Venue: Committee Rooms 4 & 5, Town Hall, Wellington Street, Woolwich SE18 6PW. View directions
Contact: Daniel Wilkinson Email: committees@royalgreenwich.gov.uk
No. | Item |
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Apologies for Absence To receive apologies from Members of the Panel. Minutes: No apologies for absence were received. |
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Urgent Business The Chair to announce any items of urgent business circulated separately from the main agenda. Minutes: There were no items of urgent business. |
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Declarations of Interest Members to declare any personal and financial interests in items on the agenda. Attention is drawn to the Council’s Constitution; the Council’s Code of Conduct and associated advice. Additional documents: Minutes: Resolved -
That the list of Councillors’ memberships as Council appointed representatives on outside bodies, joint committees and school governing bodies is noted.
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Annual Audit Letter 2022/23 To note and comment upon the 2022/23 Annual Audit Letter. Additional documents: Minutes: The item was introduced by the Director of Finance. He highlighted that the authority had moved on from when the assessment for the Audit Letter 2022/23 was conducted.
Jonathan Meek, Associate Director of Grant Thornton, presented Grant Thornton’s Annual Report 2022/23. He highlighted their three criteria for assessing the value for money arrangements, and drew Members’ attention to the direction of travel and commented on where Grant Thornton had identified significant weaknesses. It was acknowledged that the Council had taken steps to address Grant Thornton’s recommendations. He said their report recognised the key areas of financial pressure that the Council faced and said it was vital that the Council continued to take mitigating actions to reduce those pressures. He noted the Regulatory Notice for Social Housing and that the Council was taking steps to resolve the recommendations of the Notice.
The Director of Finance commented there was a slight disconnect in that the auditor’s report related to the past; there had since been robust responses to the recommendations and issues raised. He highlighted the governance arrangements of the strategic leadership team which included Cabinet Members and senior Officers, and that reports to Cabinet included tracking information on savings and how they were being delivered.
In response to questions from the Panel, the Director of Finance explained the reporting cycle to Cabinet. He clarified that Officers had seen the auditor’s finding in November 2023, and the Audit Letter in March 2024. As noted in the auditor’s report, just over a quarter of savings related to Rethinking Services; whilst there had been a delay in those savings they would be coming through and potentially could exceed their original target. They were at the end of the first four-year cycle for Rethinking Services and that period was being assessed to help shape the next cycle. He explained that with the current year’s budget there had been a realigning of budgets with a significant deficit recovery, which would be seen in the quarterly monitoring. He advised that there was an escalation process in terms of internal audit recommendations which were not implemented. He commented that in general terms of responding to the auditor’s recommendations a risk-based approach was taken and consideration was given to how much was needed to be done to address each particular recommendation.
In response to a question from the Panel about the auditor’s current view, the Associate Director of Grant Thornton stated that Grant Thornton’s view now was that the Council had taken clear steps to develop governance, the savings programme was more sustainable and reduced the reliance on one-off measures. There had definitely been a progression in the right direction since the 2022/23 findings. The awareness of the gravity of the financial situation from the pressures on the budget for instance from homelessness was definitely more to the forefront.
In response to questions from the Panel about recommendations, the Associate Director of Grant Thornton indicated that some other councils had two independent members on their audit committees to bring ... view the full minutes text for item 4. |
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Draft Statement of Accounts 2023/24 To consider and comment upon the authority’s draft Statement of Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2024 Additional documents: Minutes: The report was presented by the Director of Finance. He indicated the accounts were in a largely prescribed format. He explained the accounts were submitted to the external auditor, who were now Forvis Mazars, and also available for public inspection. Because the auditors had to give precedence to local authorities who had not closed accounts from previous years, the auditing of the Royal Borough of Greenwich’s accounts would be slightly delayed.
In response to a question from the Panel, the Director of Finance explained that the revaluation of housing assets caused the losses to the Housing Revenue Account.
Councillor Denise Hyland, Cabinet Member for Finance, Resources and Social Value thanked the Director of Finance for his work on the accounts. The Cabinet Member commented that the information given to councillors regarding related party transactions needed to be clearer as councillors would not necessarily know if an organization was receiving funding from the Council.
Resolved -
That the authority’s draft Statement of Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2024 (including the Pension Fund Accounts) submitted to Forvis Mazars for audit on 12 July 2024 (Appendix A of the report) be noted. |
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Treasury Management and Capital Outturn 2023-24 To note the Treasury Management Outturn Report and the Capital Outturn Report both for 2023/24, and to note the recommended additional allocation of approved contingency within the Priority Investment Programme Additional documents:
Minutes: The report was presented by the Director of Finance. Councillor Denise Hyland, Cabinet Member for Finance, Resources and Social Value drew Members’ attention to the Council’s investment in new homes.
In response to questions from the Panel, the Director of Finance confirmed that the borough’s contribution to the Elizabeth Line station was now complete. He explained how the Prudential Indicators in the Treasury Strategy were the test of whether capital arrangements were affordable, sustainable and prudent, and noted that the Council worked within a legal framework.
The Director of Finance highlighted that a significant number of local authorities found themselves with the financial challenge of a growing number of homeless; supply had shrunk and the price of housing units had gone up. An alternative had been hotel accommodation which was costly and also subject to supply. He advised that the Council’s response was to acquire units, so that it was not exposed to fluctuations of supply and price, and also so it could guarantee the quality of the accommodation.
The Panel commented it was better to purchase units instead of being dependent on hotels.
Resolved -
1. That the Treasury Management Outturn Report for 2023/24 (Sections 4-10 of the report) be noted.
2. That the Capital Outturn Report for 2023/24 (Sections 11-14 of the report), which shows a substantial increase in investment from £177m in the previous year to £318m in 2023/24, which included; · £171m on the delivery of new homes via the Councils Greenwich Builds Programme: o £104m on the construction of new homes o £67m on the acquisition of new homes · £56m investment in existing Council homes. · £20m acquiring properties to meet Temporary Accommodation, Rough Sleeping and Refugee pressures. be noted
3. That the recommended additional allocation of £1.3m of approved contingency within the Priority Investment Programme, as a match funding contribution towards the £17.2m Future High Streets Fund programme (11.5-11.6 of the report) be noted.
4. That that comments will be sought from Cabinet with respect to decisions 1.1 and 1.2 of the report prior to Full Council on 24 July 2024 be noted. |