Archived decisions
ITEM 2
AT A MEETING of the STANDARDS COMMITTEE of HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL held at The Castle, Winchester on 16 July 2004.
PRESENT:
Councillors: J.W. Stocks; (Chairman); Mrs S.E. Allbright
Independent Member: Dr. B. Spender.
103 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
Members were mindful that, where they believed they had a personal or personal prejudicial interest in any matter to be considered at the meeting, they should, normally at the time of debate declare their interest, and having regards to the circumstances described in paragraphs 9, 10, 11 and 12 of the County Council's Code of Conduct, consider whether to leave the meeting whilst the matter was discussed. No such interests were declared on this occasion.
104 MINUTES
The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 22 June 2004 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.
105 CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS
The Chairman had no Communications to make.
106 DEPUTATIONS
There were no deputations.
107 CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
The Committee considered the report of the Head of Corporate and Legal Services and Monitoring Officer and County Treasurer (Item 5 in the Minute Book) on the outcomes of a review by internal audit on compliance with the Code of Corporate Governance. Members noted that reports on this and the other items on the agenda would in future be the responsibility of the Governance Committee when it was established by the County Council. The Committee noted that, both corporately and departmentally, there was an effective framework of controls in place. There was, however, a need for evidence of delegations and partnership arrangements to be properly recorded, and also for officers to declare their interests in the same way as Members do. The opportunity to reassert this requirement might well occur when the Code of Conduct for Officers was published, but in the meantime Officers needed to be aware that they should disclose their own interests.
RESOLVED:
That the Committee note and endorse the review of Corporate Governance arrangements as effecting both corporate and departmental requirements, and the recommendations contained within the schedule of the appendix to the report.
108 ANNUAL INTERNAL AUDIT REPORT AND OPINION 2003/04
The Committee considered the report of the County Treasurer (Item 6 in the Minute Book) setting out the background to the opinion that Hampshire County Council has an effective framework of internal financial control. Members expressed particular concerns at the need to make more rapid progress with procedures for placing children with foster carers, including Regulation 38 cases; procedures for ensuring that proper checks are carried out on individuals and agencies involved in children's services, and also services for vulnerable adults; and corporate information security. They felt that these issues should be drawn specifically to the attention of the Governance Committee when it was established by the County Council and that they should be requested to monitor progress with a view to securing 100% compliance with systems.
RESOLVED:
(i) That the Standards Committee accept the internal audit assurance statement for 2003/04 as detailed in Appendix A to the report.
(ii) That progress on management actions to resolve the issues highlighted in paragraph 6 of the report be reported to the new Governance Committee once it is established by the County Council, and that their particular attention be drawn to:
· procedures for placing children with foster carers, including Regulation 38 cases
· procedures for ensuring proper checks on individuals and agencies involved in providing services for children and other vulnerable people
· corporate information security
109 DRAFT STATEMENT OF INTERNAL CONTROL
The Committee considered the report of the County Treasurer (Item 7 in the Minute Book) and it was
RESOLVED:
That approval be given to the Statement of Internal Control for the signature of the Chief Executive and the Leader.
5JM130704