Items
No. |
Item |
1. |
Election of Chair
To elect a Chair for the Ensuing Year.
(Note: The Chair must be an Independent / Lay
Member. There are no restrictions on re-appointing the current
Chair should the Committee wish to do so)
Minutes:
RESOLVED that Lynne Hamilton be elected Chair for
the ensuing year.
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2. |
Election of Vice-Chair
To elect a Vice-Chair for the Ensuing
Year.
(Note: The Vice-Chair can be an Independent /
Lay Member or a Councillor. There are no restrictions on
re-appointing the current Vice-Chair should the Committee wish to
do so)
Minutes:
RESOLVED that John Brautigam be elected Vice-Chair
for the ensuing year.
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3. |
Apologies
To receive apologies for
absence.
Minutes:
Apologies for absence were received Nigel
Brinn Executive Director Economy and Environment.
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4. |
Disclosures of Interest
To receive any disclosures of
interest by Members relating to items to be considered at the
meeting.
Minutes:
There were no
declarations of interests by Members relating to items to be
considered on the agenda.
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5. |
Minutes and Action Log PDF 164 KB
(i) To authorise the
Chair to sign the minutes of the previous meeting held on
05-05-2023 as a correct record.
(ii)
To receive and consider the Action Log.
Minutes:
The Chair was authorised to sign the minutes
of the previous meeting, held on 5 May 2023, as a correct
record.
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6. |
Audit Wales Review - Powys Planning Service PDF 848 KB
(i) To receive and
consider the Audit Wales Review – Powys Planning Service.
(ii) To receive and
consider the Service’s response and action plan.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
Documents Considered:
·
Audit Wales Review – Powys Planning
Service
Background:
·
Audit Wales provided a background of the Planning
Services report to the Committee.
·
The report provides recommendations on how to
improve on the service, although it was noted that these were not
exhaustive.
·
The purpose for this review was to note the action
plan. Audit Wales explained that they would return in 12 months to
review improvements made.
·
The Chair noted that there were some challenging
points raised in the report, and stressed the point that discussion
and debate should remain professional, between members and
officers.
·
The Head of Property, Planning and Public Protection
(PPPP) accepted the recommendations made in the Audit Wales report.
He noted that the action plan was a working document, with
additional measures to be actioned such as a new IT system, a
review of customer feedback, guide for residents and businesses,
exit interviews by Human Resources , identifying and defining
success. The Agents’ Protocol timeline had been extended to
ensure it is robust.
·
Outstanding planning applications and enforcement
matters were reducing. The Planning Team return to the office had a
significant positive impact on the Service. This had improved the
learning environment for officers, especially officers new to the
Service. Communication had also improved both within the Service
and with other Services within the Council such as
Highways.
·
The Head of PPPP noted that returning to the office
had allowed officers to discuss planning applications more robustly
as communication was easier.
·
The Head of PPPP also noted the recruitment of a
dedicated Enforcement Planning Officer, who will be supported by
the Planning Team to drive forward enforcement
action.
Issues Raised by the Committee and Responses
Received:
Issues Raised by the Committee:
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Responses Received:
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Was there any further support needed by the
Planning Service which the Council could provide, including
Political/Member support, but also operational support from Service
Areas such as Human Resources?
N.B. This question was further developed by the
Chair regarding corporate oversight.
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Head of PPPP noted that from a Councillor
perspective, to reduce timeframes, a harder approach would need to
be taken against planning applications which lack information, this
would be implemented at the end of the calendar year following
scheduled training. It was noted that Councillors would need to be
understanding of this hardened approach to planning
applications.
To remedy this problem, a protocol is being
developed in consultation with Planning Agents, which will not
allow multiple amendments to planning applications. Positive
outcomes are being sought by following this
approach.
Support from other Service Areas such as Finance
and Highways will be important, and this support is in place. The
Head of PPPP reassured the Committee that any further resources
required would be sought if necessary. Within the Planning Service,
workloads were high, and it would take time to embed the new
culture of working to address these high workloads. The return to
office working would help kickstart this new culture of
working.
