Issue - meetings

Under s100B(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972, the Chair of the meeting was of the opinion that the item should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency by reason of special circumstances. These circumstances were that there had been a need for additional consultation with Legal and Property services to enable the finalisation of these reports.

The Chair highlighted that some of the information relating to this item was exempt and should not be discussed during the public section of the meeting. It was noted that all questions would be directed through the Chair, would be based on the information set out in the report, and would be directed to officers. It was added that questions should relate to the remit of the Corporate Committee and not the remit of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

The Head of Audit and Risk Management introduced the report and noted that the Committee had received a summary of the internal audit findings in relation to the decision not to purchase Alexandra House at its meeting in March 2021. The Committee had considered the findings and had requested a follow up report on the decision making relating to the purchase of Alexandra House and whether council policy and procedure had been followed. It was highlighted that the role of the Committee was to consider the governance, internal control environment, and management of risk.

It was noted that the full Mazars report was now presented to the Committee. It was explained that Mazars had reviewed the process for the decision and noted that the former Interim Assistant Director of Property and Economic Development was open to the suggestion to purchase Alexandra House as it could have helped to deliver Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) savings and it could have supported the accommodation strategy. It was considered that the governance arrangements to manage an acquisition of such significance were weak, that there were a number of informal and ad hoc processes, and that there was a lack of documentary evidence regarding the people involved and the decisions made. There was also no evidence of a thorough business case which would have given decision makers an opportunity to consider all issues in full.

In response to the issues raised by the investigation, officers had undertaken to improve the arrangements for dealing with property acquisition, including an Acquisition and Disposals Policy that had been approved by Cabinet, a management review of governance, changes to the senior reporting arrangements covering acquisition, improved formalised communications with the Cabinet Member, formal minutes for Strategic Property Board meetings, a formal tracker in Strategic Property so that all acquisitions were noted in one location, and further reviews of the arrangements in the future.

Cllr Ejiofor noted that Cabinet Members at the time of the decision had been proactive and had made a number of requests, such as the confirmation of a formal acquisitions and disposals policy. It was enquired whether there was any evidence that the Chief  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12

Report to follow

To be considered at the reconvened meeting on 23 November 2021.