Agenda and minutes

Councillor Rathbone was elected as Chair of the Panel.

Nominations for Vice Chair are postponed until the next meeting.

Grant Thornton Housing Benefit Item:

Panel Members noted that the sentence on the Council’s response to financial challenges, Brexit and political uncertainties, did not pertain to the report in question.

LBL Value for Money Report:

Under “Resolved”, the word “opinion” be amended to “conclusion”.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 26 March 2018 be agreed as an accurate record.

No interests were declared

Action: the Director of Financial Services and Programme Manager are to update the Panel on the progression of the system after the system has gone live, at the next Panel meeting.

Action: The completed Audit Statement of Accounts will be itemised at the September meeting by the clerk.

RESOLVED the Panel noted that the Authority will not meet the 31 July 2019 reporting deadline and that the concerns were raised in respect of the quality of financial reporting. One reason for this is under resourcing in the Finance Department. The Panel recommend that the Public Accounts Committee give consideration to the level of resourcing in the team with a view to increase the resource available

RESOLVED for due diligence reasons, the Panel asked that Grant Thornton prepare to speak and share their official response to the FRC’s report at the September meeting.

Action: the Chair asked that the Annual Counter Fraud update be put on the agenda as a standard item rather than an appendix. The clerk will ensure this is an item for the July meetings.