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Do you think that the Audit Wales recommendations
will ...
view the full minutes text for item 6.
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7. |
Annual Governance Statement Assurance PDF 709 KB
To receive and consider the report of the Head
of Transformation and Democratic Services.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
Documents Considered:
·
Annual Governance Statement
Background:
·
GAC’s role under the constitution is to
‘oversee the production of the annual governance statement,
recommend its adoption to the County Council and ensure the
appropriate action is taken to address the issues
raised.’.
·
An update on the draft Annual Governance Statement
(AGS) was presented to the Committee by the Head of Transformation
and Democratic Services.
·
A full presentation of the AGS and associated
self-assessment would be provided to the Committee in
July.
·
It was noted that that the AGS is a draft document,
therefore not currently for approval.
·
The report shows how the Council is supporting the
seven CIPFA principles.
·
Recent impacts on governance within the Council
include:
o
The 2022 Local Government Elections
o
Interim leadership arrangements
o
Audit Wales review of the Planning
Service
o
Audit Wales review of Safeguarding
·
Ongoing impacts on governance within the
Council:
o
Financial Management Code of Practice
·
The AGS will be updated to reflect the more recent
impacts on governance.
·
The finalised AGS and accounts will be brought to
Governance and Audit Committee on 24 November 2023, with the public
release of the documentation by the end of November
2023.
Issues Raised by the
Committee and Responses Received:
Issues Raised by the
Committee:
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Responses
Received:
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Looking at the criteria for assurance levels, who
decides and scores whether it is substantial or reasonable? What
detailed work is done to reach that level of assurance? What does
substantial, reasonable and partial
mean?
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It
was explained that the process was an iterative one which would
take GAC’s views into account in finalising the
AGS. Cabinet/EMT would prepare their
assessments and the AGS based on evidence. The scores were derived
from a wide variety of sources, such as the Complaints report,
Audit and Information Compliance report, the self-assessment
workbooks completed by Services, Panels with Cabinet/EMT in
attendance.
The
Cabinet and EMT welcomes AGS views at this stage of preparation of
the AGS.
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By going through each of the seven principles, albeit
some of the principles are of more interest to the Committee than
others, on the basis of what we have
seen over the course of the year and looking at the definitions of
substantial/reasonable/partial – do I think I have evidence
to say to you, on the basis of this Committee’s
consideration, it is substantial. Is that what you are looking
for?
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It
was confirmed that this was the task.
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In terms of subjectivity and objectivity, I am
assuming you will be receiving information from many sources, which
will include subjective information which will then be amalgamated
alongside the views of the Cabinet/EMT to form an opinion of
substantial/reasonable/partial. There is obviously an element of
evidence-based subjectivity to that.
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It
was confirmed that it was hoped that a consensus would emerge
through this process.
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Regarding the blank BRAG spaces on pages 14-15 of the
report, I wonder when these will be complete, as the asset review
has been going on for some considerable time.
On-track means it will ...
view the full minutes text for item 7.
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Comments made by the Chair
The Chair noted
that the Committee has experienced delay and uncertainty over
receiving the final agenda and papers for this meeting. It was important
to ensure that the agenda is published on-time.
The Chair also
highlighted the responsibility of the Governance and Audit
Committee to making recommendations to Cabinet on draft
policies/reports. Likewise, the Committee is responsible for
approving the Annual Audit Plan.
Roles of the Governance and Audit Committee
County Councillor P Lewington agreed with the Chair’s
comments and further noted that it was difficult to fully read and
appreciate the content of reports when they are submitted late,
especially the night before the meeting date.
J
Brautigam proposed that even when papers are not available, there
needs to be at least a weekend between the agenda being published
and the meeting date to allow Committee Members to read the reports
properly.
