Apologies for absence were received from Councillor G Carpenter.

There were no declarations of interest given at the meeting.

The minutes of the meeting held on 9 May 2024 were confirmed.

There were no matters arising from the above minutes which were not covered elsewhere on the agenda.

The Corporate Risk Officer reported that the purpose of this report was to provide Members with an annual report of key risk management developments across the Council over the last 12 months for review.

The Corporate Risk Officer reported that over the last year, the Management Team and herself, had undertaken further steps towards establishing the Risk Management Framework which together with the Council's culture, ensured effective and consistent risk management was an integral part of the authority's activities. 

The Corporate Risk Officer reported that it was fundamental to the successful implementation of risk management that there was an adherence to the principles as set out in the framework To date, there were no significant non-compliance issues to report in regard to corporate risk management.

The Corporate Risk Officer reported that this report would provide a significant source of evidence to enable the committee to approve the Annual Governance Statement.

Councillor Wainwright referred to pages 13 & 21 of the agenda report, paragraph (e) and item number 9. At paragraph (e) Health & Safety, it was reported that at the time of writing the report, information on the works undertaken by the Health & Safety Team was not provided together with work to be undertaken in 2024/25 which was extremely concerning. Councillor Wainwright was also concerned that annual inspections of inflatable play equipment operated on GYBC had not taken place which was concerning as there had been a fatality at Gorleston in recent years.

The Corporate Risk Officer assured Councillor Wainwright that she was a member of the Event Safety Advisory Group and worked in partnership with environmental health officers to ensure that all events held on council land had the correct H & S procedures in place.

The Corporate Risk Officer informed the committee that a new Health & Safety Officer was in post but that they were concentrating on resolving outstanding housing issues. She had a meeting with the H & S Officer in the diary and would inform him of the committee's concerns and update the document accordingly as a mater of urgency.

The Executive Director - Resources assured the committee that the action plan would be updated and reported back to the committee at a future meeting to give the committee assurance in these matters.

Councillor Wainwright also highlighted that items 9 & 10 did not have a progress update. The Corporate Risk Officer assured the committee that there would be a corporate risk meeting in August 2024 and she would ensure that progress would be updated and added to the Action Plan 2024/25.

Councillor Wainwright referred to page 16 of the agenda report, where it stated that in  2023/2024 there had been two whistleblowing reports received which were investigated and conclusions provided to the Whistleblowing Panel. Councillor Wainwright asked for clarification as to who sat on the Panel. The Monitoring Officer reported that the Chief Executive Officer, the Head of Internal Audit, and herself sat on the Panel. Councillor Wainwright asked if the outcome of the Panel was confidential. The Monitoring Officer reported that the outcome was confidential but was shred with the whistle blower.

RESOLVED:-

That the Committee note and approve the annual report on the Council's risk management arrangements.

The committee received and considered the report from the Head of Internal Audit.

The Head of Internal Audit reported that progress made between 1 April to 8 July 2024 in relation to the delivery of the Annual Audit Plan for 2023/24.

The Head of Internal Audit directed Members to appendix 2 to this report which showed the details of the progress made to date in relation to the implementation of the agreed recommendations. This appendix also reflected the year in which the audit was undertaken and identified between outstanding recommendations that had previously been reported to this committee and then those which had become outstanding this time round. A total of 
53 (six urgent, 26 important and 21 needs attention) recommendations were currently outstanding. A further 16 recommendations are not yet due. Appendix 8 included the Executive Summary for confidential item.

Councillor Wainwright referred to Executive Summary Housing Asset Management - GY 2412 and asked if Members would be able to see the outcomes of the stock condition survey as several Members had social housing units in their wards. The Executive Director - Resources reported that the stock condition survey would feed into the Housing Improvement Plan.

Councillor Wainwright referred to Executive Summary GY2405 Accounts Receivable, in particular, that aged debts greater than 6 years totalled £1.435m. He understood that there was a resource issue but the Council needed to get on top of this. 

The Head of Customer Services informed the committee that an Annual Debt Report was being presented to Cabinet on 17 July 2024. The aim was to put our housekeeping in order and a temporary additional resource in the form of a Recovery Officer had been put in place to reduce the amount of debt, however, those without payments being made were statute barred and the Council may have lost income it was due. It was planned to reduce the amount of housing debt this year.

The Executive Director - Resources assured Members that the Council was proactively chasing bad debt provision in customer services and property services and that this was work in progress.

Councillor Wainwright referred to GY1901 Corporate Governance, a review of off-site paper storage arrangements is undertaken to ensure they are GDPR compliant. Councillor Wainwright suggested that the compliance date should be pushed back for 12 months due to the mammoth task in hand. The Monitoring Officer reported that the Senior Performance Officer had requested that the revised due date be put back for 12 months, and in light of Councillor Wainwright's concern, the report would be updated accordingly.

Councillor Wainwright highlighted GY2202 Risk Management and that he was concerned that all ASB activity was not recorded with supporting evidence retained. The Executive Director - Resources reported that this was linked to the new IT system in housing which would impact the implementation of the Environmental Services IT system in early 2025.

Councillor Newcombe asked for clarification as to whether a resident would pay their current rent or council tax plus any arrears and does the Council take into consideration a persons assets. She also asked whether the Council utilised the County Courts as well as the Magistrates Court. 

The Head of Customer Services confirmed that the Council took a persons assets into consideration for the payments of arrears. County Courts and Magistrates Courts were utilised to obtain court judgements but these costs must be factored in. Bailiffs and debt collection agencies were also used to achieve the best outcome. However, each case was looked at on an individual basis. Assistance from the Citizens Advice Bureau and Dial could also be offered. The Council ensured that reasonable action was taken at all times.

RESOLVED:-

That the Committee receive the progress update relating to the Internal Audit Plan for 2023/24.

The Committee received and considered the report from the Head of Internal Audit.

The Head of Internal Audit reported that this report concluded on the internal audit activity undertaken during 2023/24 and provided an annual opinion concerning the Council's framework of governance, risk management and control, concluded on the effectiveness of internal audit and provided key information for the Annual Governance Statement.

There were no questions from the Committee.

RESOLVED:-

(i) Receive and consider the contents of the Annual Opinion Report of the Head of Internal Audit.  

(ii) Note that a reasonable / limited audit opinion has been given in relation to the framework of governance, risk management and control for the year ended 31 March 2024.  

(iii) Note that the opinions expressed together with significant matters arising from internal audit work and contained within this report should be given due consideration when developing and reviewing the Council’s Annual Governance Statement for 2023/24; and

(iv) Note the outcomes of the Internal Audit’s performance measures and the Quality Assurance and Improvement Programme (QAIP).  

Th Chair confirmed that this item had been withdrawn.

The Chair confirmed that this item had been confirmed.

The Executive Director - Resources gave a verbal update at the meeting.

The following items would be considered at the next meeting:-

(i) Work Programme - Standing item

(ii) Internal Audit Update - Progress & Follow-Up

(iii) Audit Plan - Year ending 31 March 2023

(iv) Draft Statement of Accounts 2021/22

(v) Draft Statement of Accounts 2022/23

(vi) Corporate Risk Register

(vii) Progress Report on Action Plan - Follow up from the Annual Report

(viii) Code of Corporate Governance - Deferred from 15/07/2024; and

(ix) Draft Annual Governance Statement 2023/24 - Deferred from 15/07/2024

Please note:-

***Self-Assessment Exercise will taken place after the meeting***

RESOLVED:-

In the event of the Committee wishing to exclude the public from the meeting, the following resolution will be moved:- "That under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 1 of Part I of Schedule 12(A) of the said Act.