Agenda item

The purpose of this report is to provide members of the Corporate Governance Committee with an update on progress of recommendations made in the FACT report briefing note.

Members considered the FACT – Update on progress report, presented by Kathy Woodward.

Members asked questions, made comments and received responses as follows;

1.    Councillor Clark asked if there is member involvement in relation to the development of the Service Level Agreement (SLA) between the Council and FACT. Kathy Woodward confirmed that the development of an SLA is an officer derived process and added that concessionary fares will be considered as part of the future Transformation and Efficiency Plan (TEP), which will replace the previous Comprehensive Spending Review.

2.    Councillor Clark asked if members will approve the SLA and highlighted the importance of member involvement in these areas. Kathy Woodward explained that the original policy, approved by Full Council, included the creation of an SLA between the Council and FACT. Future development of this SLA is an extension of the original policy and is undertaken by officers.

3.    Councillor Clark stated that members are currently unaware of the proposals which are being considered under the TEP. Peter Catchpole clarified that the development of the TEP is in its infancy and at the moment officers are only collating ideas and proposals to present to members post elections. He confirmed that once the initial proposals are collated, members will be involved in its future development.

4.    Councillor Booth explained that members direct policy however it is the officers’ responsibility to develop the SLA as per the policy approved by Full Council. He added that if there is an issue with this, the policy may need to be reconsidered by members.

5.    Councillor Booth asked if the Council will get assurance from FACT in relation to the concerns reported in the Press regarding the division in income of their not-for-profit account and commercial account. Kathy Woodward confirmed that the Council have requested this information from FACT and are awaiting their response. She added that the accounts will be for 2019/20 and not the previous years.

6.    Councillor Booth asked if the Council are liaising with Cambridgeshire County Council in relation to their investigation into FACT. Kathy Woodward confirmed that the Council’s Transport Manager is liaising with Cambridgeshire County Council however both Councils have different business models with FACT and therefore separate concerns and recommendations.

7.    Councillor Clark thanked Kathy Woodward for her work on this report. He explained that the Corporate Governance Committee had recommended an investigation into FACT to provide assurance for the Council that any money provided to FACT was being processed correctly. He stated that there are still concerns relating to the transparency of FACT.

8.    Councillor Butcher explained that as a Board Member of FACT, he can confirm that a lot of work has been undertaken within the organisation. He believed it had been confirmed that any subsidy received from the Council in relation to concessionary fares had been processed correctly by FACT. He added that the Council do not hold any commercial contracts with FACT like Cambridgeshire County Council do.

9.    Councillor Booth asked if the Council’s SLA with FACT includes a provision to access their financial information as members would like assurance that the not-for-profit and commercial accounts are administered correctly. Kathy Woodward confirmed that the Council do have the right to access FACT’s accounts as per the SLA.

10.Councillor Butcher explained that whilst it will take time to implement new procedures, the Board at FACT has changed dramatically and the organisation also has new auditors.

11.Kathy Woodward highlighted that the Council do not provide FACT with grants; they provide a subsidy to reimburse users of FACT’s Dial-A-Ride service for a ‘fare foregone’. She confirmed to members that she was happy with the progress of the recommendations.

(Councillor Butcher declared an interest by virtue of the fact that he is a board member of FACT)

The Corporate Governance Committee considered the progress made to date.