Agenda and draft minutes

Any substitute members should declare their substitution.

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.

There were no declarations of interest made

To approve the minutes of the Joint Audit and Governance Committee meeting held on 28 May 2024, copies of which have been previously circulated.

The minutes of the meeting of the 28 May 2024 were approved as a correct record and be signed by the Chair

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 Monday 8th July 2024

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.)

There were no questions from the public

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 Monday 8th July 2024.

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.)

There were no questions from Members

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

There were no urgent items

To consider a report by the Director for Housing and Communities, copy attached as item 7

The Committee had a report before it attached as item 8, which had been circulated to all Members, a copy of which is attached to a signed copy of these minutes. This report provided an overview of the proposed feedback and complaints policy and procedure in respect of Adur and Worthing Council housing services, including Adur Homes.

Members asked about how complaints would be categorised, satisfaction with current complaint communication, financial implications and the split between complaints regarding Adur homes and the rest of the housing service.

Members were informed that as data was collected it would be categorised into themes, which would allow for better and more targeted responses; that the officer was not satisfied with the current communication of complaints and that while things had improved, they recognised more work was to be done; that the aspiration was for more complaints to be lodged and recorded digitally, freeing up officer time and resources for prevention work and that work was being done to make it easier to pull out data like the split of complaints between services.

The Joint Audit and Governance Committee approved the proposed Housing Feedback and Complaints Policy and Procedure for the Housing Service, to include Adur Homes.

To consider a report by the Director for Sustainability and Resources copy attached as item 9

The Committee had a report before it attached as item 9, which had been circulated to all Members, a copy of which is attached to a signed copy of these minutes.  The external auditors, Ernst and Young, had asked that the Joint Audit & Governance Committee consider a letter about how the 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.

Members asked about the dates in the letter in relation to the timing of the meeting, the last time a fraud investigation took place, which budgets were being referred to as balanced, what was considered a reasonable amount of reserves and when to specify internal and external audit. 

Members were informed that this was the normal time for the letter to come to the committee and that officers continued to work closely with the auditors; that the last fraud investigation report was given to the Joint Audit and Governance Committee in May, that the budgets referred to were the ones reported in February; that reasonable reserves were considered to be from 6-10% of revenue expenditure and that legal issues were considered each time an internal or external report came to the committee.

Members went on to discuss the councils’ status as a growing concern, current levels of reserves, future budgets and council record of spending.

The Joint Audit and Governance Committee is asked to considered and

agreed to the proposed responses to the external auditor’s letter.