Agenda and minutes

An apology for absence was received from County Borough Councillors K Jones, J Harries and E Webster.

To receive disclosures of personal interest from Members in accordance with the Code of Conduct

Note:

1.     Members are requested to identify the item number and subject matter that their interest relates to and signify the nature of the personal interest: and

2.   Where Members withdraw from a meeting as a consequence of the disclosure of a prejudicial interest they must notify the Chairman when they leave.

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

To receive the minutes of the previous meeting of the Audit Committee held on 1^st February 2021.

It was RESOLVED to approve the minutes of the meeting held on the 1^st February 2021as an accurate reflection of the meeting.

Minute No. 24 – It was confirmed that the matter of school attendance and 6^th form attendance would be considered by the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee and feedback received to the subsequent Audit Committee.

Minute No. 25 – It was confirmed that the Director of Corporate Estates has been in discussions withCouncillor D Owen-Jones following his request that processes are in place to mitigate future defect issues arising from projects relating to the 21^st Century School Programme.

Officer presentation to follow.

Through a power point presentation, the Head of Organisational Development provided an update in respect of the Council’s Strategic Risk with specific reference to Strategic Risk 18 – Living Within Our Means (Workforce Plan). At its core, without investment in the Council’s workforce and staff and transform the way services are delivered, the risk is that retention and recruitment of staff will become more difficult. The Council’s workforce plan mitigates these risks to recruit, develop and retain staff.

The presentation was delivered under the following key headlines: -

Ø  Strategic Risk Register

Ø  Workforce Plan & Risk

Ø  Developing a Flexible and Agile Workforce that Shares Organisational Knowledge

Ø  Recruiting and Retaining the Best Talent to Create a Diverse Workforce

Ø  Recruiting and Retaining the Best Talent to Create a Diverse Workforce

Ø  Education Team

Ø  Gatsby Highlights

Ø  Care2Work Programme

Ø  Step in the Right Direction

Ø  Leadership and Management Development

Ø  Leadership Programmes

Ø  Enabling a High Performing, Engaged and Committed Workforce

Ø  Supporting Health & Well-Being to Maximise Attendance

Ø  Pandemic Response

During the presentation Members received a detailed update on the five key priorities within the Council’s workforce plan which are in place to mitigate those risks. The Head of Organisational Development advised that the local authority has a successful Graduate & Apprenticeship Programme which maintains a high retention rate into successful council positions. A dedicated Education resource has been established which supplies careers advice via a number of sessions delivered to schools. Members were informed that the Council has piloted standards called the Gatsby Benchmarks, on behalf of Welsh Government and has been recognised by the Careers Development Institute for its response to the needs to young people in schools particularly throughout the pandemic and one of the Council’s Careers Advisers was awarded National Career Leader of the Year.

Members were appraised of the programmes unique to Rhondda Cynon Taf Council such as Care2Work, which works with children looked after to prepare them for the jobs market and Step in the Right Direction programme which has operated since 2004. Leadership and Development is also a priority for the local authority and it has a number of programmes in place such as the Leadership Series which is looking at women into leadership and how Managers support the mental health of staff, particularly during the pandemic and where the council can offer further support the council workforce.

The Head of Organisational Development outlined how the Council can enable a high performing and engaged workforce through a number of initiatives and staff benefits such as the Vectis Card, Green Car and Cycle to Work schemes. The Council’ response to staff wellbeing included the establishment of a wellbeing line which supported staff by offering a number of referrals such as to professional counsellors, ICT support for improving homeworking and health & safety matters.

In conclusion, the Head of Organisational Development advised that the next workforce plan will be brought into place in 2022 will reflect the learning undertaken in the last year.

The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 34.

·         Contract Procedure Rules – Officer Presentation

The Service Director Finance & Improvement Services introduced the

presentation by advising Members that the overview would assist Committee

with its understanding of the key requirements when they are reported to

Committee in the future by Internal Audit. The Head of Procurement Delivery

explained that the overview of the contract procedure rules, and Council’s

procurement process would be delivered by the Data & Systems Manager.

The key messages were presented under the following headings: -

 What is Procurement?

 What are Contract Procedure Rules?

-Aims

-Legal Requirements

-Functionality

-Key messages

-Threshold Values

 Contract Management System

 Info Requirements

 Governance Arrangements

The detailed presentation to Members provided an overview of the Council’s

contract procedure rules (CPRs), their requirements and functionality, key

processes and procedures as well as ensuring that proper and fair procedures

are followed to help deliver the Council’s services. The Data & Systems

Manager explained the legal requirements which underpin the contract

procedure rules with which the Council is required to comply. He also pointed

out the importance of the CPR’s with regards to ensuring the efficient use of

public funds and that best value is achieved.

The Data & Systems Manager stressed the importance of keeping the CPR’s current and visible on the Council’s intranet system to ensure the most up to

date best practice is shared. The latest change to the CPR’s was undertaken in

2017 when the centralisation procurement initiative was established. This

update meant that any procurement activity which exceeds the value of £15k

has to involve the procurement service (a development which was endorsed by the Council’s Senior leadership Team (SLT)).

The contract management system, which is the primary place for undertaking

Tenders, records all contracts over £15K and enables these arrangements to be

captured on the central system in a transparent manner. It also allows for better forward planning and visibility. A number of key messages were relayed by the Data & Systems Manager such as the importance of council officers involved in any procurement process familiarising themselves with the Council’s CPR’s.

