Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Danny Brookes.

Councillor Adrian Benjamin attended the meeting remotely as an Observer.

At this point in the meeting, Members were invited to declare any relevant interests.

·       Councillor $$ asked it to be noted that $$, Minute No. $$ refers.

To confirm the Open and Exempt Minutes of the Meeting held on 23 November 2022.

The Open and Exempt Minutes of the Meeting held on 23 November 2022 were agreed as a correct record.

The following comments/queries were raised on the Minutes:

·       It was queried whether any feedback had been received from Overview Committee relating to the request for further scrutiny on carbon reduction.

·       The response in relation to a review of Members’ Allowances was noted but it was not considered that it answered the question.  It was highlighted that if a review was to be held there needed to be harmonisation across the Partnership and would need to be part of the budget process.  Further clarification was requested, together with a timescale.

·       The Chairman referred to the three bullet points relating to questions raised, page 8 of the Minutes refer.  It was acknowledged that these were passed over to Overview Committee, following which it was queried where these would be recorded.  The Section 151 Officer responded that the detail to these would be contained in the Overview Committee Minutes.

·       In response to the question on the £690k allocated in the budget for a traveller site, Members were advised that this would be removed from the capital programme but a note would be included in the accounts to reflect this.  Following a brief discussion, and on the basis that the Local Plan had clearly identified a need for transit sites a Member considered that there was still a requirement for this and a need to include this in the budget.

·       Following a query on information being made available on exemptions, page 14 of the Minutes refer, the Section 151 Officer advised Members that this would be picked up as part of the procurement report.

The Chairman acknowledged the huge effort by senior officers and the Finance Team for delivering a balanced budged whilst having to deal with global problems and it was highlighted that all authorities would be facing the same external pressures.

Members were advised that the Section 151 Officer had committed to provide a verbal update to all Committee Members when the budget process had concluded.

Actions from the previous meeting.

The actions from the Meeting held on 23 November 2022 were confirmed as completed.

To receive a verbal update from the Head of Internal Audit, Assurance Lincolnshire.

Lucy Pledge, Head of Internal Audit, Assurance Lincolnshire was in attendance to provide Members with a verbal update on Invest East Lindsey.

Members were advised that the draft report was completed on 30 January 2023 and would be presented to management to consider the findings.  Following which, the final report would be presented to Committee in March 2023.

The Head of Internal Audit advised Members that the delays encountered were not normal and the work on IEL had been problematic, the intention was to have the report completed earlier.

Members were invited to put their comments and questions forward.

A Member queried the cause of the slippage, for example management, staffing or external issues.  The Head of Internal Audit responded that it was within Internal Audit and related to a long-term absence that affected the pace of delivery.

N.B.  Lucy Pledge, Head of Internal Audit left the Meeting at 11.06am.

To receive a report from the Audit Manager, Assurance Lincolnshire.

The Audit Manager, Assurance Lincolnshire, presented to Members the Internal Audit Progress Report Quarter 2 which covered the period August 2022 to December 2022, pages 23 to 56 of the agenda refer.

The purpose of the report was to provide Members with details of the audit work completed during the period, to advise on progress with the 2022/23 plan and to raise any other matters that may be relevant to the Audit Committee role.

It was noted that in this period 9 reviews had been completed with 3 high assurance, 3 substantial assurance, 2 limited assurance, 0 low assurance and 1 consultancy, full details were contained within Appendix 4, pages 52 to 54 of the Agenda refer.  Full details on the audits with Limited Assurance were detailed at pages 39 to 45 on the Agenda.

In terms of work in progress the following update was provided: -

Members noted that the report highlighted that 37% of the revised Audit Plan had been completed.  Since the data was recorded on 31 December 2022, the actual work completed was 55% and it was confirmed that all remaining work had been scheduled and was in progress.

Members were further referred to Appendix 3, which detailed the summary of outstanding agreed actions for all audits at 30 November 2022, pages 47 to 51.

Members noted that there were currently 8 actions which were overdue, 2 of which were rated as high.

Members were further advised that one change had been recorded on the Internal Audit Plan 2022/23 ‘ELDC Fraud Risk Register’ so that this was updated to ensure it reflected current issues and national trends.

The Internal Audit Manager was pleased to report that other significant work had been undertaken on combined assurance.  The assurance mapping meetings had now been completed and the results were currently being collated and used to populate the draft report for management to complete.  It was anticipated that this would be completed in March 2023.

In relation to a Member’s query on the delays experienced in obtaining information to progress audits the Internal Audit Manager confirmed that remote working had caused a slight delay but assured Members that all work was contained within the work programme.

Members were invited to put their comments and questions forward.

