Agenda and minutes

Members are requested to advise the Democratic Services Officer of any apologies for this meeting.

There were none.

The minutes of the meeting held on 12 September 2024 are attached.

The minutes of the meeting on 12 September 2024 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The Committee is asked to consider whether by resolution to exclude the public from the meeting during consideration of the items of business marked with an ‘E’ reference because of the possibility of the disclosure of exempt information.

Resolved: The public is excluded from the meeting when the Committee discusses the following items for the reasons set out below:

Report of the External Auditor is attached.

The Committee considered a report of the External Auditor – Forvis Mazars, presented by the Partner – Karen Murray, which provided a summary of the external audit conclusions for the year ended 31 March 2023.

Resolved: The Committee:-

(1)    thanks the Partner for their presentation; and

(2)    endorses the work undertaken by the External Auditor.

A verbal update will be provided by the Strategic Audit and Risk Manager / Chief Internal Auditor.

The Committee considered a verbal update from the Strategic Audit and Risk Manager – Chief Internal Auditor, Andrea Richards, which advised that the Procurement Bill which had due to become legislation in October 2024, had now been delayed until February 2025. As such, the report which had been due to be considered by Committee would now also be deferred until the Procurement Bill became legislation in the new year.

Resolved: The Committee:-

(1)    thanks the Strategic Audit and Risk Manager – Chief Internal Auditor for her verbal update; and

(2)    notes the verbal update.

Report of the Director – Finance and Legal is attached.

The Committee considered a report of the Director – Finance and Legal, Tony Clarke, presented by the Service Lead – Corporate Finance, Jenny Quinn, which provided and update on the half yearly position on the delegated Treasury Management Activity together with the Capital Programme position as at the end of September 2024.

During its discussions the Committee raised the following salient points:

·        whether interest rate forecasts would need to be reviewed given national and international events;

·        would certain areas such as rent rises be affected by rate changes and forecasts;

·        whether funding received from central government came in blocks or did the Local Authority need to borrow against them; and

·        whether claims regarding the A49 Link Road were against the Council.

The Service Lead informed the Committee that interest rate forecasts came predominantly from Treasury Advisers and the likelihood was that these would need to be revised interest rate forecasts were continually monitored,  with an update being provided in relation to this at a future meeting of the Committee. The current forecast had been undertaken within the last month, however as a result of global changes, changes to interest rates and inflation were more likely.

The Director advised Members that rents for Council properties were based upon Consumer Price Index inflation plus 1%, which had been the formula recently announced by the Government for the next 5 years.

The Service Lead informed Members that the funding arrangements from central government differed from grant to grant. Some grants would be spread over 10-12 months and the Council had not needed to borrow in these cases, as cash was ahead of need. As detailed within the report, the Council had lent to other Authorities where their need was ahead of cash, in an opposite fashion to Wigan Council.

The Director informed Members that claims that had arisen were from residents who lived along the A49 route, which were common on all major road schemes locally and nationally.

Resolved: The Committee:-

(1)    thanks the Service Lead for her presentation; and

(2)    notes the position on Treasury Management and the changes to the capital programme as appended and set out in the report.

Report of the Assistant Director – Legal, Governance and Elections is attached.

The Committee considered a report of the Assistant Director – Legal, Governance and Elections (Monitoring Officer), Janet Davies, presented by the Service Lead - Strategic Lawyer Corporate, Simon Ward, which provided an update on the recommendations of the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) and the number of Ombudsman Complaints made by Wigan residents in the period 1 April 2024 until 30 September 2024.

During its discussions the Committee raised the following salient points:

·        why the ability to resolve an issue informally had been removed;

·        whether an example of an unachievable outcome could be provided;

·        what determined an unreasonable complaint; and

·        how the figures of maladministration compared with previous reports.

The Service Lead informed the Committee that it had been difficult to understand why the ability to resolve an issue informally had been removed, as it would benefit both the complainant and the Council to resolve an issue informally and as soon as possible.

The Service Lead advised Members that an unachievable outcome would be a resolution that was not within the gift of the Council. Where a complainant may expect the Local Authority to undertake a specific role or duty, and if it did not, this would represent an unachievable outcome.

The Service Lead informed Members that an unreasonable complaint would be one that could be considered vexatious. In these cases, as with Freedom of Information requests, where a complaint was considered vexatious, the Council had grounds to not take this forward.

The Service Lead advised the Committee that the Committee would receive a future report that would provide figures for comparison. However, the figure for 9 claims of maladministration as outlined within the report, did not appear to be a cause for concern. The 2 stage complaint process meant that if there were any legitimacy in the claims, then this would be realised there.

Resolved: The Committee:-

(1)     thanks Service Lead - Strategic Lawyer Corporate for his presentation; and

(2)     notes the report.

A verbal update by the Service Lead - Strategic Lawyer Corporate on complaints against members.

The Committee considered a verbal update of the Service Lead - Strategic Lawyer Corporate, which provided an update on the progress of complaints that had been submitted under the Members’ Code of Conduct.

Members asked a number of questions and commented on the update.

Resolved: The Committee:-

(1)    thanks the Service Lead - Strategic Lawyer Corporate for his verbal update; and

(2)    notes the verbal update.

(Co-opted Member for Audit Business Bill Anderton left the meeting prior to consideration of this item)

Report of the Director – Finance and Legal is attached.

The Committee considered a report of the Director – Finance and Legal, presented by the Chief Internal Auditor, which detailed the work that had been carried out by Internal Audit during the period 1 April – 30 September 2024.

Members asked a number of questions and commented on the update.

Resolved: The Committee:-

(1)    thanks Chief Internal Auditor for her update; and

(2)    notes the contents of the report.

(Co-opted Member for Audit Business Bill Anderton rejoined the meeting prior to consideration of this item)

Resolved: The Chair placed on record the thanks of the Committee, to the Director – Finance and Legal, for his excellent services to the Committee and the Council and offered its best wishes upon his retirement.