Agendas, reports and minutes

Minutes of Meeting of the Audit and Scrutiny Committee held in the Council Chamber, Council Headquarters, Glenurquhart Road, Inverness on Thursday, 28 November 2019 at 10.30am.

Present:

Mr G Mackenzie
Mr G Adam 
Mrs J Barclay
Mr B Boyd
Mr R Bremner (v/c)
Mrs M Davidson
Mrs A MacLean 
Mr D Macpherson
Mrs M Paterson 
Mr P Saggers
Mr B Thompson (v/c)

Non-Members also present:
Mr K Gowans 

Officials in Attendance:
Ms C McDiarmid, Executive Chief Officer – Communities and People 
Ms K Lackie, Executive Chief Officer – Performance and Governance
Ms L Denovan, Executive Chief Officer – Resources and Finance 
Mr S Fraser, Head of Corporate Governance 
Miss D Sutherland, Corporate Audit Manager
Ms E Johnston, Corporate Audit & Performance Manager
Mr J Campbell, Senior Auditor 
Ms S McKandie, Benefits and Welfare Manager
Mr A Gunn, Head of Revenues and Customer Services
Ms N Grant, Interim Head of Education
Ms F Cameron, Programme Manager (LEADER Programme) 
Ms W Anderson, Highland LEADER Programme Administrator 
Ms C Campbell, Head of Performance and Resources 
Ms E Barrie, HR Manager 
Mr D Goldie, Head of Housing and Building Maintenance 
Mr M Mitchell, Finance Manager (Community Services/Development and Infrastructure) 
Mr C Mackenzie, Insurance Officer 
Mr Paul Hankinson, Senior Auditor 
Miss J MacLennan, Democratic Services Manager
Ms M Zavarella, Administrative Assistant

An asterisk in the margin denotes a recommendation to the Council.  
All decisions with no marking in the margin are delegated to Committee.

Mr G MacKenzie in the Chair

1. Apologies for Absence
Leisgeulan

Apologies for absence were intimated on behalf of Mr R Balfour, Mr D Louden, and Mr S Mackie. 

2. Declarations of Interest
Foillseachaidhean Com-pàirt

Item 4 – Mrs M Davidson (Non-Financial)

3. Internal Audit Reviews and Progress Report – 01/06/19 – 06/09/19    
Ath-bhreithneachaidhean In-sgrùdaidh agus Aithisg Adhartais

There had been circulated Report No. AS/18/19 dated 18 November 2019 by the Corporate Audit Manager which summarised the final reports issued since the date of the last meeting, together with details of work in progress and other information relevant to the operation of the Internal Audit Section as follows:-

Care and Learning – Provision of Early Learning and Childcare Services (Reasonable Assurance) 

During discussion, information was sought and received by Members in relation to the following issues:-

• the recording of childcare usage and collection of income;
• the information being provided for parents/carers at the point where care began;
• the process to identify pupils due to transition and methods of communication to be used to ensure that any issues were identified prior to transition; and
• the lack of systems within the Council to prevent overpayments being made by parents which was an issue which had been outstanding for some time.

Care and Learning – Pupil Equity Fund (Substantial Assurance) 

(No issues raised at the meeting) 

Development & Infrastructure – LEADER Programme 2018-19 (Substantial Assurance)

During discussion, Members noted that LEADER funding was now fully committed and this was welcomed.

It was also highlighted that this Programme would be a great loss to communities, and especially young people, across the Highlands and thanks were conveyed to the Officers concerned for the excellent work which had been undertaken in previous years. 

Corporate Resources – Review of Insurance Arrangements (Reasonable Assurance)

During discussion, information was sought and received by Members in relation to the following issues:-

• the previous lack of assurance that all vehicles hired by the Council had been recorded on the MID database and so had been properly insured although it was noted that this issue was now being addressed;     
• the need for checks to be undertaken on drivers of Council vehicles in relation to such issues as health, previous driving offences, etc;
• the value of the Council’s Insurance Fund, including claims pad and reimbursements received;
• the current arrangements in place in respect of commercial tenants;
• the Council’s Duty of Care in regard to employees and specifically drivers of vehicles hired by the Council; and
• the need for further information on the Management Briefings arranged by the Council in this regard.    

Corporate Resources – Review of Absence Management Arrangements (Limited Assurance)

During discussion, information was sought and received by Members in relation to the following issues:-

• the need for further information in relation to how/where/when Return to Work Interviews were undertaken and whether there were any specific geographical or Service issues in this respect;
• whether there was any connection between the location of absences and the level of spend on recruitment in such locations;
• the need for a further formal follow-up review on this issue at an early date;
• discussion to be undertaken by the Leader of the Council with the Chief Executive and Executive Chief Officers as a matter of priority;
• the need for a clear understanding and related reporting arrangements in connection with current levels of absence across the Council;
• the importance of Return to Work Interviews being supportive and not challenging for employees;
• the disappointing comparison between Highland Council and other Local Authorities in Scotland on this issue;
• the reasons being put forward by employees, including teachers, for illness, semi-retirement and full retirement; 
• the limited implementation of recommendations which had been presented following a scrutiny review on this issue in 2017 and the role for Executive Chief Officers in recognising and identifying future trends in this regard;
• the concern about the workload for teachers which would now be overseen by Executive Chief Officers in future;
• the regulations around employees who were absent from Council work but employed elsewhere in terms of a ‘second job’; and
• the need for a strong recognition that the most important people in the Council were the frontline staff and the duty of care which was required in this regard.  

