Agenda a Chofnodion

The Chair welcomed County Borough Councillor E. Webster to his first meeting of the Audit Committee of the 2020/21 Municipal Year.

Derbyn datganiadau o fuddiannau personol gan Aelodau, yn unol â gofynion y Cod Ymddygiad.

Nodwch:

1.    Mae gofyn i Aelodau ddatgan rhif a phwnc yr agendwm mae eu buddiant yn ymwneud ag ef a mynegi natur y buddiant personol hwnnw; a

2.   Lle bo Aelodau'n ymneilltuo o'r cyfarfod o ganlyniad i ddatgelu buddiant sy'n rhagfarnu, rhaid iddyn nhw roi gwybod i'r Cadeirydd pan fyddan nhw'n gadael.

In accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct, there were no declarations made pertaining to the agenda.

Derbyn y cofnodion o gyfarfodydd blaenorol y Pwyllgor Archwilio a gynhaliwyd ar 28 Medi 2020 a 5 Hydref 2020.

It was RESOLVED to approve the minutes of the XXXX as an accurate reflection of the meeting.

With the aid of a PowerPoint presentation, the Director of Education and Inclusion Services, alongside the Head of the Attendance and Wellbeing Service and the School Organisation and Governance Team Leader, provided Members with an update on Governor Vacancies, Safeguarding and School Attendance, following the request of the Audit Committee at its meeting on 5^th October 2020.

Governor Vacancies

Members were provided with information in respect of the type of governors, the number of governors appointed and the current vacancies as of 28^th October 2020. Members were informed that there were currently 236 vacancies (14% of vacancies within RCT) which was 2% more compared to the position last year. However, it was explained that most of the governors are recruited in the Autumn Term and that there had been slight delays due to Covid-19.

Members were informed of the various recruitment processes for the different type of Governors and were assured that Governors were learning how to work virtually in order to appoint Community Governors and reduce the vacancies. In addition, Members learned of the support available to Governors, which included Chair/Vice-Chair training and finance training. It was pleasing to note that the uptake for training had increased since working virtually and that solutions were available to those Governors without IT equipment to attend the schools and socially distance.

The Director added that during Covid-19, there had been significant engagement with Chairs of Governors to ensure they are well informed of Welsh Government changes in relation to keeping schools safe and the continuity of learning, which had been well attended.

One Member questioned whether many Governors renew their appointment following their four years of office and commented that from experience, the letter received following the four years of office, did not encourage her to apply for a second term of office. The officer took on board the Member’s feedback in respect of the letter and acknowledged the significant commitment needed to be a School Governor.

The Member then questioned whether high turnover of Governors was monitored and whether a leaving questionnaire was completed to give a clear indication as to why they aren’t persuaded to stay. The officer explained that the reasons for resignation were monitored by the service but added that there were currently no governing bodies with a high turnover. In respect of the questionnaire suggestion, the officer agreed that it could be an effective step to be included within the process moving forward.

A number of Members commented on the need for a plan to be formulated to encourage individuals to apply to be on Governing Bodies. One Member questioned whether the high number of Governor Vacancies was a Wales Wide issue. The officer confirmed that is was a Wales Wide issue and advised Members the Cardiff Council also had vacancies at 14%. The officer spoke of a Governors Support Group, which included colleagues from other Local Authorities and informed the Audit Committee that the Group had requested that Welsh Government look at introducing a  ...  view the full Cofnodion text for item 16.

The Service Director, Finance and Improvement Services provided the Audit Committee with the report, which set out an action plan to support the on-going development and effectiveness of Audit Committee in line with its Terms of Reference.

Members were reminded that the Audit Committee Annual Report for 2019/20 included a self-assessment against the CIPFA 2018 Practical Guidance and that the main conclusions of the self-assessment were:

·         The Committee has discharged the responsibilities placed upon it in 2019/20 in line with its Terms of Reference;

·         A number of proposals for improvement identified that will help further improve the Committee’s arrangements and effectiveness; and

·         That the proposals for improvement form the basis of an action plan that will be led by Audit Committee.

The Service Director spoke of the opportunity for Audit Wales to undertake the project in parallel with the Committee progressing the agreed proposals for improvement as part of its planned work.

