Venue: Council Chamber, Fenland Hall, County Road, March
Contact: Niall Jackson
Member Services and Governance Officer
Items
No. |
Item |
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Appointment of a vice chair
In the absence of Councillor
Davies, Councillor Wicks was elected as Vice Chair for the duration
of the meeting.
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ARMC40/21 |
Previous Minutes. PDF 175 KB
To confirm and sign the minutes
of 29 November 2021.
Minutes:
The
minutes of the meeting of 29 November 2021 were confirmed and
signed subject to the following comments:
- Peter Catchpole noted an amendment to the minutes so they read
“Councillor Wicks questioned the use of imperial and metric
measurements and asked whether the necessary correction in
procedures had been noted and amended”. He also noted
that the spelling of Barkley’s needed to be changed to
Barclays.
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ARMC41/21 |
Auditor Annual Report 2020-21 PDF 2 MB
To note the independent
external auditors, Ernst &Young (EY), Annual Audit
Report.
Minutes:
Members considered the Auditor
Annual Report 2020-21 presented by Mark Saunders.
Peter Catchpole stated his
gratitude for the report and thanked Mark Saunders and the Finance
Team for all their work. This was supported by Councillor K
French.
Members AGREED to note the contents of the Auditor Annual Report
2020-21.
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ARMC42/21 |
External Audit Appointment Process PDF 219 KB
To update members on the
procedure for appointing External Auditors and to recommend the
approach for 2023/24 – 2028/29 to be considered by Full
Council.
Minutes:
Members considered the External Audit Appointment Process
presented by Kathy Woodward.
Members made comments, asked questions, and received responses
as follows:
- Councillor Benney expressed the view that the decision seemed to
be an easy one and that it was clear to see why opting in would be
preferred. He explained that it would be expensive and difficult
for Fenland District Council to appoint their own auditors and
noted that he would be following the recommendation to opt into the
Public Sector Audit Appointments. Councillor Meekins agreed with
Councillor Benney’s comments.
- Councillor Wicks stated that there had been many obstacles over
previous years and commended that the work of the Council and
external auditors had moved smoothly this year. He also stated that
he would fully support the recommendation.
Members
AGREED to recommend to Council:
1.
that Fenland District Council opt-in to the PSAA
sector led auditor appointment arrangements for the Council,
subject to receiving a satisfactory invitation to opt into the
PSAA's appointing person arrangements; and
2.
to delegate acceptance of the invitation to the
Corporate Director & Chief Finance Officer, as the Council's
Section 151 Officer.
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ARMC43/21 |
Treasury Management Strategy Statement, Capital Strategy, Minimum Revenue Provision Policy Statement and Annual Investment Strategy 2022/23 PDF 457 KB
To endorse the strategy to be
included in the final budget report.
Minutes:
Members considered the Treasury Management Strategy Statement,
Capital Strategy, Minimum Revenue Provision Policy Statement and
Annual Investment Strategy 2022/23 presented by Mark
Saunders:
- Mark Saunders informed the Committee that the base bank rate had
increased after the report had been published and that they were
predicting further increases of between 1 and 1.25 percent in
2022.
Members made comments, asked questions, and received responses
as follows:
- Councillor Wicks asked for clarification regarding the temporary
investments. He noted that several of them were coming up to their
maturity date and presumed that they would be renegotiated for
better interest rates. Mark Saunders explained that when the
temporary investments mature, they attempt to reinvest them for
better interest rates. He noted that the amount of time they are
invested for was dependent on the cash flow and that some recent
reinvestments had been kept short due to the substantial amount of
cash being paid out by the authority in the next month or so. He
mentioned that the interest rates had risen slightly but that it
was a matter of how quickly they increase.
- Councillor Benney noted that the Council had some long-term
loans that could not be paid back earlier and asked how long was
left on those loans. Mark Saunders informed the committee that the
Council had two loans with the Public Works Loan Board. One was for
£2 million which was currently running at running six and
seven eights interest and was taken out on the 3rd
February 1994 with a maturity date of 1st February 2029.
The other loan was for £2.5 million with a current interest
of seven and five eights percent which was taken out on
13th March 1997 and matures on 13th March
2032. He also noted that the Council had a loan with Barclays of
£3.3 million which was taken out on the 18th March
2004 and matures on the 18 March 2054 which was running at 4.7
percent interest. He explained that these were good interest rates
when they were fixed and that nobody would have thought that the
interest rates would drop as low as they currently are with 50-year
loans at only 2.2 percent interest rates currently. Councillor
Benney accepted that the rates were good when the loans were taken
out.
