Minutes - Service Provision Scrutiny and Audit Committee - 5 January 2006
BOROUGH OF POOLE
SERVICE PROVISION SCRUTINY AND AUDIT COMMITTEE
5 JANUARY 2006
The meeting commenced at 7pm and concluded at 9.30pm.
Present:
Councillor Allen (Chairman)
Councillor Burden (Vice-Chairman)
Councillors Adams, Belcham, Brooke, Clements, Mrs Deas, Eades, Mrs Hives and Pethen.
Members of the public present: 5
1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Montrose.
2. MINUTES
The Minutes of the Meeting held on 3 November 2005 were submitted for approval.
M.8, page 7 – Charges for the use of Leisure Facilities – Councillor Eades stated that he had declared an interest in this item as a Member of Poole Cricket Club and not Councillor Montrose.
M.8, page 7 – Charges for the use of Leisure Facilities – The Chairman stated that with regard to resolution (ii), the Portfolio Holder for Environmental Areas (including Leisure and Recreation) was now on holiday and therefore was unable to attend this Meeting. However, it was intended that he would be invited to the next Meeting of this Committee (16 March 2005) in order to discuss the issues surrounding this report.
The Minutes of the Meeting held on 13 December 2005 were submitted for approval.
RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Meetings held on 3 November 2005 and 13 December 2005, subject to the above amendments, be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.
3. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
M.7 – Licensing of Poole’s Parks and Open Spaces – Councillors Adams, Brooke and Clements declared personal interests as they resided near to areas of land subject to premises licence applications.
4. RISK MANAGEMENT ACTIVITY REPORT, OCTOBER – DECEMBER 2005
Mina Beckett, Management Auditor, presented a report which summarised activities undertaken by Internal Audit in relation to Risk Management during the period 20 October to 16 December 2005, including outstanding actions relating to the Corporate Statement on Internal Control for the 2004/05 Financial Year.
Following the Business Planning Training Sessions held for Service Unit Heads, Policy Directors and Portfolio Holders in September, additional Workshops had recently been held for Service Units by the Corporate Performance Team in order to help develop and refine objectives for the forthcoming financial year. It was planned to meet with Service Unit Heads and their teams in January in order to risk assess these objectives and determine mitigating actions as appropriate.
In response to a request at the last meeting when Members enquired whether it would be possible for the Risk Management Guidance Notes to be circulated to all Members, it was intended that hard copies of the document be placed in the Group Rooms and a link to the on-line Guidance on the Loop would also be emailed to all Members.
The Committee were advised that the on-line Risk Assessment tool (RAT) was now available for use by Service Units to risk assess their Business Plan objectives. Whilst a small number of teething problems remained with the reporting element of the RAT, the cause of these problems had now been identified and work was currently being undertaken with the ICT and Business Support Services Unit towards a solution. Despite this setback, Officers remained confident that the first consolidated risk reports would be available following the completion and sign-off of the 2006/07 Business Plans and associated Risk Assessments in March and would be reported to this Committee at the earliest opportunity.
As previously reported to this Committee, the Audit Commission had carried out a separate review of Risk Management as part of their CPA use of Resources Assessment. Their summary judgement had now been received and discussion of the detail behind the overall use of resources would take place in the New Year. Any issues arising from these discussions would be shared with this Committee along with the resulting Action Plans.
Work was continuing on reviewing and updating the existing Risk Based Internal Audit Methodology in order to ensure that Risk Registers were factored into both the Annual Audit Planning process and individual audits, and that the methodology more effectively supported the Statement on Internal Control Production and validation process.
In relation to the Risk Management Support for the XL Projects, sessions had recently been held with the Project Manager for the Schools for the Future Project with a view to clarifying project objectives and carrying out a formal risk assessment. This work had been captured in a Draft Business Plan which had been circulated for review and comment by the relevant Portfolio Holders, Policy Directors and Officers.
In response to a Member’s question, the Chairman stated that the overspend on the project to expand the number of pupil places at Old Town First School this could be an area for further consideration by the Community Support and Education Scrutiny Committee and Mina Beckett, Management Auditor, undertook to advise the Project Manager accordingly.