As such, Members’ attention was drawn to the Action Plan, which was attached at Appendix 1 to the report. The Action Plan was broken down in to three key sections:

Learning and Development – The Service Director proposed that in order to identify the training needs of Members, a draft questionnaire would be presented to the December Audit Committee meeting for consideration. Should the questionnaire be approved, Members would have the opportunity to complete the questions online and the results of the exercise would be reported to the Committee in February 2021. Officers would then seek to compile a Learning and Development programme based on Members’ needs, which would be presented to the Audit Committee meeting in March 2021;

Risk Management – In order to provide the Audit Committee with an overview of the Strategic Risks, detailed in the Council’s Risk Register, the Service Director proposed that one Strategic Risk is brought to every other Audit Committee meeting and to request that the relevant risk lead officer attends to provide a detailed overview; and

Provision of Information brought to the Audit Committee – The Service Director proposed to provide a range of options to Audit Committee on the depth of information it can receive to ensure it is focussed on the key strategic areas, as set out in the Terms of Reference. The Service Director explained that there was an opportunity to take advantage of the visibility of the Regional Internal Audit Service, which allows the Audit Committee to consider the good practice of the other three Local Authorities.

The Service Director proposed that the Action Plan before Members was to be a ‘live’ document to enable further areas of development and Audit Wales feedback to be considered and for the document to be owned and led by the Audit Committee and supported by key officers.

The Service Director, Democratic Services and Communication spoke of the ‘Fit for Future’ work undertaken in respect of the Council’s scrutiny arrangements, which sought to allow the Committees’ business time to be more focussed. The Service Director spoke of Learning and  ...  view the full Cofnodion text for item 17.

The Audit Committee were provided with a summary of audit assignments completed between 16^th September 2020 and 20^th October 2020. Members were asked to consider the following Audit Assignments:

Education and Inclusion Services

·           Hawthorn High School;

·           Mountain Ash Comprehensive School – Purchase Card Follow Up; and

·           DCELLS – Post 16 Planning & Funding

In respect of the Audit Assignment for Hawthorn High School, one Member noted that there was an Acting Head Teacher at the School during the time some of the issues had arisen and questioned what support had been provided in light of the fact the school had previously had significant issues with its processes. The Head of the Regional Internal Audit Service explained that the school had requested an audit to be undertaken and that it was therefore, recognised that the school wanted assurance on certain aspects of its processes.

One Member raised concerns in respect of 5.1.2 of the Audit Assignment, which stated that there was a lack of continuity or follow up with items, which appeared to be forgotten when deferred and that there were occasions where separate meetings were held jointly, which may have resulted in Governors making decisions on a Committee for which they are not responsible. The Head of the Regional Internal Audit Service acknowledged that the issues identified were not best practice and as such, had been flagged as high priority. Members were informed that assurance had been given from the school that the recommendations had been implemented. The Group Audit Manager referred Members to the recommendations outlined in section 5.1.3 of the report and explained that there was a requirement for schools to forward the agendas and minutes of all Governing Body meetings to RCT Governor Support. The officer explained that by ensuring the documents are sent to a central location, there is assurance that the schools are following the correct procedures.

In reference to 5.6.3 of the assignment, one Member noted that a total of £9,985 was owed to the school in respect of outstanding invoices in excess of 61 days old and questioned whether the invoices had been recovered. The Group Audit Manager informed the Committee that all of the debt had since been recovered and that the school was now on the Local Authority’s financial system, which meant that any debts would now be recovered through the system, rather than the school raising its own invoice.

(Note: At this point in proceedings, County Borough Councillor M Powell declared the following personal interest, ‘I am a member of the Governing Body of Hawthorn High School. I believe my personal interest is not prejudicial because of the exemption set out in paragraph 12(2)(a)(iii) of the Code of Conduct’)

In reference to 5.2.1 of the assignment, one Member raised concerns that only three members of staff had up to date Level 3 Child Protection training, with the Headteacher also having not received the training. Although Members recognised that the school had an Acting Headteacher and that there may  ...  view the full Cofnodion text for item 18.

“Bod y cyfarfod hwn yn cadw aelodau o'r wasg ac aelodau o'r cyhoedd allan o ystafell y cyfarfod, dan Adran 100A(4) o Ddeddf Llywodraeth Leol 1972 (fel y'i diwygiwyd), yn ystod trafod yr agendwm nesaf, ar y sail y byddai'n debygol o olygu datgelu gwybodaeth eithriedig yn ôl diffiniad paragraff 14 o Ran 4 o Atodlen 12A i'r Ddeddf.”

It was RESOLVED: “That the press and public be excluded from the meeting under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act (as amended) for the following items of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of the exempt information as defined in paragraph 14 of Part 4 of the Schedule 12A of the Act”.

The Head of Service for Pensions, Payroll and Payments outlined the progress made to date against the Anti-Fraud, Bribery & Corruption work programme for 2020/21.

Following  discussion, it was RESOLVED:

1.    To review the work undertaken in 2020/21 and provide direction and guidance where necessary within the Terms of Reference of the Committee.