Agenda and minutes

To agree the procedures for the operation of hybrid meetings.

RESOLVED –

THAT the hybrid meeting procedures be agreed.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Berry, Cotton and Mulholland.

There were no declarations.

Broadcast of the meeting

The Chair to announce the following: ‘In addition to the rights by law that the public and press have to record this meeting, I would like to remind everyone that this meeting is being broadcast live by the Council to the Internet and can be viewed on our website for twelve months after the meeting. After that time, webcasts are archived and can be made available upon request.

If you have asked to address the meeting, you are deemed to be consenting to having your contributions recorded and broadcast, including video when switched on, and to the use of those sound recordings and images for webcasting and/or training purposes.’

Any other announcements

Independent Members of the Committee

The Chair welcomed Fehintola Akinlose and Alan Layton, the new independent members of the Committee, to their first committee meeting.

Broadcasting of the meeting

The Chair announced that the meeting was being broadcast live by the Council to the Internet and could be viewed on the website for twelve months after the meeting. After that time, webcasts were archived and could be made available upon request. Those who were seated in the meeting room or participating via Teams were deemed to be consenting to having their contributions recorded and broadcast and to the use of those sound recordings and images for webcasting and/or training purposes.

Requests to speak at the Committee meeting on a matter on its agenda must be made in writing to the clerk named on the front of this agenda by 5pm two working days before the meeting.

There were no deputations.

There was no notification of urgent business.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 17^th November 2022 as a correct record.

RESOLVED –

THAT the minutes of the meeting held on 17^th November 2022 be approved and signed as a correct record.

Report of the Executive Director Corporate Services

This report presents the 2021/22 audited accounts for Camden Learning Ltd.

Consideration was given to a report of the Executive Director Corporate Services, which was introduced by the Managing Director of Camden Learning and the Chief Operating Officer of Camden Learning.

In response to questions from Members, officers made the following comments:-

·         Camden Learning did offer some services to other boroughs, but this was a small part of its business and its focus was very much on Camden schools.

·         If more schools chose to become academies, there was a risk that the Council would start to lose income, leading to a reduction in services commissioned from Camden Learning.  However, those schools would still be part of Camden Learning and might pay more for its services.

·         Indications were that the Council would continue to commission services from Camden Learning until at least 2026.  If the commission was then to cease, the services would still need to be provided, albeit via a different mechanism.  It should also be noted that the majority of Camden Learning staff had been seconded over from the Council.  Schools were indicating that they hoped Camden Learning would continue beyond the current commission.

·         Camden Learning was run on a membership model and decisions were taken by the Board of Directors.

·         Camden Learning held reserves of up to three months operating costs, which was about £600,000.  Any surplus over and above that was reinvested into services.

RESOLVED ­­–

THAT the report be noted.

Report of the Executive Director Corporate Services

This report updates the Audit and Corporate Governance Committee on the status of financial reporting and external audit of accounts at Camden.

Consideration was given to a report of the Executive Director Corporate Services.

In response to questions, officers made the following comments:-

·         Infrastructure assets were held at historic cost and the assumption was that, as the assets were depreciated over their useful economic lives, the value of these assets was eventually removed from the books.  The rate of depreciation varied depending on the type of asset and officers were working on agreeing depreciation rates that all parties were confident would be sound.

·         There was a clear plan in place to ensure that accounts production and audit was brought back within statutory timeframes by the time the 2023/24 accounts were due.  This was of course subject to wider national issues being resolved, but officers had done a lot of work to ensure that it could be done.

Suresh Patel of Mazars, the Council’s external auditors, advised the Committee that as the issues from the 2019/20 accounts had been addressed, they should not cause delay in the audit of subsequent year’s accounts.

The Executive Director Corporate Services remarked that, whilst having four sets of accounts outstanding at the same time was not optimal, there were no concerns about the robustness of the Council’s finances and the overall financial strategy and management within the Council was sound.

RESOLVED –

THAT the report be noted.

Report of the Borough Solicitor

The report invites the Audit and Corporate Governance Committee to recommend to Council the Members’ Allowances Scheme for the 2023/24 financial year.

Consideration was given to a report of the Borough Solicitor.

Members discussed the various options and the need for the increased cost of living, and the cost of being a councillor, to be more realistically reflected in the allowances in order to attract a range of Members that more accurately reflected the community within Camden.  There was consensus that raising the Dependant Carers’ Allowance to a level that more closely reflected the cost of babysitting services in the borough was in line with this aspiration and that increasing the basic allowance in line with the officer pay award was the most appropriate option to recommend to the Council.

Some Members also expressed the view that at some point in the near future the special responsibility allowances for the Leader and Cabinet Members needed to be reviewed to ensure that they were at a level that did not deter suitable candidates from putting themselves forward.  It would also be helpful to have an agreed longer term approach so that the issue did not have to be revisited so frequently.

The Legal Adviser remarked that it would be open for Members to review the scheme again once the final report of the Independent Remuneration Panel had been published.

A Member observed that few of their colleagues claimed the Dependent Carers’ Allowance and this appeared to be because they tended to use family members to undertake their child care and the scheme did not permit claims for care in those circumstances. 

After being proposed and seconded, it was unanimously:

RESOLVED –

THAT the Council be recommended to agree

i)               That the Basic Allowance be increased by £2,355;

ii)              That the Dependent Carers’ Allowance be raised to a maximum gross hourly rate of £15;

iii)            That otherwise the scheme remains unchanged from 2022/23; and 

iv)            That the Borough Solicitor be authorised to take all necessary steps in relation thereto including amendments to the Constitution, and publication and operation of the Scheme.

ACTION BY:           Borough Solicitor

Report of the Director of People and Inclusion

This report provides a summary of the pay accountability requirements under the Localism Act 2011 and the Council’s proposed pay policy statement for 2023/24 to meet these requirements.

Consideration was given a report of the Director of People and Inclusion.

In response to a question regarding the gender pay gap and the ethnicity pay gap, the Reward and Human Resource Management Information Manager stated that the annual report on these was due to be published imminently and would be circulated to members of the Committee.

                        ACTION BY:             Director of People and Inclusion

RESOLVED –

THAT the Council be recommended to agree the proposed pay policy statement for 2023/24 as attached at Appendix 1 of the report.

Report of the Borough Solicitor

This report summarises plans for the Committee’s work programme and training and provides an action tracker detailing progress on actions arising from the previous meeting.

Consideration was given to a report of the Borough Solicitor.

RESOLVED –

(i)             THAT the work plan for the remainder of 2022/23 as set out at Appendix A of the report be noted;

(ii)           THAT the training sessions that have taken place for members of the Committee be noted; and

(iii)          THAT the action tracker for actions arising from the previous meeting, as per Appendix C, be noted.

There was no urgent business.