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Agenda and minutes

Venue: This meeting will take place virtuallly

Contact: Toby Howes, Senior Committee and Governance Officer  Tel: 07815 663854 Email:  thowessi@westminster.gov.uk

Media

Items
No. Item

1.

Membership

To note any changes to the membership.

Minutes:

1.1       There were no changes to the membership.

Media

2.

Declarations of Interest

To receive declarations by Members and Officers of the existence and nature of any pecuniary interests or any other significant interest in matters on this agenda.

 

Minutes:

2.1      There were no declarations of interest.

 

3.

Grant Thornton Annual Audit Letter pdf icon PDF 463 KB

To receive and consider a summary of the key findings arising from the work of Grant Thornton, auditors for Westminster City Council and its subsidiaries, joint ventures and associates for the year ended 31 March 2020 in line with the auditors’ Audit Findings Reports of 10 September 2020 and 2 December 2020. To consider the auditors’ assessment of the Council’s financial statements and arrangements to secure value for money (VFM) in its use of resources.

 

Minutes:

3.1       The Committee received a report from its external auditors, Grant Thornton, on the Annual Audit Letter. The Committee heard that, as per the November 2020 audit report, all local authorities had experienced similar issues in respect of valuations and the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the Committee was advised that there were no issues in respect of use of statutory powers and that the audit was now certified as closed.

 

3.2       The Committee heard that the action plan would be agreed with the audit authority for 2021 regarding improving record-keeping on valuations and that the City’s overall financial position and recognition of upcoming challenges was rated as “very strong”. The Committee heard that the fee process, subject to agreement with the Public Sector Audit Appointments, was yet to be determined.

 

3.5       The Committee heard that Paul Dossett for Grant Thornton had spent the maximum five years permitted as external auditors’ engagement lead for the City of Westminster, and noted that the City had a strong financial management culture. Paul Dossett introduced the Committee to his successor at Grant Thornton, Sarah Ironmonger.

 

3.6       The Committee discussed various key themes, including slippage on the capital programme; valuations; the use of remote technology; and providing timely data to the valuer. The Committee queried when slippage on a Capital Programme scheme was considered to have adverse impact. The Committee was advised that this depended upon context, the Local Authority’s understanding of reasons for slippage, mitigation arrangements, and plans for review. It was noted that there were no serious issues with the Council’s approach.

 

3.7       The Committee raised issues with respect to values of land and buildings seeming to be related to processes and systems rather than market fluctuations. The Committee queried whether annual valuation was necessary, given small variation in property values generally each year, and whether having annual valuations was a decision for the Council. The Committee was advised that the Council would be developing an action plan to address such process and system issues. Further, the Committee heard that, regarding regularity of valuations, this was complex as the CIPFA code demanded investments be valued annually, and assets valued on a five-yearly basis. The Committee was advised that, for the ease of meeting the five-yearly requirements, annual valuations might be most useful though this might not necessarily be considered the best use of council funds.

 

3.8       The Committee queried whether the use of remote technology to gather audit evidence during COVID-19 was sufficient. The Committee raised concerns about record-keeping and queries about benchmarks or comparators to help improve the Council’s understanding and approach. The Committee was advised that a mixed approach had been taken whereby the external auditors, Grant Thornton, in the proximity of sites had carried out physical visits and had used resources such as Google Maps where this could not be done. Regarding record-keeping, the Committee heard that the City had a complex portfolio and was aware that the classification of assets could be an issue, therefore improvements to the process would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

4.

Grant Thornton Progress Report pdf icon PDF 407 KB

To receive an Audit Progress Report and Sector Update from Grant Thornton, auditors for Westminster City Council.

Minutes:

4.1       The Committee received a report by its External Auditors, Grant Thornton, on progress to date. The Committee was advised that Grant Thornton would ordinarily be presenting audit plan, but that progress is behind as last year’s audit had taken longer than anticipated, that the 2019-20 audits had been completed and closure certified, with three grant claims also certified. The 2020-21 audit was in the planning process, and preliminary meetings had taken place with Finance, Estates, and valuers to improve the audit process for this year. The External Auditors’ Progress Report was summarised by Sarah Ironmonger (Grant Thornton), and changes to the Code of Audit Practice were noted. It was noted that Value for Money would be more of a focus, with recommendations made in line with the new Code.