- Councillor Benney noted that inflation was currently above five
percent and that bank rates should be matching this. He also noted
that he had recently read that there was a possibility of inflation
hitting seven percent. He remarked that this made the current
figures on the loans look rather small comparatively. Councillor
Benney questioned whether some of the figures were on the
optimistic side as they were predicted to remain where they were in
the report. Mark Saunders agreed that the inflation forecast was a
concern. He noted that it would take a while for inflation to work
its way out of the system. He explained that the base rates had
been worked into the ...
view the full minutes text for item ARMC43/21
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ARMC44/21 |
Internal Audit Plan 202122 Progress report Q3 PDF 222 KB
To consider and note the
activity and performance of the Internal Audit function.
Minutes:
Members considered the Internal Audit Plan 202122 Progress
report Q3 presented by Kathy Woodward.
Members made comments, asked questions, and received responses
as follows:
- Councillor Benney thanked Katherine Woodward for the report. He
noted that with all the business grants that had been administered
there would be fraudulent claims from some businesses. He asked
whether they were doing any work to track any fraudulent claims in
Fenland down and how this was being undertaken if they were.
Katherine Woodward informed the committee that they were working
with BEIS on this issue and that they had requested examples of
Fenland District Council’s work. She noted that they had done
a lot of prepayment checks on businesses before administering the
grants and that they had found no fraudulent cases yet. She
explained that they had been able to fund a resource for several
days this year to support them with this work. She noted that they
had also worked with the National Fraud Initiative who had had
supplied some data surrounding bank account details and whether
businesses were trading to allow the Council to provide post
payment assurance. She also noted that there had been 20 days put
aside in the yearly audit plan for post payment assurance work to
support the work on business grants. She explained that the post
payment assurance work was ongoing and would come to the committee
within the year end report. She informed the committee that there
had been a few grants paid out in error but that none of these were
fraudulent. Peter Catchpole noted that the Council had not been
very high up on original Covid grant table in April 2020 which
outlined the number of grants administered by Councils across the
Country. He pointed out that this was now showing that they had
taken the right stance in being vigilant with the checks before
administering the grants and noted that it was showing the funds
had gone out in the correct fashion.
- Councillor Benney noted that he was aware that they were
slightly behind with the grant administration when the pandemic
first hit and that it was good news that there had been no
fraudulent claims especially with the amount of money that had
passed through and the speed in which it had to be distributed. He
thanked the team for their work. He also noted that some businesses
had sent money back and commended those who turned it down due to
being successful enough to manage without the grants.
- Councillor Wicks commended the internal audit team for the
period that the report covered and noted that it contained a very
positive set of achievements during a tumultuous time where a new
template had to be created to deal with the exceptional
circumstances.
- Councillor Hoy asked whether the housing standards data could be
shared with the portfolio holders in future when they complete the
reports as it was positive to see that there were no concerns
despite the recent changes to the process. ...
view the full minutes text for item ARMC44/21
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ARMC45/21 |
Risk Register – Quarterly update PDF 662 KB
To review and approve the
quarterly risk register.
Minutes:
Members considered the Risk Register – Quarterly update
presented by Stephen Beacher.
Members made comments, asked questions, and received responses
as follows:
- Councillor Benney noted that the risk of funding changes making
the Council unsustainable if no action was taken was RAG rated red
and that the current risk was also red. He asked what officers were
doing to reduce this risk. Peter Catchpole explained that the
problem, which had been outlined in current and past budget papers,
was that many reviews were still outstanding including the business
rates and new homes bonus reviews resulting in several unknowns. He
noted that the business rates review would be the most important as
it contributed a significant amount of income to the Council. He
explained that until there was a level of certainty regarding the
reviews there would be little change in the risk and noted that
they constantly monitor the situation and discuss the issues with
other relevant bodies and were currently doing all they could.
Councillor Benney noted that it was the only risk with no
mitigation that was still red but accepted that this was out of the
Council’s hands. He stated that it was reassuring to see the
Council doing everything possible to bring the risk down. He stated
that it would be nice to think that any loss would be compensated
elsewhere if the funds were removed as the changes would affect
most Council’s in a similar way. Peter Catchpole reiterated
that it was the uncertainty that meant it was rated red and noted
that it was not a massive concern.
Members AGREED to
note the Corporate Risk Register Quarterly update.
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ARMC46/21 |
Audit and Risk Management Committee Work Programme PDF 152 KB
Minutes:
Councillor
Miss French presented the Audit and Risk Management Committee Work
Programme 2021/22 for information:
·
Councillor K French noted that there would be no
training session before the next meeting.
The Audit and
Risk Management Committee Work Programme was noted for
information.
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