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8. |
Risk Management Policy and Guidance PDF 72 KB
To receive and consider the report of the
Cabinet Member for Finance and Corporate Transformation.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
Documents Considered:
·
Risk Management Policy and Guidance
Background:
·
The Strategic Equalities and Risk Officer noted that
the report was being presented at Governance and Audit Committee
for consideration prior to Cabinet for decision.
·
The document sets out best practice measures to help
mitigate risk across the Council. It was noted that the intention
is that the guidance will help Officers and Services, but also
Members and stakeholders to capture and manage risk within the
Council. The process of policy revision and document refresh would
be undertaken every 3 years, unless there was a change in
legislation affecting risk management, in which case an update
would take place to ensure the guidance is robust.
·
It was reported that there were no significant
changes as whole, although the guidance had been strengthened, to
include the risk escalation process and programme/partnership risk
management.
Key points of the
three phases in the guidance include:
·
Section 3-6 provides definitions, outline of the
risk management landscape and relevant risk management standards
and guidance.
·
Section 7-12 contains documentation relating to governance and
infrastructure, processes, integration of risk management, risk
management culture and continuous improvement.
It was noted
that:
·
JCAD software can be shared with third parties where
relevant.
·
Powys County Council must maintain their risk
registers with consideration for the risks associated with
partnerships and third-party relationships.
·
The risk registers must be open to scrutiny and
Governance and Audit Committee where they are within the remit of
the Committee.
·
Executive Management Team may raise a risk to the
Strategic Risk Register.
·
Risk Management training video is available on the
Council website. There were also plans to deliver training
available through Trent.
o
Appendix B: Matrix is broken down by organisation
activities. Aids Officers/Services and Members with the moderation
of risks.
o
Appendix C: Includes a section on Programme and
Partnership Risks
Issues Raised by the
Committee and Responses Received:
Issues
Raised by the Committee:
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Responses
Received:
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Have
there been any further conversations regarding mandatory training
relating to risk?
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Conversations have started with Workforce and Organisational
Development, to try to strengthen the risk management training with
regards to employee induction, and training for new managers. A
balance is required as there are other pertinent mandatory training
requirements. Advice from Officers was to provide reasoning behind
why risk management training should become mandatory. This could
entail a formal request to EMT from Governance and Audit
Committee.
The
Head of Finance noted that mandatory training must be limited to
training that is relevant to every officer across the Council.
Officers who are involved in risk management and policy need to be
aware of the risk management policy, so risk is effectively managed
accordingly. The Head of Finance felt that there was not a need for
risk management to be mandatory training, as there are processes in
place for officers to access training relating to risk.
The
Chair accepted that there is adequate risk training in place,
although questioned whether this was having a sufficient impact. A
recent survey conducted by ...
view the full minutes text for item 8.
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9. |
Corporate Complaints Annual Report PDF 470 KB
To receive and consider the report of the
Cabinet Member for a Connected Powys.
Minutes:
Documents
Considered:
- Corporate
Complaints Report
Background:
- The Director of
Corporate Services noted the Governance and Audit Committee had not
yet been updated on the Corporate Complaints Report since the Covid
Pandemic period which had delayed the report.
- The Local
Government (Wales) Measure 2011 (Section 81) as amended by Section
115 of the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 requires
that a local authority’s Governance and Audit Committee make
reports and recommendations in relation to the authority’s
ability to handle complaints effectively.
- The report covers
the two reporting years of,
o
1st November 2020 to 31st October 2021
o
1st November 2021 to 31st October 2022
- The information
provided referred to corporate complaints and did not include those
complaints made in relation to Social Care or Information Rights
regimes.
- It was explained
that complaints were managed on the basis of being a stage 1 or
stage 2 complaint.
- Currently the
outcome of a complaint was reported upon as being upheld or not
upheld, with any information as to “lessons learnt”
being captured within the response, and so not easily reported
upon.
- There were various
themes drawn out from information relating to corporate complaints
from Heads of Service.
·
There had been a 38% increase in complaints 1st November 2021 to
31st October 2022 against 1st November 2020 to 31st October
2021.
