Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Ali, Dixey and Umeadi and apologies for lateness were received from Councillor Khatoon.

There were no declarations of interest.

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

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 on 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.

Order of Agenda

The Chair proposed, and it was agreed, that Items 9, 10 and 11 would be moved up the agenda to be considered as the first substantive items.

Breaking of fast

The Chair proposed, and it was agreed, that the meeting would adjourn between 7.30pm and 8pm to allow those who were observing Ramadan to break their fast.

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.

A deputation was heard from the Camden Abu Dis Friendship Association and the Camden Friends of Palestine relating to Item 9, the Principal Risk Update, in accordance with the deputation statement published on the supplementary agenda. 

Members then asked questions of the deputees, and both the Chair and the Cabinet Member for Voluntary Sector, Equalities and Cohesion made some remarks.  The Chair thanked the deputees for their attendance.

There was no notification of urgent business.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 29^th February 2024 as a correct record.

The Committee Services Manager advised the Committee that Councillor Abdi-Wali was erroneously listed as having been absent from the 29^th February 2024 and asked the Committee to agree an amendment to the minutes in order to correct the error.

RESOLVED –

THAT the minutes of the meeting held on 24^th February 2024 be approved and signed as a correct record subject to the amendment detailed above.

Report of the Executive Director Corporate Services

The report seeks approval for the Annual Internal Audit and Investigations Plan for 2024-25.

In line with Committee’s Terms of Reference, the report asks Committee to approve the risk-based internal audit plan, including internal audit’s resource requirements (and any significant changes to either), the approach to using other sources of assurance and any work required to place reliance upon those other sources.

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

In relation to the IT audit plan, the Head of Internal Audit, Investigations and Risk Management indicated that the subject of the second review would be decided later in the year based on the risk assessment at the time, in order to ensure flexibility and a robust risk-based approach.  On the recommendations that remained open from the cyber and data security audit, she advised that these were medium priority recommendations and they were being worked on.  The Risk Manager confirmed that she was working with IT colleagues and undertaking informal risk reviews.

RESOLVED –

THAT the report be noted and

(i)            The Internal Audit Strategy at Appendix A be approved;

(ii)          The 2024-25 Annual Internal Audit Plan at Appendix B be approved;

(iii)         The Principal Risk Assurance map at Appendix C be approved; and

(iv)         The 2024-25 Annual Investigations Plan at Appendix D be approved.

Report of the Executive Director Corporate Services

This report provides the Committee with an update regarding the work undertaken by Internal Audit in relation to follow up activity to assess the level of implementation of audit recommendations.

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

In response to a question about the limited assurance on the Tenancy Management Organisations (TMOs) review, the Director of Housing remarked that there were some outstanding actions in relation to the Godwin and Crowndale TMO and that officers were working with them to iron out the issues, and were looking at increasing support to TMOs generally.  That said, 72% of tenants thought that the Godwin and Crowndale TMO was an effective manager.

On voids, a Member commented that there had been a lot of work on improving the turnaround time over the last few years, but there were some recommendations yet to be implemented.  The Director of Housing remarked that considerable work had been undertaken in recent years and a new voids procedure was being finalised which mapped out the whole process.  There was now a dedicated voids team in place and turnaround time was coming down although there was more work to be done on this.  There has also been a 90% increase in acceptances since the resumption of face-to-face viewings.  In response to a further question, the Director confirmed that there was a plan in place to improve record keeping, as part of the new digital and data strategy for council systems, but this would take some time to come to fruition.  In response to a question about medical assessments slowing down the allocations process, she confirmed that considerable work had been done on this and efforts were ongoing to streamline the allocations process.

RESOLVED –

THAT the report be noted.

Report of the Executive Director Corporate Services

This report provides an update on the action being taken to mitigate key principal risks and presents the Council’s position as at March 2024. In line with Committee’s Terms of Reference, the purpose of the report is to enable the Committee to monitor the effective development and operation of risk management in the Council.

