Archived decisions
AT A MEETING of the HAMPSHIRE FIRE AND RESCUE AUTHORITY GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE held at The Castle, Winchester on 20 November, 2009
PRESENT:
Councillors: R. McIntosh (Chairman); L. Fairhurst; D.A. Kirk; Mrs. M. Tucker.
Also in attendance were Kate Handy and Graham West from the Audit Commission.
8. APOLOGIES
Apologies for absence were received from Councillors D. Fuller; P. Galton; D. Harrison; P. Marsh-Jenks and R. Smith.
9. 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, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with Paragraph 12 of the Code.
There were no declarations of interest made by Members under this item.
10. MINUTES
The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 24 September, 2009 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.
11. DEPUTATIONS
There were no deputations to the meeting.
12. REVIEW OF GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE
The Committee considered the report of the Clerk (Item 5 in the Minute Book) about the review of the Authority's current committee structure and decision making arrangements.
The Committee supported the proposed approach for dealing with this item and discussed some of the issues mentioned in the report concerning its own respective role. However, Members felt the appropriate time to make recommendations on its terms of reference would be at their next meeting when they also received comments back from the other Authority Committees on their proposed future roles. It was agreed that the Chairman or Vice-Chairman of each Authority Committee should attend at this time to present their particular Committee's comments and views.
Accordingly, it was
RESOLVED:
(a) That each of the Authority's Committees be asked to consider their own future role, in the light of the issues raised in the report.
(b) That either the Chairman or Vice-Chairman of each Committee report back on (a) above to the Governance Committee on 20 March 2010 to enable recommendations about the future governance structure to be reported to the Annual Meeting of he Authority in June 2010.
13. PROGRESS OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF RECOMMENDATIONS AND ACTIONS ARISING FROM INTERNAL AND IT REPORTS
The Committee considered the report of the Chief Officer (Item 6 in the Minute Book) on audit action items and on progress made towards the implementation of recommendations for improvement.
RESOLVED:
That the Committee approves the audit action reports, and progress made towards the implementation of internal audit recommendations for improvement.
14. IMPLEMENTING INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL REPORTING STANDARDS
The Committee considered the report of the Treasurer(Item 7 in the Minute Book) about the implications of implementing International Financial Reporting Standards across the public sector.
RESOLVED:
That the plans for implementing International Financial Reporting Standards be noted and a further progress report be submitted to the Committee at the end of 2009./10.
15. INTERNAL AUDIT PROGRESS REPORT 2009/10
The Committee considered the report of the Treasurer (Item 8 in the Minute Book) seeking approval to the progress of internal audit work during 2009/10.
RESOLVED:
That the Committee approve the progress of internal audit work during 2009/10.
16. AUDIT COMMISSION'S ANNUAL AUDIT LETTER - HFRA AUDIT 2008/O9
The Committee considered the Audit Commission's Annual Audit Letter about the HFRA Audit 2008/09 which included the "Use of Resources" assessment ((Item 9 in the Minute Book).
Kate Handy, District Auditor, introduced the item. She reported on the new criteria and more difficult tests contained within the "Use of Resources" judgments. The Audit Commission had concluded that the Authority was performing consistently well by scoring level 3 in all areas with level 4 being a maximum score.
Whilst welcoming the score of level 3, the Committee aspired to achieve a level 4 in at least some areas. It was disappointing to score 3 when the Authority had received no significant criticisms or been asked to make any particular improvements. It was therefore difficult to know what was required to reach the next level.
It was noted that officers had lodged an appeal in relation to the level 3 score for the `managing performance' element of the Comprehensive Area Assessment but that this had been turned down. It was felt that the Audit Commission's review panel had not fully understood nor appreciated the innovative good practice of some key initiatives, particularly in respect of the co-responder scheme and arson reduction.
The District Auditor's attention was drawn to paragraphs 7 and 45 of the Audit Letter which referred to detailed recommendations having been agreed with officers. As officers had been unable to identify these within any of the earlier audit reports, the District Auditor agreed to amend, if required, the relevant paragraphs in the final version of the letter. Also, in discussion the District Auditor acknowledged the importance of the Audit Commission giving publicity to their newly introduced and stricter methods of scoring for 2008/09 and in particular the fact that they now made higher level scores harder to achieve.
RESOLVED:
That the Committee receives the Annual Commission's Annual Audit letter of HFRA Audit for 2008/09.
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