Meeting documents

An apology for absence was submitted on behalf of Councillor Bradley (Chorley BC).

There were no declarations of interest.

RESOLVED (unanimously):

That the minutes of the meeting held on 13 October 2015 be approved as a correct record and signed by the chairman.

The Head of Shared Assurance Services presented the report which outlined the proposed arrangements for a ?light touch? audit inspection to be undertaken of the Joint Committee?s financial statements for 2015/16 and future years. This followed changes to the external audit requirements of joint committees following implementation of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014.

The audit inspection would be undertaken by the Internal Audit Team to ensure that the financial data contained within the committee?s accounts had been correctly extracted from those of the host authorities. Although the approach was referred to as ?light touch?, it would in practice be more rigorous than that applied by the Joint Committee?s external auditor in that it would be more relevant and give more personalised detail for each of the host authorities.

RESOLVED (unanimously) that:
The revised audit arrangements explained in the report be approved.
?

The Heads of Shared Assurance and Financial Services presented progress as at the end of November 2015 against the key service developments and performance indicators in the 2015/16 Business Improvement Plan (BIP). All of the performance indicators that were marked RED in the last report relating to Shared Financial Services had improved and all of the projects within Shared Assurance Services were either complete or on course to be completed.

The anticipated underspend of ?0.078m was largely due to savings on salary costs, most of which were one-offs.

RESOLVED (unanimously) that:
The report be noted.

The Heads of Shared Assurance and Financial Services presented the report which summarised and explained the content of the Business Improvement Plan (BIP) and Budget for the Finance and Assurance Shared Services Partnership.

They brought the committee?s attention to a number of key achievements in 2015/16 in both service areas: Shared Assurance Services had overhauled SRBC?s Emergency Plan & Flood Plan to provide more streamlined, user friendly guidance for officers; on-line fraud awareness training had been delivered to over 300 officers at Chorley and South Ribble Borough Councils. The Head of Shared Financial Services was delighted to confirm that a member of her team had just passed the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy professional qualification and this, together with the recent successful recruitment into two key management accountancy posts at Chorley and South Ribble, gave her confidence about the future of the service in terms of succession planning.

The committee thanked and congratulated the Head of Shared Financial Services and her team for their response to the impact of Storm Eva on residents, in particular in relation to the rapid processing of emergency payments to affected residents and in negotiating free of charge ?faster payment? transactions to residents. The excellent performance with regard to paying invoices within 10 days was also recognised and acknowledged by members of the committee.

In relation to the new risks and opportunities for 2016/17, the Head of Shared Financial Services confirmed that the dummy run conducted in parallel with the 2014/15 closure of accounts process had given her confidence that both authorities would meet the new statutory requirements with regard to the timetable to close the 2017/18 financial year before 31 May 2018.

RESOLVED (unanimously) that:
1) The Joint Committee recommend to the Executives of each host authority the adoption of the required resources to deliver the Shared Services Partnership in 2016/17;
2) The Joint Committee agree to delegate the ability to incorporate any residual information or amendments to the BIP and Budget to the Chief Executives of both host authorities in consultation with the chair and vice-chair of the committee.

The committee considered the Forward Plan and noted that the Performance Management Report was still the only item listed for the meeting scheduled for 14 March. With this in mind it was agreed that the meeting should be cancelled but that the Performance Management Report should be circulated to members of the committee so that they could make comments and/or seek clarification if appropriate.

The timetable of meetings for the 2016/17 municipal year would be approved at Chorley and South Ribble Executive Cabinet and Council meetings in February and March.

RESOLVED (unanimously);
That the meeting scheduled for 14 March 2016 be cancelled but that the Performance Management Report be circulated to members of the committee for comment.