·
Complaints in respect of housing maintenance that were previously
addressed by HOWPS, were now included within the corporate
complaints data.
·
In the majority, complaints made to the Council were managed
effectively and in line with Council policy.
- The administration
of the Council’s corporate complaints is undertaken by
several staff within the customer services team, in addition to
other customer services duties. The staffing costs of their
proportionate duties spent on the administration of corporate
complaints is approximately £30,804 per annum. No exact
recordings were maintained as to time spent on these duties.
Issues
Raised by the Committee and Responses Received:
Issues Raised by the Committee:
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Responses Received:
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As
part of the process in capturing the lessons learnt, can there be
mention of liaising with the Risk Officer, to see if there are any
crossovers between the lessons learnt and risk.
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The
Director and Author of the report noted the
recommendation.
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The
figures around HTR appear alarming, however it is likely high due
to the interface with constituents. The Working Group had
scrutinised these complaints and the change in system may have
increased the level of complain, nevertheless this should help to
improve the Service for the people of Powys, as the complaints will
be managed far better in future.
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Actions:
None
Observations and Recommendations:
- To consider
liaison between the lessons learnt from corporate complaints with
the Strategic Risk Officer, to identify any links to strategic
risks.
- The Chair and Lay
Member J Brautigam noted the positive engagement between the HTR
Working Group and the HTR Service Area.
- The
Committee was assured by the Heads of Service undertaking a lessons
learnt process regarding complaints received.
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10. |
SWAP - Internal Audit Plan 2023-24 PDF 78 KB
To receive and consider the report of the
Assistant Director (SWAP)
Additional documents:
Minutes:
- Request for Committee to consider and approve the Annual Plan
and the Internal Audit Charter.
- To seek the views
of the Committee on whether the areas of coverage were sufficient
and appropriate, and whether the plan covered the key risks and
priorities of the Council.
Background:
- SWAP’s
approach to planning.
- The Audit Plan was
based upon the following driving key factors:
o
Corporate Objectives – Stronger, Fairer and Greener
o
Strategic and Operational risks
o
Wider SWAP Universe – comparisons with other
Authorities’ Risk Registers
o
Risks across the Sector
o
Healthy Organisation Core Principles – Councils core systems
in place to deliver services.
o
Other Assurance providers – Wales Audit Office, Estyn,
CIW.
o
Questionnaires to officers and Committee Members for areas to be
considered adding to the Audit Plan
o
Fraud and IT Risk Assessment – work programmes in place for
higher risk areas
o
Knowledge and experience within Internal Audit of the Local
Authority
- Summary of
relevant key areas in the Risk Assessment:
o
Summary of issues affecting Powys, Regionally and Nationally
o
Powys risks were often duplicated across other Regions &
Nationally, which adds credibility to the Assessment.
o
Under the Corporate Priorities of Stronger, Fairer, Greener, being
Awareness, Access, Employment, Equality and Poverty.
o
Awaiting further information and detail from the Corporate Plan,
when available would ensure reflected within the Audit Plan.
o
It was reported that the Core Assurance areas had reasonable
coverage, extending into the forthcoming year.
- Key risks that are
not covered in Audit Plan include:
o
Strategic Risks – no direct work undertaken on the Nature
Emergency and the Covid Pandemic.
o
Resources – plan is to deliver 675 days of resource by SWAP
during the year.
o
Basic information, assignment, sponsor and work type, colour coded
list of reasons chosen Audits, narrative of work to be covered.
o
In progress - 197 days of work, to go live works -162 days,
Pipeline works - 406 days which allows for flexibility and
resilience on the programme.
- Professional
Standards to be approved annually.
- Defines
relationship between the Council and SWAP.
- Sets out the
Reporting Framework – promoting and supporting SWAP’s
independence and objectivity.
