Agenda and minutes

To note the attendance at this meeting of any duly appointed Reserve Members.

RESOLVED:  To note the attendance of the following duly constituted Reserve Members:

To receive declarations of disclosable pecuniary or non pecuniary interests, arising from business to be transacted at this meeting, from all Members present.

RESOLVED:  To note that no interests were declared.

That the minutes of the meeting held on 15 July 2024 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 15 July 2024 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

To note any public questions received.

Questions will be asked in the order in which they were received.  There will be a time limit of 15 minutes for the asking and answering of public questions.

[The deadline for receipt of public questions is 3.00 pm, Thursday 19^th September 2024. Questions should be sent to publicquestions@harrow.gov.uk  

No person may submit more than one question].

RESOLVED:  To note that no public questions had been received.

To receive petitions (if any) submitted by members of the public/Councillors.

RESOLVED:  To note that no petitions had been received.

To receive deputations (if any).

RESOLVED:  To note that no deputations had been received.

To receive references from Council and any other Committees or Panels (if any).

RESOLVED:  To note that no references had been received.

To agree that this advisory group (the Standards Working Group) be established as required and comprise one Member from each political group on the Council and an Independent Person who will chair the meeting.

RESOLVED:  That the Standards Working Group be established and be comprised of the following Members and Independent Persons:-

Standards Working Group  (3)

Membership Rules

To be established when required and to comprise of one member of each of the main political parties and one Independent Member.

Report of the Strategic Director of Finance

Members received a report which provided an update on the progress of the 2022/23 external audit.

The Strategic Director of Finance and Assurance introduced the report and representatives of Mazars outlined the progress made with auditing the Council’s statement of accounts for the year ending 31 March 2023.  Members were advised that, following the General Election in July 2024, the amended proposed backstop date for these accounts was now 13 December 2024 with the auditors intending to complete the audit by the end of November.  In terms of the 2023/24 audit the amended backstop date was 28 February 2025.

In considering the report Members asked questions and made comments including the following:-

·                Clarification on the valuation of property was sought and Members were advised that due to capacity issues the Council had engaged an external company to do this task.  There was a risk that the valuations would change and the external company had applied a more optimistic assumption.  The Strategic Director confirmed that the Council had agreed to the adjustment;

·                A Member questioned Mazars audit fees which appeared to have changed and was advised that the Council had opted into procurement and it was the first year of the fee contract.  Fees had increased substantially as they were now set by the PSA and were also a reflection of a greater workload.  The contract did still allow the auditor to levy additional fees to deal with issues that arose during the audit and the representative from Mazars confirmed that the audit was almost complete;

·                In terms of the significant risks of valuation of property, plant and equipment and investment property (Council only) and cash equivalents set out within the progress report, a Member sought clarification on these findings.  It was confirmed that the issue in relation to bank confirmation was resolved and the new creditors list had been received in an acceptable format.

The representative of Mazars then reported that the backstop arrangements for the 2023/24 accounts had been ratified a few weeks ago and that the National Audit Office had produced a revised Code of Practice.  Members were advised that Mazars did not have sufficient time to complete the 2023/24 audit and would therefore issue a disclaimed audit opinion in order to meet the backstop date.  There would be several hundred of these across the country and 5 out of 7 of the authorities in London for whom Mazars were the auditor.

The Chair thanked the representatives of Mazars for their attendance and responses to the comments and questions from Members.

RESOLVED:  That the Audit Progress Report 2022/23 attached as an appendix to the officer report be noted.

Report of the Strategic Director of Children’s Services 

Members received an information report which set out the quarter 1 2024/25 Children’s Services Directorate risk register and corporate risks.

The Strategic Director of Children’s Services outlined the content of the report and, in response to a question about a red risk in relation to recruitment and retention of permanent and experienced social workers, advised that there had been success in recruiting a number of permanent social workers from overseas.  In addition, she advised that there was an intention to develop social workers via the social work academy.  The Strategic Director reassured Members that in terms of checks on those staff recruited from overseas, an experienced Children’s Director was involved in the recruitment of the first cohort.

A Member questioned the downgrade of three risks in relation to the inspection of the service, systems and partnership arrangements and recruitment and retention from red to amber and the criteria used.  The Strategic Director advised that measures had been strengthened, capacity increased and that a more robust approach had been taken to performance management.  In addition, there was an Improvement Board whose members included the Leader of the Council and Managing Director and another weekly Board which she herself chaired whilst in the Children Safeguarding Team an independent audit had been carried out. Indications were that risks had reduced and quality improved.  The assessment of risk was independently moderated.

In response to a question about risk and children on a Child Protection Plan, the Strategic Director reported that numbers had increased and that it was important that the service supported families in the right way and that children received the correct service.  There was a fortnightly meeting to discuss children at a risk and a monthly meeting to review children in need.  Funding from the Department for Education had been secured which enabled the team to receive support/coaching from the London Borough of Islington, an ‘outstanding’ authority.

