Solihull Council - Governance Committee - 26/06/2024

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Governance Committee - Wednesday 26th June 2024 6.00 pm

June 26, 2024 View on council website

Transcript

Okay, good evening councillors. First on the agenda is apologies for absence. We have an apology from Councillor Lambdon. Councillor Groom is here as a substitute. Somebody just mentioned to me they believe Councillor Carthieu is going to be late. So we'll record an apology for being late. Next on the agenda is election of chairman for the 2024-25 municipal year. So please may I have nominations for chairman. Councillor O'Loughlin. And is there a seconder? Thank you, Councillor Grinsell. Any other nominations? Okay, can we just take a vote on that please? Those in favour? That's carried. So chairman I will hand over to you. Thank you very much. Thank you for the confidence, Diana Holloman. I can always rely on you. Definitely. Thank you and thank you to the members of the panel tonight on governance committee. There are some new members on governance and I'd like to welcome you, Councillor Phipps and Councillor Max O'Loughlin. And I know Bob Grinsell of course and Diana's back after being the mayor for a long time and I'm not sure whether Josh was with us last time were you? You were. Well, it's a pleasure to have you all back. And as I said earlier in our pre-meeting, we are a good team. We work well together and I hope it carries on this way during the next 12 months. We need a vice chairman and I'd like to propose Dave Pinwell, Councillor Pinwell. All those in favour? Thank you. Thank you very much indeed. Declarations of interest? Any? None whatsoever by the looks of it. And questions and deputations? None? No? Right. Moving along nicely. Items or minutes is the next item. And one thing I would like to ask Deborah is item 8. And that is the declosures and barring service, the DBS checks for councillors. We had quite a lengthy meeting about that last time. And I know a number of councillors, including myself, actually did register for the DBS. And I'm hoping that everyone on this committee has done exactly the same. So, Deborah, anything you would like to mention? Just by way of update, Chairman. Yes, I can tell you out of the 17 councillors who were either newly elected or returning this May, 16 have completed their DBS applications. But didn't other councillors have to be registered as well? No, Chairman. The policy that you approved at the March meeting was for a DBS check to be undertaken for any councillor who is newly elected or returning following election. But not existing councillors? Not existing councillors unless their specific roles met the criteria for a higher level of check. Could you chase the one person, and hopefully it's not this committee, to actually carry out the request? Yes, Chairman. And I can confirm it's not a member of this committee. It wasn't? No. Thank you. Well done, everybody. Any other items from the minutes, please? No? None at all? Happy to support them? Thank you very much indeed. Right. Well, the next item is Item 7, which is the draft statement of accounts. And we have Adam Patterson, who did an excellent job half an hour ago. And probably we'll do another little resume. And any questions that haven't been asked can be asked then. So, Adam, please. Thank you. Thank you, Chair. Yes, so this is the 2324 draft statement of accounts that we're asking the committee to review and approve. They have been presented to Audit Committee last week with any comments due to be passed back to this committee. There were no comments at Audit Committee that were requested to be passed on to Governance Committee. But I'll just have a quick whiz through. The Appendix A is the draft statement of accounts that were published on the 29th of May, which was ahead of the 31st of May statutory deadline. There's a public inspection period that will run until the 10th of July. And the external order of those accounts started on Monday, the 24th of June, and is due to finish by the end of September. The statement of accounts has been prepared in a format to comply with the CIPFA, the Public Finance Accounting Body Code of Practice. And we've done that this year, as in all years. And that's what the Grand Thorns and our external auditors will be reviewing the accounts against. The statement of accounts, as I say, including Appendix A, contains a narrative report which puts the accounts into context, summarizing the council's financial position, and highlights some financial and non-financial achievements during the year, as well as some challenges we expect to face going forward. It's then got four core statements. The comprehensive income expenditure statement, the movement and reserve statement, statement of financial position, and a cash flow statement contained within the accounts, followed by a number of disclosure notes to those statements. The balance sheet for the council is reduced by 71 million, only 7% since last year, primarily as a result of a decrease in short-term investments. That's quite a deliberate instance this year. We were holding a lot of short-term investments at the end of '22/'23 for an upfront pension payment that we made in April '23, so a planned and expected reduction in short-term investments during the year. In addition to that, the council's appointed actuaries have calculated the pension fund is now in a net asset position. The Code of Practice doesn't allow us to show a net asset position, so that's been shown as net nil in the accounts this year. The accounts also include then the group accounts for all of our subsidiaries in a consolidated set of accounts, the housing revenue accounts, and the collection fund accounts towards the end of Appendix A. And I think that's all I need to say, and happy to take any questions. Thank you. Thank you, Adam. Any questions, please? Matt? It's more a comment. Firstly, to thank you and your colleagues for the amount of work that goes into this, and also it's not just producing a report, it is actually trying to balance a budget as well as getting the accounts, because the accounts are there to make sure that we are compliant and do have a balanced budget for the future, and then applying that. I wanted to just draw attention to just how challenging it is. It's on page 19, the graphic there, which shows the £151 million in 2013/14 to the £199 million in 2023/24, which is using the Bank of England's inflation tracker, so that would have been £205 million in 2013. It would have been £202 million in 2014 money. So we are trying to manage the accounts of a council with whichever way you cut it. It's either £3 million less than just tracking inflation, or £6 million less, with some considerable challenges thrown into the mix. So I wanted to thank you and your colleagues for the work that goes into that. Thank you, Max, for that. Councillor Groom, I mean, you missed the earlier part, and I know your substitution, so probably you haven't anything to add, all right? Okay, fine. Any other comments, please? Are you happy to support the report that has come to you tonight? It has been approved by the Audit Committee, so we are asked to support the present recommendation. All those in favour? That's unanimous. Thank you very much indeed. Thank you, Adam, and thank you. And you can go home now and water the garden. Or myself. Or yourself. Ah, right. We move on now to just the other item, actually. It's a very short agenda now that we had that pre-agenda meeting with regard to finance. So it's taken a lot of heat out of this tonight. And this is the item 8, the appointment of Henry Alderman on 159 to 168. And I'm delighted to recommend the two names before us tonight. And if there's any comment from anybody who wishes to add to it, both Councillor Ryan, or Jim Ryan now, and former Councillor Ken Meason, they have both given a huge amount of their life to local authority, been very, very good Councillors, and I think this is just a right honour to be given to them both, and Council will, I'm sure, support that if we recommend it this evening. Thank you very much indeed. Well, that simplifies that. Oh, a seconder, please. I thought Diane... No, Max, I think, put it down there. I'm not sure, anyway. I know he wants to go off very, very quickly, but, you know, I don't think he's been to a meeting that has only lasted 13 minutes. I told him you can cook a chicken in the time that I'm here, but that's what the present Mayor used to worry about. Anyway... Can we just take a vote then? Yes. All right. There's no one on telly. All those in favour? Excellent. Thank you very much indeed. On the business, there isn't anything, but I want to say that the last few months for the election team in the office, led by Deborah and her staff, and I would like this committee to give their thanks to the team for the hard work that they've had to do with two elections, all the postal votes and everything else associated with elections that... Pardon? Four elections. Oh, well, yeah, I mean, we are the most important. But, no, seriously, it's been a very, very hectic time. I mentioned it at council, and I really do believe that this committee should support the team in the elections office and thank them for their excellent work. I shan't be going to the count for the first time in about 50 years, ages catching up on one with standing up till about six o'clock in the morning, and I don't think... Deborah, in fact, offered me a chair, but I think I need a bed as well. Anyway, with that little addition, thank you very much, and everybody agrees to that. Please give their thanks. Thank you. Any other business from anybody else?