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11. |
SWAP - Annual Audit Opinion Report 2022- 2023 PDF 993 KB
To receive and consider the report of the
Assistant Director (SWAP)
Minutes:
Background
- It
was reported that the purpose of the report: -
o
Is to outline work undertaken throughout the
year.
o
Raise and concerns or issues.
o
Assess if mitigations have been employed
successfully by the Council.
o
Risk of fraud and impact of risk management in that
process.
- The 3 Lines Model
shows where Internal Audit was positioned in the Assurance
Framework.
o
There were potential changes in the standards for Internal Audit
and Professional Practices, which may impact on how reporting and
the Charter going forward.
- Assessed that
there were no high Corporate risks.
o
Statutory compliance has been downgraded on the Strategic Risk
Register.
o
Highways operations, control frameworks and performance, cultural
issues within the service.
o
In light of concerns the Council Management Board and Audit
Committee Working group, have considered reports and the outputs.
There would be a further Internal Audit update in all 7 areas.
o
Offer assurance to Committee that mitigations were being tracked
and will provide further opinion on whether this has been embedded
following the next audit.
o
Continuing Health Care (CHC) Framework issues identified regarding
disputes on the resolution process.
o
Deprivation of Liberty Safeguarding (DoLS) where the Council were
failing to statutory requirements and assessment under the
framework, aware of potential changes in legal framework which may
impact from October 2023.
o
Follow-up Internal Audit would be undertaken in both of these
areas.
o
Regarding Voids, there has been a transition from HOWPS to internal
delivery of service within the last year.
o
Though bordering on a high risk, Internal Audit deems as a
significant concern the Services ability to turn around social
housing and of statutory compliance in terms of potential risks to
public health.
o
Follow-up process would be undertaken to provide further assurance
in these areas.
- Recognised the
work of the Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW), Estyn and Audit Wales to
ensure work was aligned.
- In general, follow
up had been positive, in terms of recommendations and
implementation of actions.
- Fraud Risk, during
the year a baseline maturity framework undertaken, to review where
the Council was positioned against a number of key indicators. Some
improvement noted, work would progress closely with Fraud Team to
address remaining issues.
- Risk Management
system noted at a reasonable assurance level. Committee referenced
some work required to embed further.
- Value for money
picked up on 4 main areas; analytics, process, project and
benchmarking, indicting some work in these areas which cover
VFM.
- Outcomes noted as
85% audit opinion are positive, 15% recorded as limited assurance
opinion, which is in line with other Local Authorities.
- Quality feedback
reported at 100% met or exceeded expectation in terms of value
added.
o
62 reviews completed in year,
o
3 areas of concern, but no high Corporate Risks that would indicate
significant failure within the Authority.
o
Reasonable coverage across Strategic Risks.
o
Comfortable position with Fraud and Risk Management.
o
Overall ...
view the full minutes text for item 11.
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12. |
SWAP - Review of Housing Voids (Housing Service) PDF 77 KB
To receive and consider the report of the
Assistant Director (SWAP)
Additional documents:
Minutes:
Background
Follow-up review from work completed in 2020 noted:
- Fundamental
failure to turn void properties round promptly, which was important
due to the requirement for social housing.
- The above may have
been in part due to the transfer of the housing repairs and
maintenance operation, and data, from HOWPS / KIER to the Council.
There were numerous sets of data that were slightly
conflicting.
Head
of Service comment:
- The Report relates
to 2019/2020 when void works were being undertaken in their
entirety by HOWPS private sector company, controlled by Kier. Which
included the sub commissioning of any sub-contracts to undertake
void works.
- Since July 2022,
all void works were now managed and increasingly delivered by PCC
Housing Services.
- There was a
recommendation that more void work be carried out with contractors
to ensure works are completed on target. Since July 2022, an
increasing proportion of works had been undertaken directly and
target dates for both in-house teams and external contractors were
managed by area maintenance leads.
- From July 2022 the
average time of void works had reduced and improved from 165 days
to 84 days.