 

4.2       RESOLVED: that the Committee note the report

5.

UK Local Authority Credit Risk

To receive a report on counterparty risk, necessary due diligence and credit checks on local authority names in the current Treasury counterparty list and accompanying consultant report about the statutory backdrop and an assessment of the current Treasury practices.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

5.1       The Committee decided to discuss UK Local Authority Credit Risk in a separate meeting.

 

6.

Finance and Performance Business Plan Monitoring pdf icon PDF 2 MB

To monitor Westminster City Council’s financial position at Quarter 9 including revenue forecast outturn, revenue expenditure including key risks and opportunities, capital expenditure and HRA revenue and capital expenditure and reserves.

 

To monitor Quarter 2 performance results against the business plans.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Finance Report

6.1       The Committee received a monitoring report on the Finance and Business Plan. The Committee heard that, for the forecast to December 2021, the COVID-19 context was noted to have had a significant impact on variation against budget (£70m) owing to reduced economic activity in Westminster during the pandemic. Officers advised the Committee that Government grants and support had partially offset this, and that there was net variation of £10m-£20m.

 

6.2       Rikin Tailor summarised the financial report, highlighting Government grants and the amounts allocated to the Council, as well as giving overview of projects in which variances had occurred. The Committee heard that Council tax and business rates collections had both dropped to 6% and 9.95% respectively year-on-year by December 2020, with court restrictions noted as impeding collection efforts.

 

6.3       The Committee raised concerns about these drops and any resultant draws on reserves. The Committee further raised its additional concerns about future increase on statutory services as a result of longer-term impacts of COVID-19 also affecting reserves, and delays to capital programme potentially resulting in cost implications for the Council. The Committee was assured that the impacts of COVID-19 had been built in to budgets including for Adult Social Care, and that contingency of risk had been allocated. A floor of £50m was noted as the point at which plans would be made to rebuild reserves.

 

6.4       Key themes of the Committee’s discussion emerged around lowered income from key activities, including parking and commercial waste. This was compared to the wider national economic contraction of 11-12%, with recovery forecast to take two years. The Committee heard that the Council’s approach was aligned with this, with 5% and 6% growth projected for those years respectively.

 

6.5       Regarding the Capital Programme, the Committee discussed the delay to the Place Shaping Enterprise Programme, with Deirdra Armsby noting that a dispute with a sub-contractor was one cause of this delay, but that such programmes of work generally had been at slowed pace throughout Covid-19, owing to social distancing rules.

 

            Performance Report

6.6       The Committee received the performance report with a summary presentation from officers. The Chairman suggested the possibility of a separate meeting to discuss the substantial report and its methodology.

 

6.7       The Committee raised queries about ensuring sufficient resourcing to ensure compliance with the draft Building Safety Bill should it become law. The Committee was given assurances by officers (Deirdra Armsby) that this would be addressed as the Bill progressed through parliamentary committee stages and evolved. On the point of youth unemployment, Greg Ward explained some of the Council’s efforts to address this, including dedicating five Westminster Employment Service coaches to young people, creating 30 council roles for young people using the Government’s KickStart funding and signing up 30 additional employers to the KickStart scheme, creating Westminster Wheels to train young people as bicycle mechanics with an initial cohort of 25 trainees, and encouraging apprenticeships from the Council’s partners and suppliers. The Committee commended the initiatives and it was agreed that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

7.

Internal Audit Monitoring Report pdf icon PDF 465 KB

To oversee and monitor the success of the Audit Service in planning and delivering outcomes and establishing an effective and robust internal control framework.

Minutes:

7.1       The Committee received the Internal Audit Monitoring report, which raised no pressing issues. Key themes from the Committee’s discussions included a point on 250 property purchases at a cost of >£88m and a query regarding the split of in-borough vs out-of-borough purchases.

 

7.2       The Committee was advised that housing direct payments were noted as having a “limited” assurance level. This was clarified as being due to the complexity of the issue, and improvements were being made. The Committee was advised that the next internal audit report would be the end-of-year report.

