Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor M Blake.

The Chair will consider the admission of any late items of urgent business. (late items will be considered under the agenda items where they appear).  New items which are non-exempt will be dealt with at item 13, and those which are exempt will be dealt with at item 16.

There was no such business.

There were no declarations of interest.

None.

To consider and agree the minutes of the meeting held on 20 March 2014.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 20 March 2104 be approved as a correct record.

Note – Minute CC331 – the recommendation as set out in the report and agreed at the meeting had been omitted from the minutes, the following has been added to minutes:

The Committee agreed to invest in the recommended investment funds that will be named at the meeting and delegate authority to the CFO and / or Assistant Director of Corporate Governance to complete all required documentation.

Report of Grant Thornton on progress delivering their responsibilities as the Council’s external auditors.

The Committee received the report of Grant Thornton. 

NOTED

The Audit Certification Plan had been issued at the last meeting, and interim work since then had found no significant findings.

The 2013/14 final audit was about to commence, and the findings would be presented to the Committee in September.

The top issues were listed at page 21 of the report, these had been discussed with officers and an approach agreed for dealing with these.

The 2012/13 audit had been an improvement, and officers had built on this improvement over the last year, and invested resources.  It was anticipated that the 2013/14 audit would be the ‘best year of audit’.

RESOLVED to note the report.

Report of the Assistant Director of Corporate Governance to inform the Committee of the overall adequacy and effectiveness of the system of internal control and risk management operating throughout 2013/14, and present a summary of the audit work undertaken to formulate the opinion, including reliance placed on work by other bodies.

Anne Woods, Head of Audit and Risk Management, introduced the report as set out. 

NOTED

The report set out the overall adequacy and effectiveness of the system of internal control and risk management operating throughout 2013/14, and a summary of the audit work undertaken to formulate the audit opinion as required by the mandatory 2013 UK Public Sector Internal Audit Standards.

Page 45 onwards outlined the basis for the opinion based on audit activity. 

2013/14 saw a focus on proactive counter fraud work, and there would a lot of changes with regards to Housing Benefit Fraud Investigation over the next two years.

Anne Woods responded to questions from the Committee:

·                A significant amount of work had been carried out with tenancy management officers in regard to Council tenancy fraud.  In 2013/14,  11 succession and grant of tenancy applications had been refused a council tenancy, as they had attempted to fraudulently claim that they had lived in the property.  Refusals of succession only happened when people attempted to fraudulently secure a tenancy that they were not entitled to.

·                One School audit had been planned in, but had been deferred to allow a new management team to put controls and processes in place.

·                Blue Badge fraud – in 2013/14 the Council participated in a national data match fraud initiative which matched blue badges against DWP deceased records.  Where there were matches, people were written to and requested to return the badges.

·                All people employed by Haringey were subject to data matching – this would show if they had more than one job, or were claiming benefits on top of working.

·                There is a Corporate Anti-Fraud Plan, the results of which were reported to the Committee.

RESOLVED to note the content of the Head of Audit and Risk Management’s annual audit report and assurance statement for 2013/14.

Report of the Assistant Director of Corporate Governance to inform the Corporate Committee of the requirements of the statutory Annual Governance Statement (AGS) and provide a draft statement relating to the 2013/14 financial year for review and approval.

Kevin Bartle, Assistant Director for Finance and Chief Finance Officer, introduced the report as set out.

NOTED

The Annual Governance Statement must be signed off by the Chief Executive and the Leader by 30 June 2014.

Grant Thornton had reviewed the statement and had nothing to add.  The Statutory Officers Group had also reviewed the statement.

There was an action at page 59 with regard to a Constitution update.  This should be dealt with at the July full Council meeting.

ACTION:

·                That any proposed changes to the Constitution be shown to Members for comment before any decision is made at full Council.

ACTION: Kevin Bartle

·                The Committee to be provided with the outcome of the Governance Review as detailed on page 69, 5.2 (second bullet point).

ACTION: Kevin Bartle

RESOLVED

i)          To approve the draft 2013/14 Annual Governance Statement.

ii)         To note the approval timescale and process for the draft 2013/14 Annual Governance Statement.

Report of the Assistant Director of Corporate Governance to advise the Committee of the work undertaken by the Internal Audit Service in completing the 2013/14 Annual Audit Plan, together with the responsive pro-active fraud investigation work, and housing benefit fraud investigation work.  The report also provides information from the Council’s Human Resources (HR) service area in respect of work undertaken in supporting disciplinary action taken across all departments by respective Council managers; and consultants employed by the Council.