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

In relation to potential topics for future deep dives, a Member expressed the view that Improving Climate Resilience and Community Cohesion ought to be the next deep dives.  Another Member expressed the view the increase in rough sleeping, and its impact on other services, should be the subject of a deep dive.  Other suggestions for areas that merited a deep dive were Safeguarding Adults, in light of its wider impact on services such as the NHS, and the Cost of Living Crisis.  Following discussion, it was

RESOLVED –

(i)            THAT the report be noted; and

(ii)          THAT risk deep dives be brought to the November 2024 meeting of the Committee on Safeguarding Adults and on the Cost of Living Crisis.

ACTION BY:             Executive Director Adults and Health/ Executive Director Corporate Services/ Executive Director Supporting Communities

Report of the Executive Director Children and Learning

This report provides Members with an overview of the “Safeguarding Children” principal risk to enhance the Audit and Corporate Governance Committee’s understanding of how this risk is being managed. The purpose of the risk deep-dive is to enable the Committee to fulfil its duties regarding monitoring the Council’s effective operation of risk management as set out in its Terms of Reference.

Consideration was given to a report of the Executive Director Children and Learning.

In response to questions, the Director of Children’s Prevention, Family Help and Safeguarding commented that the assessment process was robust and the voices of children were important within this process.  The service was moving towards a family help model, and away from a division between early years and children’s social work, which would mean the services could share resources and this would go some way to mitigating the risk presented should the Supporting Families grant end.  In response to a question regarding concerns elsewhere in the country about the relationship between children’s social care services and the Police, the Director commented that the service had a very strong relationship with the Camden and Islington Police Service and a police officer was part of the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) and provided on-site support and liaison.

RESOLVED –

THAT the report be noted.

Report of the Executive Director Adults and Health

This report provides Members with an overview of the ‘pressures in the health system’ principal risk to enhance the Committee’s understanding of how this risk is being managed. The purpose of the risk deep-dive is to enable the Committee to fulfil its duties regarding monitoring the Council’s effective operation of risk management as set out in its Terms of Reference.

Consideration was given to a report of the Executive Director Adults and Health.

In response to questions about NHS waiting lists and how solutions were being tailored to the needs of specific groups, the Assistant Director of Public Health remarked that NHS care across the country operated locally, regionally and nationally and consequently could have long lead in times, with GPs having little ability to influence this.  The NHS had a plan in place to deal with backlogs but the results were yet to be seen, and there was no easy answer.  The Council could not directly influence the situation, but could work to mitigate the risks it presented to some extent.  Intersectionality of need could compound the situation and there was a need to move towards a more holistic approach that considered how to manage multiple long-term conditions and their interactions.  In response to questions about mental health support, the Assistant Director observed that where there was a diagnosis of a mental health condition, the primary care practitioner would liaise with mental health services, but the key to successful treatment was a good interaction at diagnosis stage. 

In response to a question regarding whether a target score of 2 in relation to the risk presented by pressures in the health system was realistic, the Head of Adult Social Care Operations commented that it was impossible to assess the risk across the whole of the health system and so it was necessary to think strategically about what the potential risk might mean for the Council.  Many of the levers were not within the Council’s immediate control and so it might be sensible to revisit the target score.

The Head of Adult Social Care Operations confirmed that the workforce strategy due to be published within the next few weeks would include working with Good Work Camden to provide apprenticeships.

RESOLVED –

THAT the report be noted.

Report of the Executive Director Corporate Services

This report presents to the Audit and Corporate Governance Committee the audit completion letters of the external auditor, Mazars, for the 2019/20 and 2020/21 financial years.