- Void rent loss for
each void property equated to £1248 per void, with 450 voids
per annum on average. As progress was made void rent loss will
reduce and Housing Services are confident further savings will be
delivered.
- Currently there
were 4800 people registered for social housing in Powys.
- No targets were in
place for void works prior to 2019/2020 for Housing surveyors.
- Re-inspections
were improving from the reported position, currently at 95% of void
pre-inspections carried out within 10working days from receipt of
keys from the outgoing tenant.
- Recruitment
process ongoing to further increase the capacity and capability of
the Housing Quality team.
- The documented
Business Continuity plan was produced in the event of a sudden
failure of a major contractor. The Council no longer had nor relied
upon a major contractor for void works. These were now primarily
completed by internal teams works, with some works contracted out
to small companies.
Points raised by the Panel:
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Responses received from Officers or Cabinet
Members.
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Requesting
clarification on sentence follow up audit majority actions are
still in progress how many actions are there.
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There were
only 3 actions in the original report. The follow up report carried
out on the transitional period. 1 action completed, 2 remain in
progress, in respect of the improvement of void turnaround time and
pre-inspections.
|
Report
states issues with data provided not being accurate.
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In the
plan there is a data maturity assessment which looks at the work of
the insurance providers and at engaging the Authority and how they
regard and treat data.
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Deputy
Leader noted that the SWAP report highlighted where there was need
to improve. It was noted that the Council’s housing stock
consist mostly of older properties which have deteriorated, and
which require increasing amounts of work to make them fit to let
and keep them in a liveable condition.
The
service was now more aware ...
view the full minutes text for item 12.
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13. |
SWAP - Review of Statutory Compliance (Housing Service) PDF 77 KB
To receive and consider the report of the
Assistant Director (SWAP)
Additional documents:
Minutes:
Background
- The Council has
statutory compliance obligation to ensure that all burning
appliances and smoke alarms are inspected regularly.
- The Internal Audit
found that from the 5500 properties due to be inspected as part of
the Compliance programme, with approximately 10% of properties
which had failed to be inspected. This was potentially a risk to
human health.
- Underlying data
quality issues were found where systems and processes do not
support the production of the data and the information that the
service require to have a proper understanding of the
position.
Points raised by the
Panel:
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Responses received from Officers or Cabinet
Members.
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The
Head of Housing reported that the Housing Repairs Maintenance
Policy was due for review. The policy required renewal especially
due to the implementation of the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016,
which introduced changes for landlords in respect of asset
management and maintenance.
The
anticipated new Welsh Housing Quality Standard (WHQS2) would also
likely impact and require further fundamental changes to the
Council’s maintenance policy.
It
was further reported that processes and service delivery had been
reviewed previously in July 2022 and are expected to be complete by
September 2023, although it was noted that WHQS2 may require
internal policy changes.
The
Internal Audit Report identified a risk in respect of individual
working without guidance, the risk had been addressed by
undertaking maintenance/repairs work in-house, moving away from
HoWPS and external contractors.
There were concerns reported around data management, as there
was no specific software used to store all statutory compliance
details, and a backlog of data yet to be recorded. To remedy this,
a review of the compliance system would be undertaken. It is
anticipated that a new ICT system would be in place by 2025/26. The
Head of Housing noted a Housing Ombudsman report from May 2023,
which highlighted the need to manage data effectively.
Prior to July 2022, HoWPS undertook compliance work on behalf of
the Council. Going forward, the Council would utilise a dedicated
software module to log repairs, maintenance and compliance data. It
was anticipated that a new ICT system would be procured from March
2024, with a planned introduction for 2025/26.
It
was noted that HoWPS and Kier used different IT systems, and on
transferring the data to the PCC system, a number of anomalies were
identified. Data cleansing was underway to improve the accuracy of
the compliance data.
Housing Services was restructured and from March 2022, a Quality
Assurance and Compliance Team were in place. The Head of Housing
admitted compliance had in the past been less than required but
since 2019-20 the position had improved. Quality Assurance of
housing compliance was maintained by inspections undertaken by the
Housing Quality Network, with monthly reports to Welsh
Government.