Referring to the red risk in relation to the Mosaic system and the funding gap, a Member sought clarification and was advised that this case file system had recently been reviewed.  The risk related to the management of staff operating the system but it had now been agreed with the Director of IT that the team should sit within his service area. In terms of the funding gap, the Strategic Director advised that this had been managed by holding a vacancy.

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.

Report of the Strategic Director Adults and Public Health

Members received an information report which set out the risk register for the Adult Social Care and Public Health Directorate for quarter 1 of the 2024/25 financial year.

The Assistant Director of Health and Wellbeing introduced the report which included nine identified risks.  In terms of the red risk in relation to recruitment and retention of permanent experienced and qualified social work staff, he advised that agency staff were in place for the majority of vacant positions but that the team were looking to develop an academy to develop social work staff in house.  There was considerable competition for social workers and therefore the role needed to be made more attractive, grades harmonised and an apprentice scheme developed.

A Member questioned how the risk relating to the challenge to Adult Social Care budgets was being addressed and was advised that increased support and funding from the Integrated Care Board was being received.  The risk in relation to the Adult Social Care budget was due to the increase in demand for services and the officers were working to improve  budget monitoring.  The Strategic Director of Finance added that an additional £5million growth had been included in the budget and emphasised that this budget did fluctuate/ was more volatile than others due to placement costs.

In relation to risk 4, poor provider performance within the community equipment market, a Member sought clarification on the TUPE issue referred to within the report.  The Assistant Director undertook to advise Members following the meeting.

In response to a question in relation to risk 5 and fraud, the Assistant Director advised the Committee that this concerned the misuse of direct payments and fraud where individuals had misrepresented their financial circumstances in terms of residential care.  The aim was to ensure that staff were aware of the indications of fraudulent activity.  An officer advised that the risk of fraud was included as a standard item on all Directorate Management Team agendas.

A Member questioned the interaction between different IT systems noting the improvement in the risk rating for both provider performance in the community equipment market and the use of public health resources and functions.  The Committee was advised that relationships had improved with the consortium.

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.

Report of the Director of HumanResources &Organisational Development

Members received a report which detailed the annual review of health and safety performance which would enable the Council to determine its effectiveness in managing risk and to address any shortcomings.

The Director of Human Resources and Organisational Development introduced the report and tabled presentation.  Following the presentation, Members asked questions and sought clarification on a number of issues as follows:

·                In relation to the Accident/ Incident analysis for Maintained Schools, clarification was sought as to whether the total of 188 included both students and staff and it was questioned why the figure of 214 was stated elsewhere in the report.  The officer advised this figure included anyone associated with the school and only if the school bought into the Service Level Agreement and that he would double check the figures and, following a request from a Member, would provide a breakdown of these figures.

·                In response to a question, the officer confirmed that there was a requirement for asbestos re-inspection surveys to be undertaken and within the survey a recommendation as to when it should be repeated.  A Member expressed concern that the inspections might lead to repeated requests for residents to vacate their properties but the officer reassured the Committee that the inspection would be non-intrusive.  He undertook to liaise with Housing colleagues and to provide Members with further details.

·                The officer explained the Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan (PEEP) in that it was a document prepared to support individuals who required support to evacuate the workplace in an emergency.  Whilst a PEEP was not required when homeworking, it was useful to know if assistance was required.  There was also a General Emergency Evacuation Plan (GEEP) for anyone attending a meeting.

·                A Member asked what action needed to be taken in order address the red risk relating to the failure to fulfil the Council’s Health and Safety duties leading to a harmful event and was advised that the current view was that was not sufficient.  There was, however, training of the Corporate Leadership Team around health and safety being put in place and discussions were underway and officers expressed confidence in changing this from a red risk within six months.

·                A Member commented that in terms of equality implications of the report, the protected characteristics of pregnancy and maternity should be included.  The officer accepted that this omission had been an oversight.

RESOLVED:  That

(1)           the Accidents and Incidents report be noted;

(2)           the Health and Safety and Corporate Health and Safety Plan, as set out in Appendix 3 to the officer report, be noted;

(3)           the information in relation to the Employee Assist Programme be noted.

Report of the Strategic Director of Finance

Members received a report which set out the Internal Audit and Corporate Anti-Fraud Team (CAFT) progress against the 2024/25 plans and outcomes of reactive investigations.

In response to a Member’s question about the performance of Internal Audit and the actual to date, the Interim Assistant Director of Audit and Anti-Fraud explained that the Performance Indicator had recently changed so the figures were not available and that the client satisfaction survey was not yet complete.

RESOLVED:  That the Internal Audit and CAFT progress report set out at Appendix 1 to the officer report be noted.