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

Suresh Patel and Rajesh Arora of Mazars, the Council’s external auditor, advised that it was not yet clear when the results of the consultation on the backstop arrangements would be known or what a disclaimed audit opinion would look like.  There had been a constructive conversation with the Council about lessons learned over the last two years and principles and expectations for the 2021/22 audit had now been agreed.  Planning for this audit would be completed in April, work was expected to start in the last week of June, with field work completed by the end of August and the report submitted at the end of September.  Whilst this was a challenging timetable, regular meetings were taking place to move things along and the situation would be reviewed at the end of April to assess whether enough progress had been made to achieve the September target.

The Director of Finance added that there had been a lot of focus on lessons learned and there was a commitment from both the Council and Mazars to improve the process.  The Council’s team had been strengthened and the process was being closely managed as a defined project with targets and escalation points.

In response to a question regarding how many authorities were likely to put in disclaimed 2022/23 accounts, Mr Patel remarked that his estimate was that at least half of authorities would not have fully audited accounts by the end of September.  The Director of Finance remarked that even if this was the case for Camden’s 2022/23 accounts, it was still his intention to bring them to the committee for scrutiny and to publish them on the Council’s website.

A Member asked whether disclaimed 2022/23 accounts would present a problem with the 2023/24 accounts as the opening balances would not be able to be verified.  Mr Patel confirmed that this would be the case but it was not yet clear what form a disclaimer would take and what the exact implications would be.  It may mean that the 2023/24 accounts would be qualified due to the inability to verify the opening balances.

In relation to how the audits that Mazars had to undertake were prioritised, Mr Patel explained that Mazars had met with the section 151 officers of the seven London Boroughs that they were responsible for auditing and a timescale had been agreed.  Should any of the boroughs not deliver what was required within their agreed timeframe, their audit would move to the end of the programme.

RESOLVED –

THAT the Annual Audit Letters from Mazars for the audits of the 2019/20 and 2020/21 financial years be noted.

Executive Director Corporate Services

Annually, the Council’s reviews the accounting policies that will be applied to its financial statements against the relevant framework of legislation and guidance to ensure that the policies remain appropriate. The Audit and Corporate Governance Committee is asked to approve the accounting policies that will be used in preparing both the 2022/23 and 2023/24 statement of accounts.

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

In response to a question, the Director of Finance confirmed that changes to the accounting policy regarding depreciation of dwellings would have no impact on charges to residents.

RESOLVED –

(i)            THAT the Accounting Policies as set out in Appendix A of the report for each of the financial years 2022/23 and 2023/24 be approved; and

(ii)          THAT authority be delegated to the Executive Director Corporate Services, in consultation with the Chair of the Audit and Corporate Governance Committee, to approve any further amendments to the accounting policies that are found to be required during preparation of the accounts, noting that these will be reported to the Committee when the accounts are presented for approval.

Report of the Borough Solicitor

At every annual meeting of the Council, the Borough Solicitor submits a report to Council that seeks to:

• Establish the committees for the next municipal year

• Appoint members to them

• Confirm the terms of the Constitution and delegations to officers

The opportunity is also taken to make some minor updates to the Constitution. As the annual Council meeting is primarily ceremonial, it is important as far as possible that discussion at the meeting does not become overly political or the subject to any serious debate. To that end, any changes proposed at this meeting are designed to be nothing more than a tidying up and clarification. They do not therefore seek to make any significant changes in decision making or impact the rights and duties of Members.

Consideration was given to a report of the Borough Solicitor.

RESOLVED –

THAT the suggested changes to the Constitution detailed within the report, and the intention to include those changes in the annual report to Council in May, be noted.

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.

Members were reminded that the session for the Committee to consider its effectiveness during the 2023/24 municipal year was taking place on 25^th April 2024 at 6.30pm.

The Chair made reference to the recent resignation of Gio Spinella from the Council, and thanked him for his contribution during his time as a member of the Committee.

RESOLVED –

(i)            THAT the work plan for 2024/25 as set out at Appendix A be noted; and

(ii)          THAT the action tracker for actions arising from the previous meetings in 2023/24 as per Appendix C be noted.

There was no urgent business.