Meeting documents
Shared Services Joint Committee
Wednesday, 23rd September, 2009
| Date: | Monday 22 June 2009 | Time: | 3.30pm | Place: | Cross Room, Civic Centre, West Paddock, Leyland PR25 1DH |
| Present: | Councillors Mr C J Clark (South Ribble BC), Mr A Cullens (Chorley BC) and Mr S M Robinson (South Ribble BC) |
| In attendance: | Garry Barclay (Synergy ? Head of Shared Assurance Services), Susan Guinness (Synergy ? Head of Shared Financial Services), Gary Hall (Chorley BC), Andy Houlker (South Ribble BC) and Mike Nuttall (South Ribble BC) |
| Public attendance: | 0 |
| Other Officers: | Councillor K Joyce (Chorley BC) |
| Item | Description/Resolution | Status | Action | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OPEN ITEMS | ||||
| 1 |
Appointment of Chairman Councillor Clark be appointed chairman for the municipal year 2009/10. (Councillor Clark took the chair) |
Agreed | ||
| 2 |
Appointment of Vice-Chairman Councillor Cullens be appointed vice-chairman for the municipal year 2009/10. |
Agreed | ||
| 3 |
Apologies for Absence An apology for absence was received on behalf of Councillor A Cain (Chorley BC). |
Noted | ||
| 4 |
Minutes of the Last Meeting Minutes attached In respect of min. no.12 the committee was informed that the Workforce Plan was still work in progress. A series of employee meetings were scheduled including an away-day on 9 July 2009. Following these a report would be presented to the next meeting of the committee. The committee was advised that the external auditor for the Financial Shared Services Arrangements had recently been announced. This would be Fiona Blatcher who was already South Ribble and Chorley Borough Council's auditor. It was reported that almost all posts in the structure had been filled. However, the recent external recruitment of a Principal Financial Accountant had been unsuccessful. It was explained that whilst now there had been plenty of applicants, which was encouraging for the partnership, the issue had been the calibre of applicants. RESOLVED: that with the foregoing explanation, the minutes of the meeting held on 9 March 2009 be signed as a correct record. |
Agreed | ||
| 5 |
Statement of Accounts 2008/09 Statement of Accounts attached It was reported that the Audit Commission had recently clarified the need for the partnership to produce a set of accounts for 2008/09 (from its creation in January to March 2009). This included statements of responsibilities and accounting policies, and core financial statements. All transactions were recorded within the accounts of both councils. The original budget had been ?409,360 with actual expenditure at ?399,210 (an under spend of ?10,150). In respect of the need to produce the level of detail set out in the statement of accounts, there was feeling this may be unnecessary and that the Audit Commission had perhaps misunderstood the nature of the partnership. If necessary this would be pursued with the Audit Commission. Whilst the year end under spend had been largely due to unfilled vacancies, if there had been a full compliment of staff the partnership would not have been overspent when compared with the budget. It was noted that on page 10 and 11 there was reference to the production of a monthly work report for the lead Executive Cabinet members. However this was not actually the case and needed to be amended. Further thought would be given to an appropriate reporting mechanism. The committee needed to approve the statement of accounts subject to them being audited. The committee discussed the identified signatories in the Annual Governance Statement and agreed that the signature of the Vice-chairman should be included. RESOLVED: 1. that the Statement of Accounts 2008/09 be approved which incorporated the annual governance statement, subject to the following: i) that the reference to the monthly report to the lead Executive Cabinet members be removed and consideration be to how such information would be reported in future; and ii) that the Vice-chairman should be added to the list of signatories to the annual governance statement. |
Agreed | ||
| 6 |
End of Project Report (in lieu of Annual Report) End of Project Report (covering report) attached End of Project Report (report document) attached The committee received an End of Year Project Report. Ordinarily the committee would receive an Annual Report, however, the shared services partnership had only started in January 2009. The report summarised the outcomes of the project and was very positive acknowledging that project objectives had been substantially achieved, costs kept within budget, anticipated efficiencies had also been achieved and everything was delivered within the timescale. The committee attention was drawn to Section 7 (Follow on Actions). Such work in progress items had previously been identified and included the Workforce, Communication and, Business Improvement Plans. The committee referred to Question 5 (Improved Staff Morale) and wondered what staff actually thought. Whilst a formal staff survey or monitoring had not yet taken place, informal sessions had given quite a lot of feedback which had generally been very positive. As previously mentioned in connection with the Workforce Plan, staff meetings were to be held on 9 July 2009, which would provide better information. It was acknowledged that staff were key to the success of the partnership and this issue would be closely monitored. RESOLVED: 1. the committee accepted the report and acknowledged the very good progress to date by the partnership; and 2. the committee also acknowledged the hard work by the staff involved in the partnership to achieve this progress. |
Agreed | ||
| 7 |
Performance Management Report Performance Management Report attached The committee was presented with the first performance management report for 2009/10. The aim was to illustrate progress so far against the key actions and performance indicators contained in the Business Improvement Plan (BIP) Although due to the timing of this meeting this report indicated progress/results as at the end of May 2009 instead of a full quarter. All projects were on track with one exception. This related to the review of anti-fraud and corruption arrangements at each council to test compliance with the new CIPFA Red Book. This had been delayed to enable the Risk Manager to attend an external course to understand how to conduct a self assessment. This review had now started and would be back on track quite soon. The Red Book promoted a more proactive approach to identifying fraud and corruption which was not envisaged to be a significant issue given the arrangements already in place at both councils. The committee commented that until the Procurement Strategy had been adopted by both councils, it was not appropriate for it to be referred to as 'Joint'. The committee touched on the possible extension of the shared services arrangements whether it was other partners or other services within the two councils. At present this was focused internally and also sought to embed the existing shared services arrangement within the two councils. RESOLVED: That the accepts the report and notes the good progress on overall performance being made. |
Agreed | ||
| 8 |
Dates for Future Meetings Further to min. no.16, 9 March 2009, to be aligned with financial reporting timescales the committee received suggested dates for future meetings. Also that these meetings continue to be held at 3.30pm. Monday 12 October 2009 Monday 18 January 2010 Monday 29 March 2010 Monday 21 June 2010 (Annual Meeting) RESOLVED: that the suggested dates for future meetings of the joint committee be agreed. |
Agreed | ||
| 9 |
Forward Plan Forward Plan attached The committee received a copy of the Forward Plan. RESOLVED: that the committee's Forward Plan as amended be noted. |
Agreed | ||
(The meeting finished at 4.15pm)
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