ITEM 3

At a meeting of the GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE of the HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL held at The Castle, Winchester on 26 October 2006.

PRESENT:

Councillors:

58. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

No apologies had been received on this occasion.

59. 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 the debate, declare their interest and, having regard 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.

60. MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 27 September 2006 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

61. CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS

There were no communications from the Chairman on this occasion.

62. DEPUTATIONS

No deputations had been notified.

63. SICKNESS ABSENCE WHILST SUSPENDED FOR ALLEGED GROSS MISCONDUCT

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Human Resources on changes made in the approach taken to dealing with employees suspended on full pay for alleged gross misconduct (Item 6 in the Minute Book). In response to questions it was confirmed that a similar approach of placing staff on sick pay and referring them to Occupational Health would be adopted in other circumstances of suspension, for example capability or incompetence. It was reported that the Trade Unions were content with the approach now advocated. Members were pleased to see the substantial reduction achieved in the average length of sickness absence in these circumstances, and the resultant reduction in the financial costs to the County Council.

RESOLVED:

That the contents of the report and the improvements achieved be noted and welcomed.

64. MEMBERS' WEB PAGES - ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY

The Committee considered the report of the Head of Corporate and Legal Services and Monitoring Officer (Item 7 in the Minute Book). Members accepted that most of the policy's contents reflected the Members' Code of Conduct, but highlighted several areas of clarification:

· Need to avoid pre-determination;

· Members' websites to be suspended during election times - does that mean all elections, county/district/parliamentary?

· Rights of members to include material which shows them to be active on local constituency issues.

The Committee therefore considered that the policy should be the subject of a full report to County Council as a Part 1 item for decision, and should be accompanied by a presentation by the Monitoring Officer, followed by questions and answers and debate by the Council.

RESOLVED:

That it be a Recommendation to the County Council

That the acceptable use policy for members' web pages, attached as an appendix to this report, be adopted and that a presentation on the subject be made by the Monitoring Officer to the County Council.

65. CONSTITUTION PART 3D - CALL-IN AND URGENCY

The Committee considered the report of the Chief Executive (Item 8 in the Minute Book) on the operation of the County Council's call-in and urgency provisions during the past year. It was reported that the Environment Policy Review Committee had met on 25 October, when they had reviewed and after discussion endorsed a decision by the Executive Member for Environment relating to levels of support for bus services in the Havant area.

RESOLVED:

That the Governance Committee informs the Cabinet that the call-in and urgency provisions in the Constitution continue to operate satisfactorily; and that report authors be reminded of the need to continue to comply with the Chief Executive's deadlines as to meeting the statutory requirements for the publication of "key" decision reports, namely not less than five clear days before the decision is to be made.

66. RISK MANAGEMENT

The Committee considered the report of the Chief Executive (Item 9 in the Minute Book) on a range of issues regarding the management of risk by the County Council. It was expected that the annual review of risks would be ready for presentation to the next meeting of the Committee, when the likely impact of the House of Lords Inquiry into Risk could also be taken into consideration.

RESOLVED:

That the Governance Committee endorses the progress made on risk management on the basis set out in the report, supports the nomination of a Lead Member for Risk Management and requests a further report on risks at their next meeting.

67. INTERNAL AUDIT PROGRESS REPORT

The Committee considered the report of the County Treasurer (Item 10 in the Minute Book) concerning progress against the Internal Audit Plan for 2006/07, the Internal Audit Opinion 2005/06 and Work in Progress in 2006/07. The Committee considered the areas of concern identified, and their impact on the problems faced in managing the Adult Services budget. The Director of Adult Services attended the meeting for this item in order to assist the Committee with background and practical examples of work being undertaken, with particular reference to:

· Refining and simplifying the direct payments system;

· Systematic assessment, monitoring and review of care needs to ensure that resources are deployed effectively;

· Reconfiguring the role of care managers to enable them to concentrate on their key tasks, with appropriate administrative and financial support to be provided in areas such as data entry, checking of invoices and bank accounts;

· Recognition that choice in assembly of care packages can make life more complex not only for County Council staff but also for the clients, notably dealing with Income Tax and National Insurance;

· Need to ensure that systematic procedures are in place for Criminal Records Bureau checks.

Members generally accepted the view expressed by the Director of Adult Services that the benefits in terms of clients' choice and independence should be carefully balanced against the need for controls which ensure the delivery of care responsibilities and proper financial management. They therefore endorsed the work being undertaken to refine and simplify systems and make them as user-friendly as possible. They accepted this would be a gradual process which would develop with the availability of the necessary resources to support it.

RESOLVED:

1) That the Governance Committee note the progress of internal audit work during 2006/07 and notes the key issues arising from that work as summarised in the report and in Appendix A;

2) That the proposed responses to the Audit Commission's recommendations from the Annual Governance Report be approved on the basis set out in Appendix B of the report;

3) That a further report be submitted by the Director of Adult Services to the Committee on the specific concerns raised on direct payments and CRB checks

68. EXCLUSION OF THE PRESS AND PUBLIC

RESOLVED:

That the press and public be excluded from the meeting as it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the public were present during consideration of the following item there would be disclosure to them of exempt information within Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 and further that, in all the circumstances, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the County Council as holder of that information) for the reasons set out in the report.

69. INTERNAL AUDIT PROGRESS REPORT (CONFIDENTIAL)

The Committee considered confidential Appendix C of the County Treasurer's report on Internal Audit Issues (Item 12 in the Minute Book) which gave details of specific issues identified during the course of audit.