Regarding data quality, there were inconsistencies in the number
of properties in asset registers and servicing schedules. To action
these, a heating servicing contractor was put in place, and the
service was considering weekend working to deal with non-access
issues.
It
was reported that ...
view the full minutes text for item 13.
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14. |
Corporate Safeguarding Board Activity Report PDF 130 KB
To receive and consider the Corporate
Safeguarding Board Activity Report.
Minutes:
Background
- Report was
a high-level summary of the meeting held on the
16/03/23.
- The Safeguarding
Board met on 8 June 2023. The information within the report shared
at this meeting therefore may be slightly out of date, the more
recent report would be presented at the next meeting.
- The report had
been presented to Cabinet on 23May 2023, and at the Health and Care
Scrutiny Committee on the 2 June 2023.
- Committee comments
made on the report would be fed back to the Corporate Safeguarding
Board at the next meeting as an agenda item.
- Key responsibility
of the Board was to oversee and monitor the action plan and
recommendations, these actions had been built into the Regulatory
Tracker and would be monitored through the quarterly performance
meetings.
- Good progress
noted against agreed actions.
- Work was ongoing
by Services in undertaking a safeguarding audit as part of their
self-assessment work and would be considered and reported at a
future Board meeting.
- New four-tiered
approach to contract management framework, work around child
performance and employment discussed, young people’s housing,
elective home education, adult and children’s social care
safeguarding performance and mandatory training.
- The Board noted
the compliance with mandatory training, from 44.3% in July 2022 to
81.1% at the time of the March Board meeting. VAWDASV training
compliance at 82.1%.
- Future items for
discussion agreed:
- Planning for the
national safeguarding week in November
- Safeguarding theme
of the month
- Annual private
fostering report
- Service
safeguarding audits
- Contract
management update
- Child performance
licenses
- Child employment
permit update
- Leaflet developed
in collaboration with the Tenant Scrutiny Panel on reporting damp
and mould in PCC housing stock.
- Young
people’s safeguarding animation
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15. |
Appointments by the Committee
(i) To appoint a Member
as the representative to the Finance Panel.
(Note: There is no
restriction to re-appointing the current representative to this
role)
(ii) To reappoint or
amend the Membership of the Committee’s Working Groups (see
attached)
Minutes:
Background:
- Rule 7.37.1 of the Constitution requires that an
Independent “Lay” Member be appointed by the Governance
and Audit Committee to the Finance Panel.
- The Governance and Audit Committee were required
to appoint or amend the Membership of the Committee’s Working
Groups.
Observations and
Recommendations:
- Appointment to the Finance
Panel:
o
The Chair invited Members to submit nominations to
appoint an Independent Lay Member of the Committee to the Finance
Panel.
o
J Brautigam nominated G Hall, which was seconded by
County Councillor W Powell.
o
G Hall accepted the appointment to the Finance
Panel.
RESOLVED that Lay Member G Hall be appointed as a Member of the
Finance Panel.
- Appoint/amend the Membership of the
Committee’s Working Groups:
o
The Chair recommended that the membership remain the
same.
o
It was agreed by the Committee that Working Group
membership remain under the current arrangements, to allow Members
to carry on with their work.
o
No comments were raised by Members against this
proposal.
RESOLVED that the Governance and Audit Committee Working Group
Membership remain as the current arrangements.
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Working Groups
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16. |
HoWPS Working Group - 24-05-2023 PDF 50 KB
Minutes:
The report of the HoWPS Working Group dated 24 May 2023 was received
and accepted by Members of the Governance and Audit Committee.
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17. |
Capital Working Group - 24-05-2023
Minutes:
The
report of the Capital Working Group dated 24 May 2023 was received
and accepted by Members of the Governance and Audit
Committee.