Community Services – Investigation into Missing Housing Income (System Weaknesses) (Limited Assurance) 

(No issues raised at the meeting). 

Update from the Vice Chair - City Region Deal 

A verbal summary was provided by the Vice Chair of the Committee in relation to recent progress on the City Region Deal during which it was confirmed that two meetings of the City Region Deal Monitoring Group had now been held in August and November and good progress had been made across a range of issues, including Scottish Government update reports and the RAG system for individual projects.

As such, future meetings would be timetabled and held quarterly in 2020.

The position was NOTED.  

Thereafter, the Committee also NOTED the Final Reports referred to in Section 4.1 of the report, the current work of the Internal Audit Section as outlined at Section 5 of the report and details of progress against the plan at Appendix 1.

It was also AGREED that - in relation to Corporate Resources – Review of Absence Management Arrangements (Limited Assurance) – there should be a further formal follow-up review on this issue at an early date. 

4. Action Tracking Report 

Declaration of Interest- Mrs M Davidson declared a non-financial interest in this item on the basis that a family member was a Council employee but, having applied the test outlined in Paragraphs 5.2 and 5.3 of the Councillors’ Code of Conduct, concluded that her interest did not preclude her from taking part in the discussion.
 
There had been circulated Report No. AS/19/19 dated 18 November 2019 by the Corporate Audit Manager.

In this regard, a correction to the report was highlighted at Section 5 (Paragraph 5.1) whereby it was confirmed that the number of actions which had been satisfactorily implemented was 50 (and not 51 as had been stated) and the number of actions not yet implemented and for which revised target dates had been agreed was 20 (and not 19 as stated).       

During discussion, and with specific reference to the Review of Burials and Cremations (Policy, Legislation and Processes), it was noted that there had now been a number of delays in addressing this issue. As such, and in expressing disappointment that Members had not had any involvement to date, it was suggested that this whole issue should now be referred to the Redesign Board for detailed consideration.     

Thereafter, the Committee NOTED the action tracking information which had been provided, including the revised target dates for the completion of outstanding actions.

It was also AGREED that all issues pertaining to the review of Burials and Cremations should now be submitted to the Redesign Board for detailed consideration which would also allow input from Members.

5. Corporate Complaints Performance Monitoring 

There had been circulated Report No. AS/20/19 dated 19 November 2019 by the Executive Chief Officer Resources and Finance. 

The Committee NOTED:-
 
i.     the Council’s 6-monthly performance for Frontline (5 days) and Investigation (10 days) complaints;
ii.    the continued improvement in performance at Frontline and the sustained performance for Investigation against a backdrop of a 17.34% increase in the volume of complaints received; and
iii.   the number of complaints continued to be a low volume (<1%) within the context of the scale of the Council’s customer base and the scope of services provided.

6. Annual Report of Scottish Public Service Ombudsman Cases determined in 2018/19
                                                                                      
There had been circulated Report No. AS/21/19 dated 18 November 2019 by the Executive Chief Officer Performance and Governance. 

The Committee:- 

i.     NOTED the outcomes of the SPSO cases; and
ii.    NOTED that actions had been taken in response to the Ombudsman recommendations.

7. Members Survey on the Effectiveness of Audit and Scrutiny Committee

There had been circulated Report No. AS/22/19 dated 18 November 2019 by the Corporate Audit and Performance Manager. 

During discussion, it was confirmed that a record was kept of the training which had been completed by individual Members of the Committee and that this would be used in terms of assessing what had been completed and what still needed to be addressed in future.  

Thereafter, the Committee:- 

i.     NOTED the key findings of the survey;
ii.    AGREED that the survey should continue to be conducted annually;
iii.   NOTED that training was under development with modules on internal audit, risk and performance management completed for online learning; and
iv.   NOTED that the overall requirements for training would be finalised through the Council’s internal Governance Review.

8. Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Scotland) Act 2000 (RIPSA)

It was noted that the Council had made 14 applications for authorisation in terms of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Scotland) Act 2000 in the current calendar year. 

These applications involved 13 for directed surveillance and 1 for a covert human intelligence source (CHIS). 

The Committee NOTED:- 

i.     the number of applications and that the Council continued to be a modest user of the powers; and
ii.    that a further report would be forthcoming to the March 2020 meeting. 

9. Accounts Commission, How Councils work, Safeguarding public money: are you getting it right?

There had been circulated Report No. AS/23/19 dated 19 November 2019 by the Corporate Audit and Performance Manager.  

The Committee NOTED:-

i.     the key messages of the report; and
ii.    the helpful Councillor check-lists throughout the publication which supported Members’ scrutiny role. 

The meeting ended at 12.46pm.