Agenda and minutes

The Chairwelcomed allparties tothe meeting.The Committeenoted theemergency evacuationprocedure forthe Council Chamberif required.

There were none and it was noted that Councillor Malik would attend later.

To note any declarations of interest from the Councillors.  They are asked to indicate the relevant agenda item, the nature of the interest and in particular whether it is a disclosable pecuniary interest.

Any declarations of interest made at the meeting which is not on the register of interests should be notified to the Monitoring Officer for inclusion.

There were none.

To agree the minutes of the previous meeting as a correct record.

The minutes were agreed as a correct record. It was noted that in respect of item 11 – resolution 2 – the audit members informal meeting with legal advisors had taken place on 18 December. Members questions had been formally sent to Grant Thornton and legal advisors would meet with Grant Thornton to discuss responses.

RESOLVED – that the minutes of 25 November 2024 be approved as a correct record.

This was noted.

The Chair reminded the Committee that two appointments had recently been sent out for a CIPFA workshop and an informal private briefing.

The Chair welcomed the Director Finance to his first meeting of the Committee.

The Chair reported that this would be the last meeting for Adebola Adebayo – independent member and thanked him for his contribution over the last 7 years and this was echoed by the Committee and lead officers.

The Chair confirmed that until a new Independent Member was recruited he would substitute as chair at the next Values & Ethics Sub-Committee as per convention.

Up to 30 minutes is allowed for this item.

Any member of the public or Councillor may participate in Public Forum.  The detailed arrangements for so doing are set out in the Public Information Sheet at the back of this agenda.

Public Questions and Statements should be submitted via our webform:

www.bristol.gov.uk/publicforum

Petitions should be e-mailed to democratic.services@bristol.gov.uk

Please note that the following deadlines will apply in relation to this meeting: -

Questions - Written questions must be received 3 clear working days prior to the meeting.  For this meeting, this means that your question(s) must be received in this office at the latest by 5 pm on 22 January 2025.

Petitions and Statements - Petitions and statements must be received two working days prior to the meeting.  For this meeting this means that your submission must be received in this office at the latest by 12.00 noon on 24 January 2025.

Members of the press and public who plan to attend a public meeting at City Hall are advised that you will be required to sign in when you arrive, and you will be issued with a visitor pass which you will need to display at all times.

The Committee noted the responses to two sets of questions. Mr Ackroyd was invited to ask two supplementary questions as follows:-

Supplementary Question 1 – What caused the No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) expenditure to quadruple from 21/22 – to 23/24?

Response – The Brexit policy nationally and in Bristol meant that people without pre settled status were not entitled to benefits and presented to the Council for support. The Council had an obligation to support people especially if there was children and this put a financial pressure on Councils. The NRPF review was bringing about continued improvements and had reduced its expenditure by 22%.

Supplementary Question 2 – Regarding CRR60 – what would it take for the Audit Committee to review how this failed and prevent it happening in the future?

Response – There had been previous deep dives and mitigations had taken place in the last few years and a further deep dive could be requested.

In relation to the response to Mr Ackroyd’s Question 2 – it was noted that the reissued item 9 report was still not fully searchable & copyable. Grant Thornton undertook to review this for future reports.

To note the work programme.

TheCommittee notedthe WorkProgramme forfuture meetings. It was questioned whether some of the reports on the current Work Programme were necessary to come before the Committee. The Chief Internal Auditor replied that there were some items that the Committee must see in order to comply with standards.

At this point Councillor Malik arrived.

The report was summarized for the benefit of the Committee and the following points arose from discussion:-

1. It was confirmed that Grant Thornton would meet with legal officers to discuss the Stepping Up Programme;

2. The public sector update was useful and it was noted that 15 of the largest children’s placement providers make an average of 23% profit. It was agreed, as part of the Action Sheet, to request how much of BCC’s placements went to the top 15 providers. The Leader reported that the fact that BCC might have been paying over the odds had been highlighted as a potential contribution to Council savings. It was noted that this regions prices for children’s placements than elsewhere and this was to be addressed;

3. It was questioned whether this report needed to come before the Committee when no work had yet been done on the 24/25 audit;

4. GT could not comment on BCC’s policies regarding peppercorn leases and its impact on its accounts;

5. The statutory backstop for signing off the 24/25 accounts would be the end of February 26 but there was a lack of clarity on how assurance could be provided in the medium term for those audits which were not completed before the backstop. The backstop deadline for the 25/26 accounts was the 31 January 27, with a progressive movement to get the accounts back in sequence;

6. It was noted that there were high levels of vacancies in LG finance teams. The Director Finance reported that it was a challenge to appoint experienced and qualified accountants and work LA’s in the SW were working collaboratively to address this.

