Agenda item

At the 27 July 2018 Corporate Governance meeting, members had asked questions surrounding assurances that needed to be provided in relation to the payments the Council make to FACT, following on from the Cambridgeshire County Council review.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:47 PM to allow members to read the report.

The meeting reconvened at 3.59 PM.

Kathy Woodward presented members with a report updating them on work undertaken by the Council in relation to their concerns. She explained that the report released by Cambridgeshire County Council( CCC) had been reviewed by the Chief Executive, Corporate Director, Section 151 officer, Internal Audit Manager, Head of Legal Services and Transport Manager. The group focused on the outcome of the PKF investigation commissioned by CCC and the implications to Fenland District Council and as a result, conducted a review of certain elements as documented in the report. She confirmed that the Council’s Management Team had agreed with the recommendations made in the report.

Councillor Clark thanked Kathy Woodward and officers for their work on this.

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

1.    Councillor Booth stated that there are other car-share schemes and providers available locally. Kathy Woodward clarified that car-share schemes are classed as social travel which is different to the Dial-A-Ride scheme therefore FACT are the only provider of this in the district.

2.    Councillor Booth asked if the Council are paying for legal advice in relation to this matter. Kathy Woodward confirmed that they are not.

3.    Councillor Booth stated that a review of this should not take place as part of the next Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) as this may not take place soon enough. He asked if the review could take place after the Service Level Agreement (SLA) review next year. Councillor Clark agreed with Councillor Booth.

4.    Councillor Sutton agreed and highlighted that there may not be a CSR next year and requested that a standalone review is carried out on this item. Kathy Woodward confirmed that the SLA review is due to take place after 31 March 2019.

5.    Councillor Murphy agreed, as waiting for the next CSR may take too long.

6.    Councillor Booth asked if the Council’s Internal Audit team could verify the accuracy of the journeys FACT claim for, with the individual users of the service. Kathy Woodward explained that contacting the individual users would be outside of the Internal Audit Team’s normal remit.

7.    Councillor Butcher said the Dial-A-Ride journeys are not recorded in the same way as journeys requiring bus passes. Councillor Booth said the journeys must be recorded as users are required to call and book them with FACT and FACT claim the money back via the Council.

8.    Councillor Booth said members require an added level of assurance that the journeys being claimed for by FACT are genuine. Kathy Woodward explained that she had considered attempting to validate these figures by observing actual journeys taking place on buses however this would take up the Council’s internal audit time.

9.    Councillor Murphy said in order to investigate every single claim, the Council would be required to monitor FACT at all times which would not be the correct use of the internal audit team’s time. Councillor Booth said a sample could be checked to verify these journeys.

10.Kamal Mehta said approaching the users of the service would not be appropriate as members of the public may feel like they are being investigated and deter them away from using the service. He reiterated that the subsidy paid is not a grant paid to FACT; it is reimbursing FACT for half of the fare foregone for these users. Effectively the Council are supporting the individual in being able to undertake these journeys.

11.Councillor Booth agreed but as FACT submits the invoices on behalf of the individuals, the Council must ensure that this is being done correctly.

12.Councillor Clark said members must remember that the management structure of FACT has changed dramatically since the investigation and Kathy Woodward has demonstrated that a robust process is in place to assure members.

13.Councillor Clark asked members to agree the report and suggested that this approval is sent on to the Corporate Management Team, the Leader and Cabinet.

14.Councillor Booth agreed with Councillor Clark however asked that officers liaise closely with CCC in relation to their own investigation into FACT. Councillor Clark agreed that a recommendation is added to the report that states any action taken by CCC should trigger a review of Fenland District Council’s own position.

15.Kathy Woodward confirmed that the Council are working alongside CCC in relation to this already. Councillor Booth asked that this work is included in the SLA.

16.Kamal Mehta stated that CCC is willing to work with Fenland District Council to ensure a common approach is taken to the monitoring of FACT. He reminded members that CCC do however have a larger number of contracts with FACT and therefore their SLA may be different to Fenland District Councils.

17.Councillor Butcher agreed that we must work alongside CCC and added that a lot of changes and improvements are taking place within FACT.

Councillor Clark thanked Kathy Woodward for her work on this report.

The Corporate Governance Committee agreed to the recommendations noted in the report and agreed to circulate their approval to the Corporate Management Team, the Leader and Cabinet. Members asked that Fenland District Council work closely with Cambridgeshire County Council to ensure each Council’s findings are aligned with one another.

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

Councillor Sutton stated that at the Corporate Governance Committee meeting on 27 July 2018, members had raised concerns in relation to the figures provided under the Statement of Accounts relating to Markets, Ports, Office Units & Factories and Estates. Councillor Sutton proposed that the Corporate Governance Committee write a letter to the Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel asking them to review these areas.

Councillor Booth agreed with Councillor Sutton.

Kamal Mehta explained that the matter had been raised with the Corporate Management Team by Carol Pilson (Monitoring Officer) and the relevant Corporate Director’s findings will be reported back to the Corporate Governance Committee in due course.

Councillor Booth thanked Kamal Mehta but said he believed the matter should be referred to the Overview & Scrutiny Panel instead, as they consider the Council’s Fees and Charges as part of their work programme.

The Corporate Governance Committee agreed that the Chairman of the Corporate Governance Committee write a letter to the Chairman of the Overview & Scrutiny Panel raising his concerns in relation to the performance of Markets, Ports, Office Units & Factories and Estates, as per the Statement of Accounts.