A further proposal has been developed to revise the process for identifying and capturing the Council’s strategic risks. This report was currently with Management Team for discussion and actions arising would be reported to a meeting of this Committee in March.
In conclusion, Members were advised that work continued in order to develop and embed Risk Management at the Borough of Poole and to ensure that Business Plans for 2006/07 were Risk Assessed and monitored effectively. It was anticipated that the current technical problems with the consolidated Risk Register would be resolved without significant difficulty and that this would be in place for the start of the next Financial Year.
On behalf of the Committee, the Chairman thanked Mina Beckett, Management Auditor for the work she had undertaken on Risk Management.
RESOLVED that the actions taken to embed risk management at the Borough of Poole during the period, be noted.
5. AUDIT COMMISSION REVIEW OF RISK MANAGEMENT
Mina Beckett, Risk Management Auditor, introduced Steve Haworth, Audit Commission, who had been invited to attend in order to give a presentation on “Implementing Risk Management”.
Steve Haworth, Audit Commission, commenced by stating that his presentation would cover two main areas, firstly, “Where the Council were now” and secondly, the “Next Steps”.
He advised the Committee that “the building blocks were all in place but there was still some work to do to fully implement risk management and to realise all the potential benefits of the investment in the approach”.
A straightforward and measured approach was being taken to implementation with the adoption of commendably simple methodology which reflected good practice. The Authority also demonstrated enthusiastic leadership with facilitation and support from internal audit. In addition, it was clear that the Council had benefited from a dedicated resource (Management Auditor). The on-line Risk Assessment Tool (RAT) had now been launched and there was also a programme of training for Service Unit Heads.
With regard to integration with core management processes, whilst the RAT was linked on-line to Service Unit planning, it was felt that the application of the approach was somewhat patchy with some Units having a clearer understanding/better documentation processes than others. In addition, links between Service Unit plans and corporate plans were not always clearly articulated.
In order to “make it real” in Poole, it was important to develop an active leadership role for Management Team which enabled them to challenge the consolidated risk register and add their strategic prospective. There would also be a need for Service Unit Heads to develop “ownership” of risk management and reduce the reliance on Internal Audit. There was a need to emphasis that risk management formed an integral part of routine management responsibilities.
It would also be important to improve record keeping in order to evidence that controls which were recorded on the RAT were in place and working. As risk management evolved, better links would be achieved between the control framework in the statement of internal control and the RAT.
In relation to integration, the next steps included:-
· Scope for more explicit and consistent links between RAT and business planning, including budget setting
· Business plan objectives, Service Unit targets and risk assessments need to be more closely linked
· Develop further the risk assessment and reporting processes on major projects and apply a proportionate level of project management
· Include formal and explicit references to risk in Committee reports in order to improve decision-making and actively engage members in risk management
In conclusion, Members were advised that the Council’s on-going review of its corporate planning framework provided an opportunity to fully integrate and “embed” risk management.
The Chairman stated that he felt it was important for this Committee, in its scrutiny role, to receive Service Unit’s risk registers when appropriate. Mina Beckett, Management Auditor, confirmed that the Consolidated Risk Register would be brought to this Committee as part of the normal monitoring process.
In order to ensure consistency, a Member questioned how this process could be controlled/monitored particularly with reference to work with schools and other external partners. Steve Haworth, Audit Commission, stated that it would be essential that arrangements were set up in advance with partners and that these arrangements were built into to the process. He added that it was important that any of the Authority’s partners risk management arrangements “mirrored” our own.
A Member stated that with regard to the implementation of “risk management”, he felt that the “scrutiny role” was in two parts namely the completion of the work and then the operation of the Authority once this had been embedded.