In relation to the low assurance on Section 106 Agreements, the following comments were received:

·       A Member commented that he was disappointed to see the low assurance awarded and considered that S106s should be linked to the enforcement and non-enforcement of planning conditions.

·       A Member commented that a lack of effective controls for S106s had let down communities, particularly those that had major developments and had not received any S106 monies back into the community.  It was queried why this had not been picked up by the Portfolio Holder and considered that a quarterly report should be presented to Planning Committee.

·       A Member highlighted that there were too many conditions being removed from planning conditions to the benefit of the developer.

·       In relation  ...  view the full minutes text for item 45.

To receive a report from the Section 151 Officer.

The Section 151 Officer presented Members with the Annual Budget Report, Medium Term Financial Strategy, Financial Strategies & Council Tax 2023/24, pages 1 to 78 of the Supplementary Agenda refer.

Councillor Richard Fry, Portfolio Holder for Finance provided Members with a preamble to the report.

The report set out the draft budget at Appendix A, including the areas of pressure that would be considered as part of this year’s budget setting process, the details of the Council’s Provisional Funding Settlement and the proposed level of Council Tax for 2023/24. 

The Treasury Management Policy and Draft Strategy Statement for the 2023/24 financial year was also included at Appendix B to the report.

The Section 151 Officer apologised for the lateness of the report and advised Members that she was happy to offer a further briefing when the budget setting process was complete.

Following which the Section 151 Officer delivered a presentation to Members, a copy of which is attached at Appendix A to the Minutes

Members were invited to put their comments and questions forward.

·       With regards to the IDB issues, a Member queried whether a Section 31 grant award was a one-off payment.  The Section 151 Officer responded it could be and that financial support would be helpful, however although not straightforward, the Council wanted a permanent resolution to this situation.

·       In response to a query relating to the increase in employees’ salaries and pension contributions, the Section 151 Officer advised that 5% had been built in for 2022/23 and also for 2023/24 compares to previous years where increases had been more modest.  The Council had also been successful in being awarded grant funding to cover the cost of temporary posts, for example the Green Homes Grant Team and Homelessness Team.

In response to a query as to why the Council was making a £2m contribution to Reserves whilst in difficult financial times, page 31 of the Agenda refers, the Assistant Director, Finance explained in detail of the elements that made this money up  The Section 151 Officer added that the challenge with the figures was that a lot of the payments were one-offs, so if they were left in it would just move the problem forward for the following year.

·       A Member referred to the commentary and the targets set versus the numbers achieved for Kingfisher Caravan Park (KCP) and suggested that it would be useful if the Q2 Outturn report came to Committee.  With regards to the disappointing figures, it was highlighted that caravan sites owned by the private sector were performing well so was very concerned with the management of the KCP site.  It was further highlighted that failure to meet targets reduced the budget and a query was raised on what the revised target was going to be.  The Section 151 Officer advised Members that she would ask the budget holder to provide a response to all Members of the Committee.

·       A Member commented that there was not a table for Reserves contained within the pack and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 46.

To receive a report from Mazars LLP, External Auditors.

John Machej was in attendance on behalf of Mazars LLP, External Auditors, to present the Audit Planning Update and Progress Report – January 2023, pages 57 to 72 of the Agenda refer.  The report provided the Audit and Governance Committee with an update on progress made by Mazars LLP in delivering its responsibilities as East Lindsey District Council’s (ELDC) external auditors.

Key points were highlighted to Members as follows:

·       Mazars had completed work on the financial statements, however there had been no movement on the issue of the Audit Certificate as Mazars was still waiting for the Councils’ group accounts for 2021/22.

·       Mazars had accepted an objection on ELDC’s Statement of Accounts for 2021/22 in relation to the representation and handling of the income reportedly from the Business Improvement District (BID) Levy, page 61 of the Agenda refers.  Members noted that the work was ongoing and the outcome would be reported in due course.

Members were invited to put their comments and questions forward.

·       In response to the update on the BID levy, a Member highlighted that this was now no longer in existence, however, was interested in the process of the monies that were within the accounts.  In response to this, and a further query relating to payments made after the BID had closed the Section 151 Officer advised Members that she would provide a detailed response on this as it was a complex area and was currently being dealt with by the Council’s solicitors.

·       A Member commented that she was astonished what was going on with government at the moment and why the whole of its accounts was so behind.  It was proposed and seconded that on behalf of the Committee a complaint be made as it was such a serious issue and was affecting everyone’s audits.  Mr Machej advised that the appropriate channel to raise issues around procedure would be to contact the Controller and Auditor General at the National Audit Office (NAO) rather than central government.  Following a discussion, it was agreed that the Section 151 Officer would draft a letter to the NAO.

Following which it was,

RESOLVED:

·       That the Audit Planning Update and Progress Report – January 2023 be noted.

