Archived decisions

AT A MEETING of the GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE of the COUNTY COUNCIL held at The Castle, Winchester on 26 June 2008.

PRESENT:

p Councillor T.K. Thornber, CBE (Chairman)

128 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Collett who was on Hampshire Police Authority business.

129 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

All Members who believed they had a personal or prejudicial interest in any matter to be considered at the meeting, were asked to declare that 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 save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with paragraph 12 of the Code. The declaration should be made at the time of the relevant debate.

130 MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 27 March 2008 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

131 GOVERNANCE OF THE RIVER HAMBLE

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Recreation and Heritage (Item 5 in the Minute Book) concerning future Governance arrangements for the River Hamble. The Committee supported the recommendations to Cabinet and the County Council save that Members were of the view that, given the advisory role of the River Hamble Management Committee, it should be invited to recommend, rather than determine, the criteria and selection processes should more than one person apply to be the mooring and berth holders' representative.

RESOLVED:

That it be a recommendation to Cabinet that:

a) The River Hamble should continue to be governed as a Municipal Port under the control of Hampshire County Council, and;

b) That the County Council be asked to approve the following amendments to the governance arrangements for the River Hamble, and to authorise the Chief Executive to amend the terms of reference of the Management Committee accordingly:

(1) That a single additional Member should be appointed to the Management Committee to represent the interests of all mooring and berth holders on the River and that this be balanced by the appointment of an additional Hampshire County Council Member to the Committee. The Management Committee should be invited to recommend what criteria and selection process should be invoked in the event that more than one person applies to be the mooring and berth holders representative.

(2) That the Chairman and members of the Hamble Estuary Partnership (HEP) should be invited to provide an additional forum for consultation with River Hamble stakeholder groups.

(3) That the Chairman of the HEP should be allowed direct access to the Harbour Board so that the views and advice of the HEP can be taken into account before decisions are made.

132 FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT

The Committee considered the report of the Chief Executive (Item 6 in the Minute Book) concerning aspects of the Freedom of Information Act and the County Council's approach in response to these: staff salary information and internal audit reports. The report also mentioned the costs to the County Council of compliance with the requirements of the Act and recent advice from the Information Commissioner which had the potential to have significant implications for the time spent by County Council staff (and the staff of all public authorities) and the cost of that to the Hampshire community. The Committee noted that the matter had been taken up with the Information Commissioner and that, subject to the Commissioner's advice the County Council might need to consider taking the matter further through the Local Government Association.

In relation to the disclosure of staff salary information, the Committee was mindful of the need not to breach the Data Protection principles and of the need for sensitive and careful handling of personal data. The Committee took into account all the issues in section 4 of the Chief Executive's report, including the Information Commissioner's guidance contained in the letter from the Commissioner appended to the report and the legitimate interests of members of the public as to public expenditure. After balancing all the issues, the Committee concluded that any assessment of where the balance of the public interest lay must reflect the County Council's duty of care to its staff. There was also a strong public interest in maintaining the County Council's reputation as a good employer, so as to continue to be able to attract staff of the highest calibre. Salary information about staff would continue to be published in a generic form. The Committee emphasised the extent of the County Council's responsibilities, operations and budget and accordingly considered that generic information should be published thus mirroring Civil Service arrangements and that the information should include Hay Meridian comparisons with the private sector.

With reference to internal audit reports, the Committee noted the guidance issued by the Information Commissioner and the need for each request for disclosure to be determined, as at present, on a case by case basis. The Committee noted that this was likely to mean that "routine" reports would normally be exempt from disclosure.

RESOLVED:

a) That a disclosure policy be developed on the basis of existing practice by way of generic pay bands but including Hay comparisons as requested by the Committee and presented to the Committee for further consideration.

b) That the position with regard to the handling and determination of requests under the Act for disclosure of internal audit reports be noted.

133 DRAFT ANNUAL GOVERNANCE STATEMENT

The Committee considered and approved the report of the Head of Corporate and Legal Services and Monitoring Officer and the County Treasurer (Item 7 in the Minute Book).

RESOLVED:

That the draft annual Governance statement be approved for signature by the Leader of the County Council and the Chief Executive.

134 DRAFT STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS 2007/08

The Committee considered the report of the County Treasurer (Item 8 in the Minute Book). Following consideration and approval of the final accounts by the Cabinet on 23 July 2008, the County Treasurer circulated revised copies of pages 35, 38, 40, 42 and 68 of the Statement. Questions raised by Members and clarification sought by Members were responded to by the County Treasurer and, having considered all the issues, the Committee approved the Statement of Accounts.

RESOLVED:

That the Statement of Accounts for 2007/08 be approved.

135 ANNUAL INTERNAL AUDIT OPINION 2007/08

The Committee considered the report and opinion of the County Treasurer (Item 9 in the Minute Book) which concluded that the County Council's control framework provided assurance regarding the effective, efficient and economic achievement of the County Council's objectives.

RESOLVED:

That the Internal Audit Assurance Statement for 2007/08 set out in Appendix A of the report of the County Treasurer be approved and that a progress report be submitted mid year to the Committee.