Archived decisions

AT A MEETING of the GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE of the COUNTY COUNCIL held at The Castle, Winchester on 26 March 2009.

PRESENT:

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

Also in attendance: Councillor Adam Carew for Minute 153.

147 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

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.

148 MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 3 November 2008 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

149 AUDIT COMMISSION DATA QUALITY REPORT

Alastair Rankine, representing the Audit Commission, introduced the Commission's Data Quality 2008 report (Item 5 in the Minute Book) summarising the Commission's findings from their work on data quality for 2007/08. The work supported the Commission's reliance on performance indicators in its service assessments for comprehensive performance assessment. In summary, the Commission looked particularly at variations from published information and Mr. Rankine was pleased to report that there were no matters to bring to the Committee's attention. The Committee was pleased to note that the two recommendations in the action plan had been responded to. The Data Quality report verified the data considered by the Commission and all queries that the Commission had raised had been answered to the Commission's satisfaction.

The Committee accordingly received and noted the Data Quality Report.

150 AUDIT COMMISSION USE OF RESOURCES REPORT

Alastair Rankine, on behalf of the Audit Commission introduced the Commission's report on the Use of Resources as part of the Hampshire County Council Audit 2007/8. The report is marked Item 6 in the Minute Book. The report had resulted in the County Council being assessed at Level 4 in relation to how it managed its resources. In the Commission's opinion, this reflected very well on the County Council. The points raised by the Commission had been responded to positively and the Chairman took the opportunity to reassure Mr. Rankine that the County Council's political leadership was minded to introduce an Audit Committee in due course with governance and performance issues devolved to the Cabinet of the day. The Committee welcomed the Commission's finding that, in all major respects, the Council's performance in promoting and ensuring probity and propriety in the conduct of its business was above minimum requirements. The Committee was also pleased to note the work that had been done through the Hampshire Learning Centre to further demonstrate and promote a strong awareness of governance issues across all departments.

Accordingly, the Committee received and noted the Audit Commission's report.

151 AUDIT COMMISSION DRAFT AUDIT PROGRESS REPORT

Alastair Rankine, representing the Audit Commission, presented the Commission's draft Audit Progress Report 2008/09, marked Item 7 in the Minute Book, and this was received and noted by the Committee.

152 INTERNAL AUDIT STRATEGY UPDATE 2009

The Committee considered and approved the report of the County Treasurer (Item 8 in the Minute Book). The report summarised progress in implementing the revised audit strategy for the County Council, proposals for revisions to the Audit Strategy based on experience to date and professional and sector knowledge, the internal audit plan for the period 2009 to 2012 and minor changes to the terms of reference for internal audit (set out in Appendix B to the report). The Committee welcomed the proposal, following risk assessment of the need for school audits, to enhance the audit strategy for school audits for 2009/10 as set out in paragraph 2.3 of the report. In the context of internal auditing, the Committee also sought clarification from the Audit Commission's representative as to the Commission's expectations in relation to the audit of partnership arrangements. Mr. Rankine's view was that the County Council should look to apply the same standards as for its own arrangements, but he accepted that engaging with organisations outside the local government "family" may present its own challenges.

RESOLVED:

(a) That the revisions to the Internal Audit Strategy relating to schools be approved;


(b) That the Internal Audit Plan for 2009/10 to 2011/12 be noted;


(c) That the revised terms of reference for the Internal Audit Service be approved.

153 SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES ACT 2007

The Committee considered the report of the Chief Executive (Item 9 in the Minute Book) following referral of Councillor Adam Carew's notice of motion to the Council in November 2008 to the Committee. Councillor Carew attended the meeting in accordance with Standing Order 17.5 Councillor Reid, who had submitted an amendment to Councillor Carew's notice of motion at the November County Council meeting, was unable to attend the meeting.

The Committee received a presentation from the Officers about the Act and its implications for the County Council. Fundamentally, the Act promoted the opportunity for a local approach to local issues and it was open to local authorities to submit proposals by 31 July 2009 which would then be considered by the Local Government Association. Criteria were due to be published by the Association during April 2009. The Committee was very mindful of the opportunities presented by the Act, but it was also very much aware of the wide range of issues and challenges which it presented.

Councillor Carew, in explaining his notice of motion, believed that the County Council should be asking for power to be devolved to it and asking for information from the Government as to where it was spending public money within the County. The Committee noted that the Local Works Campaign would be happy to visit the County Council to discuss the issues and that the County Council should be proactive in responding to the Act, albeit that the Government had significantly lessened the impact of the original proposals in the Private Members Bill.

There was a wide ranging discussion during which the view emerged that the Policy and Resources Select Committee should be engaged in the progression of the County Council's response to the Act and this was agreed, the Committee to receive and flag ideas generated by members of the County Council.




RESOLVED:

That it be a RECOMMENDATION to the Council:


(a) That mechanisms be put in place to publicise the Act on Hantsweb;


(b) That a process for handling any proposals which relate to the transfer of any Hampshire County Council functions and funding should be developed;


(c) That Members of the County Council be invited to generate and flag ideas for proposals and to submit these to the Policy and Resources Select Committee;


(d) That the Committee seek to submit a proposal to the Local Government Association by 31 July 2009.

154 EXCLUSION OF THE PRESS AND PUBLIC

RESOLVED that the press and public be excluded from the remainder of 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, there would be disclosure to them of exempt information with paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 being information relating to the County Council's business or financial affairs which should not be disclosed for the reasons set out in the report.

155 SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES ACT (EXEMPT)

The Committee considered the exempt report of the Chief Executive (Item 11 in the Minute Book) in the context of its resolution in relation to Minute 153(d) above. The Committee considered suggestions put forward and, it was

RESOLVED:

That it be a RECOMMENDATION to the County Council that, in pursuit of the provisions of the Sustainable Communities Act 2007, the County Council should make a bid to the Local Government Association for the return of strategic planning powers to the County Council.

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