A Member commented that the decision-making process fell into three distinct parts “Overview Groups – Cabinet – Scrutiny” and he questioned whether there was any scope to have any risk assessment elements added to items when Committees were considering issues. Mina Beckett, Management Auditor, advised Members that this issue was currently being addressed by considering the decision-making approach and how information was presented to Elected Members with all potential risks identified. Bernie Topham, Policy Director, added that Members needed to keep an awareness of the fact that “risks” were not just “financial”.
In relation to the work currently being undertaken on implementing risk management, and, to aid Members, Mina Beckett, Management Auditor, stated that she would present to the next meeting of this Committee, the “framework” which would advise on what the Authority were seeking to achieve through this piece of work.
On behalf of the Committee, the Chairman thanked Steve Haworth, Audit Commission for his interesting and informative presentation.
RESOLVED that
(i) the presentation be noted; and
(ii) the “framework” for the work being undertaken on the implementation of risk management be presented to the next meeting of this Committee.
6. HALF YEARLY PERFORMANCE REPORT 2005-06
Bernie Topham, Policy Director, presented a report which detailed the half yearly summary for performance indicators across Service Units in the areas covered by this Scrutiny Committee as at September 2005/06.
Following the full end of year performance report in 2004/05, the Council’s Management Team requested that areas of concern be investigated. Following this, action plans were agreed for individual Service Units to address under performance of specific performance indicators and these were reported to Cabinet on 19th July 2005. The Report being presented to Members this evening detailed progress made against those agreed Action Plans as at the end of the second quarter (half year) September 2005/06.
On considering the statistical information together with the accompanying commentaries, the following comments/questions were raised:-
A Member questioned how, given all the work on recycling, the number of kilograms of household waste collected per day was still increasing.
Shaun Robson, Head of Environmental and Consumer Protection Services stated that the criteria for assessing this performance indicator was extremely complex. However, he advised that in general, overall, the disposal of all other items considered as waste (TVs, fridges etc.) had increased and this had an impact on the figure, in addition, there were a number of other factors in that Poole was a tourist town, a green town and there were also implications given the demographics of the town.
On considering the information further, a number of areas of concern were highlighted and it was agreed that these would be considered by a future meeting of this Scrutiny Committee, these included:-
· BV78b – average time for processing notification of circumstances (Revenue and Benefits)
· LPSA11, 12 and 13 – increase employment rate of disabled people
· BOP18 – protected tree applications determined within 8 weeks (Planning Design and Control Services)
In addition, it was agreed that further work be undertaken regarding LPSA22 – level of street and local environment cleanliness expressed as a percentage of areas in BVPI199. It was also agreed that this review be widened in order to consider all other powers held by the Council covering this service. Therefore, the criteria of the methodology used under this performance indicator would be addressed further by this Scrutiny Committee.
In conclusion, it was also agreed that the concerns regarding the following performance indicator would be forwarded to the Community Support and Education Scrutiny Committee for further consideration:-
· LPSA8 – percentage of Looked After Children fostered by families and friends carers
(N.B. it was also suggested that it would be useful for the Corporate Parenting Member Group to consider this issue).
RESOLVED that
(i) the report be noted; and
(ii) the issues identified above for further consideration be reported to the respective Scrutiny Committees when appropriate.
7. LICENSING OF POOLE’S PARKS AND OPEN SPACES
Clive Smith, Head of Leisure Services, commenced by introducing Jayne Taylor, Business Manager, Leisure Services, who had produced a report prompted from Members’ Questions relating to the Licensing of Poole’s Parks and Open Spaces.
Clive Smith, Head of Leisure Services, advised that following the recent changes to the Licensing Laws, all premises (including Parks and Open Spaces) required a licence in order for events to take place. When approved, a Premises Licence was for the life of the premise and therefore any applications needed to take account of the potential for future uses. Attempts had been made by staff in Leisure Services to make things easier for community based groups by removing formalities which would result in clear and understandable licences for each open space with the flexibility to respond to community requests. He stressed that the granting of any Premises Licence would not change the way in which Leisure Services approved events on any open space. The Community Events Policy was clear in its guidance on what events were appropriate to each site and stressed that it was this Policy and not the Licence that ensured that only events appropriate to individual sites would be approved.