Venue: Teams Live
Contact: Lisa Richards 01597 826371
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APOLOGIES To receive apologies for absence. Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from County Councillors |
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DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST To receive declarations of interest from Members. Minutes: There were no declarations of interest. |
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To authorise the Chair to sign the minutes of previous meetings held on 5 and 18 November 2021. Additional documents: Minutes: The Chair was authorised to sign the minutes of the previous meetings, held on 5 and 18 November 2021, as correct records. |
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Procurement Strategy PDF 82 KB To consider the new Procurement Strategy. Additional documents: Minutes: Documents: · Report of the Portfolio Holder for Finance · Draft Powys Procurement Strategy 2021-25
The Interim Professional Lead for Procurement Services was welcomed to the meeting.
Discussion: · The Interim Professional Lead gave an overview of the vision for the next four years. The strategy represented a major shift in the buying of goods, services and works whilst considering the zero-carbon agenda, fair working agenda, Wellbeing and Future Generations Act and the Council’s Vision 2025. Collaboration will be key. There has been extensive consultation. It is intended to prepare an Action Plan detailing the governance to assure delivery of the Strategy. · Members asked that consideration be given to various options as it may not necessarily prove effective to switch to electric vehicles given the initial costs and that consideration should be given to running older vehicles for longer rather than replace. Consideration would also need to be given to the ability of the workforce to maintain electric vehicles. The Welsh Government were stipulating the type of vehicles that could be purchased and work was ongoing with Fleet to address the requirements. Housing will also need to be net zero. The Portfolio Holder noted that many initiatives will come at a cost but may realise savings in the longer term. Social values also need to be embedded. · The Committee would like to see more detail around proposed KPIs and the Action Plan. KPIs were already in existence and the Committee questioned if these could be adapted. Some processes are to be developed on a national basis through the WLGA Decarbonisation Group and other parties. · Deliverability and accountability will need to be monitored – a cell will be established to steer the strategy and monitor its implementation. · A climate emergency has been declared by both the Council and the Welsh Government and Members were concerned regarding the speed of delivery. Several projects are already in hand including passivhaus schools and houses. The Authority was moving forward and embracing the initiatives. A new Welsh Procurement Policy Note will be issued.
Outcomes: · The Committee wish to see the Action Plan, including timescales, once it is available · The draft Strategy to be referred to the Economy, Communities and Residents Committee for consideration
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Internal Audit |
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Evaluation of the Merger Proposal for Ysgol Calon Cymru PDF 789 KB To consider the SWAP report. Minutes: Documents: · SWAP Evaluation of the Merger Proposal for Ysgol Calon Cymru
Discussion: · The Assistant Director, SWAP, outlined the main issues within the report. o Objectives had been taken from the business case and showed there was a clear mandated framework o Project Management was in its infancy at the time but was managed within the framework. More robust frameworks are now in place. o The project had been conducted in line with the five-model business case o Four areas for change had been identified – quality of education, the need for places and accessibility of those places, resources and financing and Welsh language provision · Objectives were clearly identified but were neither SMART nor measurable or time bound. It was difficult to assess what success would look like · There was a strategic fit for the proposal, but a compelling business case had not been provided · Seven solutions had been identified but the scoring criteria was overly simplistic, and the analysis had not had sufficient detail to enable an informed judgement or challenge to be made · There was a lack of transparency · An option was selected and then changed to another option which had previously been rejected as it did not meet the objectives. Limited information was provided and it was not clear how this option would be delivered or how it would improve school standards. · There had been a lack of financial information regarding the options · The process continued but there was no updating of financial information provided to reflect changing circumstances including the new Funding Formula · The School had been expected to deliver the curriculum with reduced funding and a fluctuating budget · There had been no effective scrutiny of the proposals · Budget deficits and uncertainty still exist – there remains a disagreement regarding the Funding Formula. Better collaboration and a consistent approach across all schools is needed. · There was no defined pathway regarding delivery of the proposals · A limited opinion was given with one priority 1 recommendation · The Chair summarised that there had been poor planning and a poor business case, with a lack of governance and project control. The report was worrying and should be considered in detail by the Learning and Skills Committee. The Governance and Audit Committee’s role is to assess whether the action plan was sufficiently robust to address the issues raised. · The Head of Transformation informed the Committee that the senior officers and Cabinet in post at the time of the decision were no longer with the organisation and confirmed that lessons had been learned · The Chair of the Learning and Skills Committee had been invited to the meeting. In his opinion, many of the issues should have been identified much earlier in the process. The Schools Panel had highlighted the risks and the lack of scrutiny at the time had compounded the issue. There was a clear case for strategic outline cases being considered by scrutiny. · The current Portfolio Holder for Education agreed with many of the comments made and that the decision made ... view the full minutes text for item 5.1 |
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Covid Business Grants PDF 785 KB To consider the SWAP report into Covid Business Grants. Minutes: Documents: · SWAP report Covid Grants Assurance
Discussion: · During the pandemic the Welsh Government supported small businesses and charities with grant funding. This commenced in 2020 and is continues today. · In general, the risk of fraud is continually rising and the report aims to provide assurance that there are robust mechanisms in place to protect the public purse from fraud · At the beginning of the pandemic there was limited guidance with the Welsh Government focussing on speed of distribution of grants · SWAP found that the process used was effective and supported local businesses and charities. The Team was competent and skilled. Fraud processes were in place and evolved as time progressed. · There were some minor issues to report including the reporting of fraud and overpayments to senior management · 58 cases of proven fraud were identified · The administrative system was simplistic and digital checking could have been used at an earlier stage to provide increased rigour · The Head of Finance informed the Committee that there had been 14 tranches of grant, over 15000 applications with 13000 businesses being awarded grants. £85.5M had been distributed. · The Team was congratulated for their work during the pandemic by officers and Members
Outcomes: · The Action Plan would be forwarded as soon as it became available |
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Draft MTFS 2022-27, Draft 2022-23 Budget and Capital Programme 2022-2027 To consider any comments the Finance Panel have made at their meeting on 20 January 2022 regarding the draft proposals, identify any risks and seek assurance regarding deliverability of the proposals. Minutes: The draft MTFS, draft Budget and Capital Programme had been circulated to Members through various seminars and other Committees.
The details would be scrutinized by the appropriate Scrutiny Committees. Their feedback would be considered by the Finance Panel and a report would be provided for Cabinet and County Council summarising the issues and commenting on overarching issues such as Council Tax, Reserves, Risk, Climate emergency etc. The next meeting of the Panel would be on 2 February 2022. |
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Capital Workstreams Working Group To consider a draft report by the Capital Workstreams Working Group. Minutes: The Chair of the Capital Workstreams Working Group reported that the Group had met three times and had been very constructive. It had been intended to prepare a report for consideration by the Committee but this has been deferred to the next meeting on 10 February 2022. There was no reason for pessimism or cause for concern regarding affordability. A clearer view of the trajectory of the debt profile had been received. |
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To consider the forward work programme and whether any additional items should be included. Minutes: Documents: · Forward work programme
Discussion: · It was suggested that an introductory session or briefing with the newly appointed lay members should be arranged once they have been appointed |