AI Generated

Summary

The Governance Committee of Solihull Council met on 26 June 2024 to discuss several key issues, including the completion of DBS checks for councillors, the review and approval of the draft statement of accounts for 2023-24, and the appointment of two honorary aldermen.

DBS Checks for Councillors

The committee reviewed the status of DBS checks for councillors. Deborah, a council officer, reported that 16 out of 17 newly elected or returning councillors had completed their DBS applications. The policy, approved in March, requires DBS checks for newly elected or returning councillors but not for existing councillors unless their roles demand a higher level of check. The committee requested that the one remaining councillor complete their application promptly.

Draft Statement of Accounts 2023-24

Adam Patterson presented the 2023-24 draft statement of accounts for review and approval. The accounts had been previously presented to the Audit Committee with no comments requiring further action. The draft statement, published on 29 May, includes a narrative report summarising the council's financial position, achievements, and challenges. Key points included a 7% reduction in the council's balance sheet due to a decrease in short-term investments and the pension fund's net asset position. The committee unanimously approved the draft statement of accounts.

Appointment of Honorary Aldermen

The committee discussed the appointment of two honorary aldermen, Jim Ryan and Ken Meeson, recognising their significant contributions to the local authority. The committee unanimously supported the recommendation to appoint both individuals as honorary aldermen.

Acknowledgement of Election Team's Efforts

The committee expressed gratitude to the election team, led by Deborah, for their hard work during a busy election period. The team managed four elections and numerous postal votes, ensuring a smooth process.

The meeting concluded with no additional business.

Attendees

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