Anne Woods, Head of Audit and Risk Management, introduced the report as set out.

NOTED

The quarterly audit report sets out the work completed against the Audit Plan, and was set out at Appendix A of the report.

Anne Woods responded to questions from the Committee:

·                Housing Benefit Fraud – the team received upwards of 500 referrals per year.  Out of these referrals, those which had indications of serious criminality were targeted for investigation.  The 30 prosecutions referred to in the report were as a result of Haringey investigations – more prosecutions had been carried out following joint investigations with the DWP.

·                There was a shortfall in the benefit overpayments target.  This target was a notional target and relied on judges making repayment orders.  Even when repayment orders were made, recovery could still take a long time, as sometimes repayments were made from part of someone’s benefits.

·                When receiving referrals, risk assessments are carried out to find evidence that a referral is vexatious, and therefore can be ruled out.

·                Jacquie McGeachie, Interim Assistant Director for Human Resources provided further information on staffing matters and responded to questions from the Committee:

·                Consultants – 14 of the consultants were covering established posts, and 6 of these posts were currently in the middle of a recruitment campaign.  The Committee raised concerns over the number of consultants, particularly those who were in post to support the structure change.  Members thought that as the new management structure had been agreed and implemented the number of consultants should have reduced.

RESOLVED

i)          To note the audit coverage and counter-fraud work completed; and the actions taken during the quarter to ensure audit recommendations are implemented and address the outstanding recommendations during the fourth quarter, 2013/14.

ii)         To note the information received from the HR service area.

Report of Assistant Director of Corporate Governance on the recent review of the Council’s anti-fraud and corruption arrangements which was carried out in order to ensure that the corporate policy is consistent with relevant regulations and other best practice requirements.

Anne Woods, Head of Audit and Risk Management, introduced the report as set out.

NOTED

The new policies for Corporate Anti-Fraud and Corruption would be available on the website within the next few days.  The purpose of them was to promote to people what the Council expects the standards to be.  The overall policy was set out at Appendix 1 of the report.

The new policies would give people the confidence to report any incidents of wrongdoing.  Currently, the team received around 6-8 whistle-blowing referrals per year, and each of these were looked at.

The policy would be publicised in a number of ways – Haringey staff newsletter, Chief Executive weekly bulletin and on staff payslips.  A new staff handbook would be produced by the Human Resources service area over the next 6 months.

RESOLVED to approve the updated Corporate Anti-Fraud and Corruption Policy and Strategy; together with the Fraud Response Plan, Whistle-blowing Policy, Sanctions Policy, Anti Money Laundering Policy and Anti Bribery Policy.

Report of the Assistant Director for Finance on the Council’s treasury management activity and performance during 2013/14, in accordance with the CIPFA Treasury Management Code of Practice.  It is a requirement of the Code for this to be reported on to Council once Corporate Committee has considered it.

George Bruce, Head of Finance – Treasury and Pensions, introduced the report as set out.

NOTED

The report provided information to Members on treasury management activity and performance during 2013/14 in accordance with the CIPFA Treasury Management Code of Practice.  A full statement of accounts would be provided to the Committee at the next meeting.

RESOLVED to note the treasury management activity and performance during 2013/14.

Report of the Assistant Director of Corporate Governance and Monitoring Officer to inform the Committee of non-executive delegated decisions, significant actions and any urgency decisions taken by the Chair.

NOTED the report as set out.

Councillor Meehan questioned why the transfer of staff from Housing to Homes for Haringey had not been brought to the Committee.  Jacquie McGeachie agreed to find out and report back to Councillor Meehan.

To consider any items admitted at item 2 above.

There was no such business.

The following items are likely to be subject of a motion to exclude the press and public from the meeting as they contain exempt information as defined in Section 100a of the Local Government Act 1972; paragraphs 1 and 3, information relating to any individual and information relating to the business or financial affairs of any particular person (including the Authority holding that information).

RESOLVED to exclude the press and public from the meeting as item 16 contained exempt information as defined in Section 100a of the Local Government Act 1972; Paragraphs 1 – information relating to any individual – and Paragraph 3 – information relating to the business or financial affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).

To receive the minutes of the Council and Employee Joint Consultative Committee held on 10 March 2014.

RESOLVED

That the exempt minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 20 March 2104 be approved as a correct record.

There was no such business.

Thursday 25 September 2014 at 7.00pm

NOTED the date of the next meeting – Thursday 25 September 2014.