Agenda, decisions and minutes

There were none.

The minutes of the proceedings of the meeting held on 3 September 2007 were signed by the Chair.

Members of the public wishing to address the Cabinet must rregister their interest by 12 noon on the day of the meeting by contacting Annie May on 01604 837355 or by e mail to amay@northampton.gov.uk

RESOLVED:(1) That Mr Adams, Mr Swinn and Mr Winder be granted leave to address the Cabinet in respect of item 5(A) Report of the Overview and Scrutiny Community Engagement Task and Finish Group and that Mr Swinn also be granted leave to address on item 5(B) Report of the Overview and Scrutiny Voluntary Sector Task and Finish Group and also item 6 External Auditor’s Report.

(2) That Mary Perry address Cabinet in respect of item 8 NBC Progress Assessment Summer 2007.

There were none.

See items (A) and (B) below

(A) REPORT OF THE OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT TASK AND FINISH GROUP.

Mr Adams addressed the Cabinet and referred to one of the recommendations in the report regarding new ways for the public to speak at Council meetings.  He recalled that a decision had been made by the Council’s Constitution Working Party which restricted the opportunity to speak at Full Council and he asked how this stood up to scrutiny.  He also referred to the late distribution of the Audit Report and asked how the public could comment on them if they were not afforded this opportunity at Full Council.

Mr Swinn then addressed Cabinet stating that he shared some of Mr Adams’ concerns and asked Cabinet to overturn the decision regarding public speaking at Full Council.  He stated that he considered the public should be able to address issues at Council as they had previously.  He therefore suggested that recommendation 2 as detailed in the addendum to the Task and Finish Group’s report should read “that Cabinet considers the old ways for the public to speak at Council rather than thinking of new ways”.

Mr Winder then addressed Cabinet endorsing what the two previous speakers had said.  He stated that overall he considered that the Overview and Scrutiny Task and Finish report was a good report which looked at ways to enhance this authority’s engagement with the community.  He said there was a need to engage the public in the decision-making process and that there needed to be some trust built into this between the Council and the community and to ensure that there was a good channel of communication to ensure that the correct information was being imparted to the community.

Councillor Paul Varnsverry as Chair of the Community Engagement Task and Finish Group then presented the group’s report.  He stated that it had been established by Overview and Scrutiny Committee 1 (Partnerships Regeneration Community Safety and Engagement) in order to perform a short focussed review of how the Council might engage more comprehensively with the residents of Northampton, particularly in new and emerging communities who were difficult to reach.  He stated that specific attention had been paid to the role and function of neighbourhood management and partnerships in achieving this objective.  He stated that evidence had been considered from a wide range of community groups including residents associations, religious organisations, parish councils, the Council’s community forums, the voluntary sectors and officers of the Council.  There had also been a desktop based research study of best practice operated by Councils from across the country.  He stated that the conclusions and recommendations of the group were listed under items 1-15 on the addendum that had been circulated with the report.  He thanked all those involved with the Task and Finish Group including the other members of the group, the staff particularly Tracy Tiff and Simone Wade and the various organisations and members of the public who had given their time and contribution to the group.

Cabinet then considered  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Report of Director of Finance (copy to follow)

That the External Auditors report be received and  noted for submission to full council accordingly.

Mr Swinn addressed the Cabinet in respect of the External Auditors report and made comment on the use of resources as set out on page 4 of the report and the twelve criteria specified by the Audit Commission to ensure that resources were deployed effectively.  He commented that only one of these twelve criteria had been achieved.

Councillor Mildren as the relevant Portfolio Holder then presented the report of KPMG the External Auditors which gave their opinion on whether the Council’s financial statements presented fairly the position of the Council as at 31 March 2007 and its income and expenditure.  He commented that under page 4 of the report “Use of Resources” this was based on the 2005/06 assessment and that the 2006/07 evidence had been submitted on 3 September 2007 and was currently being reviewed.  It was anticipated that following that improvements would be acknowledged across all areas and it was anticipated that scores would be increased across a number of areas.  He stated that the Statement of Internal Control and the Accounts had been updated and that this had been summarised on page 8 of the report.  He added that there had not been any material adjustments.  He drew attention to the fact that there had been some adjustments to page 11 of the report which identified that there were now no uncorrected audit differences.  He stated that the Statement of Accounts would be considered by Council at its meeting on Thursday.

RESOLVED:That the External Auditors report be received and noted for submission to Full Council accordingly.

Report of Director of Finance (copy to follow)

1. That the KPMG unqualified opinion of the 2006/07 accounts be noted.

      2.  That Cabinet note and support the comments made by Audit Committee and recommend to Council that the 2006/07 Statement of Internal Control and the 2006/07 Statement of Accounts be approved.

Councillor Mildren as the relevant Portfolio Holder submitted a report asking that the above external Audit Report by KPMG on the 2006/07 Financial Statements Use of Resources be noted and highlighting the comments made by the Audit Committee at its meeting the previous evening in terms of the 2006/07 Statement of Internal Control and Statement of Accounts.  He advised that Audit Committee had in discussing the accounts and the KPMG report determined that no further amendments were due to be made to the accounts but that further information had been requested in terms of the following:-

The external audit fee for all of the accounts had increased by £30,000 to £150,000 and a breakdown of these additional expenses had been requested.

An analysis had been requested from officers on the debts of the authority and the bad debt provisions set aside for these.

An update had been requested from KPMG before the meeting of Full Council on 27 September regarding the Use of Resources score.  The 2005/06 conclusion was being used for the 2006/07 score when the information submitted for 2006/07 had yet to be reviewed.  It was noted that KPMG were liaising with the Audit Commission on this and the timing issues.

RESOLVED:            (1)            That the KPMG unqualified opinion of the 2006/07 accounts be noted as set out in item 6 above.

(2)            That Cabinet note and support the comments made by Audit Committee and recommend to Council that the 2006/07 Statement of Internal Control and the 2006/07 Statement of Accounts be approved.

Report of Interim Chief Executive (copy to follow)

That the Audit Commission Progress Assessment for June 2007 be received with the progress to date being noted and the actions set out in section 3.3 of the report being approved.

Mary Perry addressed Cabinet with regard to the findings of the Audit Commission’s Progress Assessment undertaken in June 2007.  She stated that she was pleased to say that there had been progress.  However on a cautionary note there was still the need to ensure that the improvements were embedded and made resilient and sustainable.  She stated that there were still areas that required improvement and these were highlighted under Section 3.3 of the report.  She added that a broader assessment would be carried out shortly.

Councillor Woods commented that every effort was being made to ensure that the financial planning was robust and that a new corporate planning process was underway with the aim of producing a robust corporate plan.  Plans were in place to revise the Council’s approach to service planning in order to better reflect corporate and partnership priorities to make targets and outcomes clearer and to make service plans more accessible to a wider audience.   Budget monitoring was already in place and Management Board was taking action to address the issues arising.  He stated that Cabinet fully accepted the report and that this was a first positive report and that he was looking forward to future positive reports very soon.  The hard work done in order to achieve this position was recognised and the efforts of staff and all three political parties was recognised in helping to achieve this and hoped that this positive trend could continue but was not an opportunity for complacency.

RESOLVED:         That the Audit Commission’s progress assessment for June 2007 be received with the progress to date being noted and the actions set out in Section 3.3 of the report being approved.

The meeting concluded at 6.40pm