which had been circulated to all Members and copies are attached to the signed copy of these Minutes as Item 6.

The report provided an update to the Provisional Audit Planning report which had been issued in May 2021 and addressed the change in audit risks as a result of the completed planning procedures. 

The Committee was informed that the planning on value for money and the associated risk assessment focused on gathering sufficient evidence to enable the auditors to document their evaluation of both Council’s arrangements, enabling them to draft a commentary under three reporting criteria. 

Members were advised that no significant risks regarding both Councils’ ‘proper arrangements' to secure economy, efficiency and effectiveness in its use of resources had been identified. 

It was noted that the audits for both Councils were currently in progress and the auditors intention was to report the results to the Committee towards the end of November 2021. 

Resolved 

That the Joint Governance Committee noted the contents of the report. 

To consider a report by the Acting Head of Internal Audit, copy attached as item 7.

Before the Committee was a report from the Acting Head of Internal Audit, copies of which had been circulated to all Members and copies are attached to the signed copy of these Minutes as Item 7.

The report sought to update Members of the Joint Governance Committee with:

1. the current performance of the Internal Audit Section;
2. summary information on the key issues raised in final audit reports issued since the last report to the Committee; 
3. the status of the implementation of agreed audit recommendations; 
4. an update on Priority 1 recommendations outstanding past the agreed implementation dates; and
5. the draft audit brief for the proposed “Allocation of Costs for Town Centre Public-Realm Improvements”. 

The Committee had a number of questions in relation to Land Charges and Major Projects and it was proposed and seconded that the Head of Service be requested to attend the Joint Governance Committee to update Members.  

A Member highlighted difficulties with understanding some of the information provided in the report and asked whether a guide could be provided for new councillors. The Acting Head of Internal Audit advised he was looking at how future reports could be streamlined, enabling them to be more transparent and easier to understand.   

A Member questioned the situation in relation to Housing Repairs, outlined on page 30 of the report, seeking clarification regarding the 4 most urgent contracts in regards to what these were and what were the outcomes. Officers advised that a Housing Procurement Working Group had been convened with Housing colleagues being supported by staff from Technical Services and the Surveying Team to assist the Housing Team to get up to date with their procurement activity. The Councils had engaged an interim compliance manager to help manage the compliance contracts and bring those into place. In addition, interim arrangements had been put in place with local suppliers so that compliance work was ongoing and the Councils had a full procurement programme for longer terms contracts due to start in the next few weeks. The main contracts of focus at the moment were:

1. The Asbestos Remediation Contract;
2. The Asbestos Inspection Contract;
3. The Electrical Inspection Contract; and 
4. The Electrical Works Contract.

There was a full programme of procurement work, that was being managed, with the aim of having proper contracts in place over the next six months. The Councils had engaged specialist surveyors to support housing colleagues in producing the necessary specifications to enable contracts to be taken out to market. 

Resolved 

That the Joint Governance Committee:

I.                noted the contents of this report;

2. requested that the Head of Major Projects and Investment and the Head of Planning and Development attend the next meeting of Joint Governance Committee to update Members on Major Projects and Land Charges; and

3. having considered the draft audit brief for the “Allocation of Costs for Town Centre Public-Realm Improvements”, agreed that this audit should be added to the 2021/22 Audit Plan.