Resolved -  That the report be noted.

The report was summarized for the benefit of the Committee and the following points arose from discussion:-  

1. It was noted that a report would come before the March meeting on the new global audit standards. The November 25 meeting would receive a quality assurance report which would comment on any challenges with the new standards;

2. The Director Finance reported that CLB had committed to look at performance metrics and take collective ownership of the outstanding management actions. Strong compliance was a high priority for the new Chief Executive;

3. The CIA confirmed that there was now sufficient resource in the team to deliver the service. The new recruits were generalists. Specialists in IT, cyber and treasury management were needed but these specialisms were very expensive. This was a local government problem and not just BCC;

4. The Leader reported that a 90% actions implemented was required if BCC was to be considered a competent Council. There had been issues with the level of engagement in the past and it was imperative the limited and no assurance management actions were resolved first. The Director Finance added that there was a commitment on training and to ensure the functionality & effectiveness of the IT system.

Appendix 1 – Information Asset Ownership.

1. This was a follow-up review from a review undertaken three years where a limited assurance opinion was issued. The follow-up review found that there had been limited progress in implementing management actions and so a limited assurance opinion was again issued;

2. Five of the six management actions had now been implemented. The sixth action was an online training module for Directors and three Directors had yet to complete it. Newly appointed Directors would undertake the training module as part of their induction. The delay in this management action was because the module had not been available. It was agreed, as part of the Action Sheet, to report back on the length of the training and its contents. There was a knowledge test at the end of the module and it was confirmed that all Directors had scored 90/100%;

3. It was noted that there had been little progress from three years ago but suddenly five of the 6 actions were implemented. It was reported that management had been working towards this for some time and the new review had provided focus.

Appendix 2 – Contract Management.

1. Six of the actions were now in place and a further two in progress;

2. The actions give the service areas structures and meaningful tools to engage and review the status of arrangements;

3. There was a focus on service areas owning their records and the system. All EDM’s met weekly and reviewed historical data which needed cleansing and reinforced the need for service areas to ensure their records were up to date;

4. It was confirmed that all contracts were registered though on two different systems. This had been necessary as one system could not deliver a particular function. There  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

The report was summarized for the benefit of the Committee and there were no points of discussion and it was therefore:-

Resolved – That the the Q3 2024/25 Corporate Risk Report (CRR) be noted.

The report was summarized for the benefit of the Committee and the following points arose from discussion:-  

1. The Chair and Committee congratulated the work done to reduce the number of breaches and thanked the team for their hard work;

2. The team would now focus on specific areas and patterns to reduce the numbers further and work on contract management in order to embed the culture across services;

3. It was important to keep working to stay above the acceptable line and to continue to report on progress;

4. The improvements had been a cumulative effort including significant CLB support and it was expected to be sustained. The corporate message was clear that breaches were not acceptable. The Director Legal & Democratic Services confirmed that a weekly report was considered at CLB and further improvement works were planned.

Resolved - That the data on breaches of the Council’s procurement rules, the management actions taken, and the significant improvements in compliance that have resulted be noted.

The report was summarized for the benefit of the Committee and the following points arose from discussion:-  

1. It was important to undertake cyber exercises in relation to business continuity, especially with the changing landscape. It was not possible to give greater detail on plans in place due to its very nature;

2. The Council was in a much better place than it was 5/6 years ago;

3. The Common Activities work involved the centralization of activities across the Council eg. Disclosures of information;

4. The Committee was assured that information regarding how to report a data breach was widely available to members;

5. It was agreed via the Action Sheet to report on how BCC compared to peer LA’s in respect of FOI’s and Subject Access Requests;

6. There were monthly reports to management on breaches and the action taken in their service areas. Current compliance was 70%. It was confirmed that there would be an Internal Audit review on this service area.

Resolved – That the report be noted.

The report was summarized for the benefit of the Committee and the following points arose from discussion:-  

1. The Committee agreed that additional wording be drafted by the Chair for comment by the Committee offline on the following matters:-

Ø  The recognition of the procurement team’s work in reducing the number of breaches across the Council;

Ø  Barton House;

Ø  Stepping Up Programme;

Ø  Demand-led services and the Council not yet effectively containing expenditure.

2. It was questioned whether there was a need for a half year report and that the Committee should focus on the Full year report to FC.

Resolved – That the Half Year report to Full Council be approved subject to the Chair drafting additional wording in respect of Barton House, Stepping Up Programme and demand-led services for members to comment on offline.

The nextmeeting isscheduled tobe held on25 March 2025.

The meeting ended at 4.10pm

CHAIR