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18. |
HTR Working Group 30-05-2023 PDF 51 KB
Minutes:
The report of the HTR Working Group dated 30
May 2023 was received and accepted by Members of the Governance and
Audit Committee.
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19. |
Internal Audit Working Group 24-05-2023 PDF 58 KB
Minutes:
The report of the Internal Audit Working Group
dated 24 May 2023 was received and accepted by Members of the
Governance and Audit Committee.
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20. |
Work Programme PDF 80 KB
To consider the forward work programme
(attached) and consider whether any additional items should be
included.
Minutes:
Documents
Considered:
- Governance and Audit Committee Forward Work
Programme.
Background:
- The Forward Work
Programme details the Committee’s future meeting dates, times
and agenda items.
Issues
Raised by the Committee and Responses Received:
Issues Raised by the Committee:
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Responses Received:
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We
had a very enlightening presentation on the Global Centre for Rail
Excellence (GCRE), where the Council was involved both as the Local
Planning Authority and in coordinating community engagement. I
believe there were differing levels of risk associated with the
Council’s involvement. I would like this topic to be brought
back to the Committee for discussion.
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The
Chair agreed and will think about how the Council’s
involvement with the GCRE could be included as an agenda item in
the Forward Work Plan.
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Actions:
- Chair to consider
the addition of an agenda item relating to the Council’s
involvement with the GCRE.
- No further
additions were made to the Forward Work Plan.
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21. |
Demand in Children's Services PDF 80 KB
To receive and consider an extract from the
Strategic Risk Register.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
Background
Presentation received and considered by Children’s
Services in relation to the Risk “If there is insufficient
capacity to respond to the longer-term demand in Children’s
Services in a timely manner”.
Chair commented that was pleasing to note within the
presentation the strong theme of the amount of work, effort,
innovation, and determination in the workforce space to develop the
team.
Points raised by the Panel:
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Responses received from Officers or Cabinet
Members.
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Children’s Services had been a perennial issue
particularly around resource. What are the future plans on Grown
Our Own, also if you could give insight on the current status of
the budget?
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The
trajectory of Grow our Own was noted within the presentation,
however, need to carefully manage transition from agency to
permanent staff, as we may not be able to offer our Newly Qualified
Social Workers (NQSW) positions. The predictions must reflect a
realistic growth.
Children’s Services were in partnership with Cardiff Uni
for Master’s courses.
Reviewing
a progression framework for our NQSW trajectory for development
through to senior positions.
The Grow
our Own numbers are projected against the vacancy rates, what can
be realistically achieved, to manage and navigate student social
work placements, ensuring the best learning opportunity
possible.
In terms
of the budget in April and May a slight overspend of approximately
£50k, looking to save further monies going forward in
different ways. Aware that last September budget was forecast at a
£9m overspend, therefore focus had been on reviewing, what
and where spend was and were there complicating factors behind the
spend. There had been a drive for a culture change, for everyone
within the service to be responsible for the spend. End of March
2023 deficit noted at £2m, which was still not acceptable and
the team continue to strive to reduce
this further.
From a
Director perspective can offer assurance that the Senior Leadership
Team are keeping a high profile on every line of the
budget.
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Are there
any other partnership Universities in the pipeline and is there any
obligation factored in for the Grow our Own Newly Qualified Social
Work Students or those undertaking Master’s degrees to remain
with PCC for a period of time, do we open the degree option to the
wider council staff if wish to change their career
pathways.
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It was
reported Children’s Services had a long-term partnership with
the Open University, who are also looking at a Master degree
option. We were aware that Aberystwyth University were also
commencing a Social Work programme and would be looking to offer
placements to students in Powys.
The
commitment requested by Powys for supporting the degree
qualification was 3 years. A number of those already live in Powys
and invest their time and energy in the county.
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Is the
underlying complexity of cases increasing having an effect of the
delivery of services
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The impact
of the pandemic had resulted in families finding it much more
difficult to manage, be that accessing service provision,
transitioning back into school face-to-face, ...
view the full minutes text for item 21.
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