·       That the Section 151 Officer draft a letter to the NAO addressing the Audit and Governance Committee’s concerns relating to the government accounts.

To receive a report from the Group Manager - Insights & Transformation.

The Group Manager - Insights and Transformation Manager presented Members with the Risk Management Report, pages 73 to 82 of the Agenda refer.

The purpose of the report was to provide Members with an overview of Risk Management within the authority. The Strategic Risk Register had been reviewed at the quarterly risk clinic and by Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and the report provided Members with the Quarter 2 position statement as at 30 September 2022.   Members were informed that a draft Risk Management Framework for the Partnership was currently in development and would be presented to Committee on 15 March 2023 for discussion and review, Paragraph 1.3 of the Agenda refers.

Members were advised that there had been no changes to the scoring on the risk register from the last meeting and the risks with Assistants Directors across the Partnership were currently being reviewed.  It was highlighted to Members that currently the highest risks to the Council remained as Council Income and Economic Recovery.

Members were invited to put their comments and questions forward.

·       A Member highlighted that recently a letter had been sent to government relating to a local government review and based upon the experience of the Council becoming part of a Partnership queried whether a risk needed adding if the Partnership was to move to a unitary authority.  The Insights and Transformation Manager advised Members that she would pick this up with the Assistant Director for a review.

·       A Member considered that due to the cost-of-living crisis, there may be additional cost pressures that would remain and ultimately fed down into disposable income which would impact on people visiting the coast, impacting the Council’s income levels and queried whether it would be possible to have a more granular investigation in these areas.

·       A Member referred to Risk CORP002 – Uncertainty of future Lincshore flood defence scheme and considered that this was a serious risk to the Council, the economy and lives, therefore should be rated as a high risk.  A brief discussion following which Members agreed that ultimately it all depended on timescales and every year that passed increased the risk.  It was further highlighted that this was a high risk on the national risk register and should be on the local register.  The Insights and Transformation Manager advised Members that this had already been raised with the Assistant Director, Planning and Strategic Infrastructure and would seek a response for Committee.

·       Further to the risk with flooding, a Member queried whether there should also be a risk for climate change.

·       A Member commented that in terms of the process, there was a risk appetite table at the end of the register, however, could not see where this had been applied.  Clarity was also requested for confirmation as to who the risks were attributed to and why there was no detail for when the risks were introduced, target dates for mitigation and what the scoring was.  It was further considered that it would be useful to have heat  ...  view the full minutes text for item 48.

To receive a report from the Deputy Data Protection Officer.

Richard Steele, Data Protection Officer (ELDC and Boston Borough Council) presented Members with the Information Governance Annual Update, pages 83 to 96 of the Agenda refer.

The report provided Members of the Audit and Governance Committee with an overview of activity in relation to information governance, including data protection for the Authority and highlighted any changes or risks for the forthcoming year.

Key information was highlighted to Members at Paragraphs 1, 2 and 3, pages 83 to 87 of the agenda refer.  Members were further referred to Appendix A which outlined Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) trends and analysis.

Members were invited to put their comments and questions forward.

·       Further to a Member asking for further information through an internal process, rather than submitting a FOI, the Section 151 Officer advised Members that she would speak to the Deputy Data Protection Officer as it would be useful to get some guidance out to Members with regards to their rights in relation to this.

·       A query was raised whether the was any analysis made of the subjects of FOI requests and whether there was a trend or a particular need to investigate an area more fully.  The Data Protection Officer advised Members that as part of his role he fed back to the Communications Team and the various departments and managers where there were trends in terms of the subjects or otherwise, and also reported up to the relevant Assistant Directors.  The Section 151 Officer added that there was a significant number of FOI requests constantly coming from businesses where they were trying to ascertain who the Council had contracts with currently, when those contracts expired, etc so they could see bid for business in the future.

·       A Member was pleased to see the level of transparency on the FOIs.

·       A Member highlighted the increase in risk with employees working from home, and also the digital bill referred and asked it this could be elaborated on.  The Data Protection Officer acknowledged that there were additional risks around data protection, for example taking printed material home, however officers had been provided with additional guidance and risks had been mitigated to some degree.  In relation to the digital bill, until this came into force it was difficult to speculate on the content.

·       In response to a query relating to data being held in different databases across the organisation and the challenges with this, the Data Protection Manager advised Members that there was work underway to ensure the minimisation of risk.

Following which it was,

RESOLVED:

That the Information Governance Annual Update be noted.

To consider the Work Programme 2022/23.

Members were presented with the Audit & Governance Committee Work Programme 2022/23.

Following which it was,

RESOLVED:

That the Work Programme 2022/23 be noted.

The programmed date for the next Meeting of this Committee will be 15 March 2023.

The date of the next Meeting was confirmed as Wednesday 15 March 2023.