Members were appraised of the Council’s threshold values which require different rules of procedure to be applied at different levels of contract value/threshold. An explanation was provided regarding the Council’s governance arrangements and the tools available to ensure efficient management of the Council’s key areas of spend.

Following the presentation, members of the Audit Committee were provided with

the opportunity to ask questions of the Officers present.

In response to a query as to whether the council follows EU Procurement

Directives, the Head of Procurement Delivery explained that in terms of the

procurement rules and regulations, it is very much business as usual. The Public

Contract Regulations are in place and continue to be followed. The UK

Government is consulting on a new draft version of procedure rules and Welsh Government Ministers are considering whether to adopt them or develop their own version. The Head of Procurement Delivery advised that the Council will monitor the developments.

The Lay Member, Mr Jones asked if there would be more opportunity  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35.

The Head of Regional Internal Audit Service presented his report which set out the Regional Internal Audit Service Charter for 2021/22. The Charter was reviewed and revised in 2020 to have a consistent charter across Bridgend, Merthyr Tydfil, Rhondda Cynon Taf and the Vale of Glamorgan Councils, all four Councils involved in the Shared Service.

The Head of Regional Internal Audit Service advised that Members approved the charter last year and it has since remained relatively unchanged. He drew Members’ attention to the name of the Committee which will change to the Governance & Audit Committee in line with the requirements of the Local Government & Elections (Wales) Act.

Following consideration of the report it was RESOLVED to approve the Regional Internal Audit Service Charter for 2021/22.

In presenting the report of the Director of Finance & Digital Services, the Group Audit Manager outlined the summary of audit assignments completed between 19^th January 2021 and 9^th March 2021 for the service areas Benefits, Digitalisation and Creditors. For each of the audit assignments, the processes established by Rhondda Cynon Taf following the pandemic and the new remote working arrangements have been reviewed with a summary of all recommendations made for each audit review completed to final report stage within the stated period.

The Group Audit Manager reported that each of the audit assignments have been given an evaluation of ‘effective with opportunity for improvement’, with only a small number of low and medium priority findings to reflect that services reacted to emerging risks and appropriate processes are in place to ensure services are robust and effective.

Committee was advised that a further five draft reports have been issued and a further nine areas of work are in progress which will be reported to Committee in due course. Following a query raised by the Chair, the Group Audit Manager confirmed that the brief for the audit assignment for Digitalisation related to staff not Elected Members, but gave assurances that a similar process would ensure an equally effective outcome.

It was RESOLVED to acknowledge the summary of audit assignments completed between 19^th January 2021 and 9^th March 2021 relating to Benefits, Digitalisation and Creditors. 

The Service Director – Finance and Improvement Services presented the joint report of the Director of Finance & Digital Services and the Service Director, Democratic Services & Communication which served to provide Audit Committee with an update of progress on its ‘Support and Development’ action plan and also propose a programme of learning and development for the Committee.

The Service Director – Finance and Improvement Services reported that delivery on the action plan, to support the on-going development and effectiveness of the Committee’s work, which Members approved in November 2020, is progressing within the agreed timescales. Further updates such as those in line with the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act would be reported to Committee and added to the action plan following approval. It was considered that the action plan was very much a live document to be added to at appropriate intervals. Members were advised that further updates would be reported to Audit Committee for consideration and approval at mid-year and year-end intervals during 2021/22 subject to Committee’s consent.

The Service Director – Finance and Improvement Services also provided an update on the Audit Committee’s Support and Development action plan which has been informed through feedback from Members to Officers in December 2020 and January 2021 whereby the analysis of the information received informing the order of the draft action plan.

The Service Director – Finance and Improvement Services suggested that a Learning & Development item would be reported to Audit Committee on a quarterly basis with specific updates or 1-1 sessions as and when required and further training and support provided to existing and/or new Members post 2022 Elections. In conclusion, the Service Director acknowledged the Members’ Portal which would further support Members’ learning and development through a suite of e-learning modules and access to information such as the Audit Committee’s Learning and Development Plan.

A Member queried when the Audit Committee would assume the title of the ‘’Governance & Audit Committee’. The Director of Legal Services advised that changes to the Terms of Reference for the Committee will be undertaken from the 1^st April 2022 when the Committee will adopt responsibility for overseeing compliance of the Council’s complaints management processes. From the Council’s AGM the Audit Committee will reflect its new title of ‘Governance & Audit Committee’ with appropriate training to follow. The Director of Legal Services clarified that the process of dealing with maladministration of complaints will continue to sit with the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales with the Audit Committee overseeing compliance of the Council’s corporate complaints processes and monitoring how they are received and addressed.

The Service Director – Finance and Improvement Services suggested that Members may wish to revisit the questionnaire and look at other mechanisms to measure the effectiveness of the committee’s training, support and development in the future.

Following consideration of the report it was RESOLVED to:-

2.1 Receive mid-year and year-end updates during 2021/22 regarding the ‘Support and Development’ Action Plan; and

2.2  Approve the draft Learning and Development Plan for Audit  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38.

To consider any items, which the Chairman, by reason of special circumstances, is of the opinion should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency.