Archived decisions
AT A MEETING of the HAMPSHIRE FIRE AND RESCUE AUTHORITY GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE held at The Castle, Winchester on 21 June, 2007.
PRESENT:
Councillors: P.R.C. Hutcheson (Chairman); M.F. Cartwright; M.G. Cooper; D. Harrison; R. McIntosh; R. Smith.
36 APOLOGIES
Apologies for absence were received from Councillors D.A. Kirk; S. Jackson and R. Williams.
37 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 regard to the circumstances described in paragraphs 9, 10, 11 and 12 of the Fire Authority's Code of Conduct consider whether to leave the meeting whilst the matter was discussed.
There were no declarations of interest made by Members under this item.
38 MINUTES
The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 30 April, 2007 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.
39 DEPUTATIONS
There were no deputations made under this item.
40 ANNUAL INTERNAL AUDIT OPINION 2006/07
The Committee considered the report of the Treasurer (Item 5 in the Minute Book) on the internal audit opinion for 2006/07. In introducing the report, the Treasurer highlighted the main findings which had been identified.
RESOLVED:
(a) That the Governance Committee accept the internal audit assurance statement for 2006/07 as detailed in Appendix A of the report.
(b) That the main risks identified during the year be noted.
41 DRAFT STATEMENT OF INTERNAL CONTROL 2006/07
The Committee considered the statement of internal control which had been drafted by the Chief Officer (Item 6 in the Minute Book) and felt that it provided a comprehensive summary of the processes and other activities being taken to ensure that good levels of internal control were being taken. Members unanimously agreed the actions being taken by the Authority to provide the required levels of financial management assurance.
RESOLVED:
That the draft Statement of Internal Control for 2006/07, as set out in Appendix 1 to the report, be approved for signature by the Chairman of the Authority and the Chief Officer.
42 IMPROVING SCRUTINY ARRANGEMENTS
The Committee considered the report of the Chief Officer (Item 7 in the Minute Book) on proposals to enhance the role of the Performance Review Committee in order to improve the effectiveness of the Authority's scrutiny arrangements. In supporting the proposals, Members felt that the Performance Review Committee should be renamed to incorporate a description of the scrutiny function and that this be reflected in the proposed new terms of reference for that Committee. Accordingly, it was
RESOLVED:
That it be a RECOMMENDATION to the Authority:
(a) That the terms of reference of the Performance Review Committee be extended to enable it: "to carry out joint member/officer pre- and post-implementation scrutiny of any major project, scheme, or key decision taken by the Authority or its standing committees".
(b) That the Performance Review Committee be re-named the Performance Review and Scrutiny Committee.
43 REVISED MODEL CODE OF CONDUCT FOR MEMBERS
The Committee considered the report of the Clerk (Item 8 in the Minute Book) giving a brief synopsis of the changes introduced by the revised Code of Conduct. Members supported the codes adoption.
RESOLVED:
That it be a RECOMMENDATION to the Authority:
That the revised Model Code of Conduct for members, as set out in the Appendix to the report, be approved.
4GM380607