 

7.3       RESOLVED: that the Committee note the report.

8.

Internal Audit Plan pdf icon PDF 464 KB

To review and comment on the draft Audit Plan for 2021/2022.

Minutes:

8.1       The Committee heard a report on the Council’s Internal Audit Plan and upcoming plans to include persistent risks affecting the City of Westminster and other councils, as well as to allow annual planning to be more dynamic. The Committee was advised that meetings with Executive Directors had been constructive. Internal Audit expected to be able to present their quarterly work on an ongoing basis to the Committee.

 

8.2       RESOLVED: that the Committee note the report and receive quarterly reports in future.

9.

Corporate Complaints pdf icon PDF 140 KB

To receive a report on the volume and details of complaints received by Westminster City Council in 2019/2020.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

9.1       The Committee received a report on Corporate Complaints and was advised that housing management complaints formed a significant proportion of the increase in complaints, and this was explained as a result of CityWest Homes being returned to the City Council. Without housing complaints, there had been a reduction of 18% in Stage 1 complaints to the WCC through formal complaints procedures, and 13% of Stage 2 complaints, although the overall complaints figures for both stages were up significantly when Housing was included.

 

9.2       The Committee queried how good the Council was at learning from complaints. It was suggested that this was an area which could use some work and could be included in next year’s report. The Chairman requested that Adult Social Care and Children’s Services both shared their separate statutory complaints reports to ensure the Committee had a clearer picture of the total volume of complaints to the Council.

 

9.3       RESOLVED: that the Committee note the report and receive future updates.

10.

Westminster Housing Service pdf icon PDF 522 KB

To receive an update on the management of Westminster City Council’s housing stock for the current financial year.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

 

10.1     The Committee received an update on the Council’s housing service from Neil Wightman. The Committee heard that asbestos surveys in communal parts of housing estates were noted as a key issue, with surveys dropping to 35% during the pandemic (from 100%); although, as of the date of the Committee meeting, they were back up to 72% and on track to be completed by the end of March 2021. Complaints regarding antisocial behaviour on housing estates increased by one third in 2020-21 compared to 2019-20. To address this, the Committee was advised that the Westminster Housing Service was working with other departments and the police to obtain injunctions against serious offenders. Repairs, having been reduced during the pandemic, would return to full service by April 2021.

 

10.2     The Committee queried increasing resident involvement in estates. There were plans to maintain online engagement established during the pandemic and increase online opportunities for residents to get involved in consultations. This would be in addition to the estate action plans in development.

 

10.3     The Committee raised the need for improvements to case management for repairs services, as ward councillors often found that lack of contact is at the heart of resident complaints. Another query from the Committee noted culture issues present under CityWest Homes and asked Neil Wightman for his views on ethos and morale in housing services. He commented it was good, and staff were committed, with culture being a focus of the upcoming reorganisation.

 

10.4     The Committee reiterated the point about 65% seeming a low target for satisfaction with regard to antisocial behaviour complaints, given the severe impacts antisocial behaviour can have on multiple facets of people’s lives. The Committee was advised that targets were set with the aim of incremental improvements on the previous year’s figure, which was 63%.

 

10.5     RESOLVED: that the Committee note the report.

11.

Maintaining High Ethical Standards at Westminster City Council pdf icon PDF 594 KB

To maintain an overview of the arrangements in place for maintaining high ethical standards throughout Westminster City Council.

Minutes:

11.1     The Committee received a report on maintaining high ethical standards at Westminster

City Council. The Committee raised a query about the impact of remote working on oversight. The Committee was reassured by Lee Witham, Director of People Services, who stated that reassurance and trust levels were high. A further query was raised regarding the proportion of staff (9%) in the “Prefer not to say” category when responding to a staff survey question on whether the respondent had experienced bullying and/or harassment, and why staff may not feel comfortable answering “Yes” or “No”. It was agreed that it was undesirable that 18% of staff did not feel able to say they had not experienced bullying or harassment.

 

12.

Work Programme Report pdf icon PDF 395 KB

To review the Committee’s Work Programme and note any actions arising from the meeting on 2 December 2020.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

12.1     The Committee did not discuss its work programme, with discussions to be taken offline.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

13.

Any Other Business