This meeting of Barnet Council’s Governance, Audit, Risk Management and Standards Committee (GARMS) will include an update on the council's current risks and the work being done to manage them. It will also discuss the progress of various internal and external audits that are being conducted on the council.

Adults Social Care Financial Sustainability Programme

The report pack contains an update on the Adult Social Care Financial Sustainability Programme.

The report sets out data about adult social care in Barnet including the fact that “in 2022/23, 5,445 adults received long term support from adult social care during the year. It states that thishas increased each year since 2019/20, whilst national and comparator groups have seen a reduction".

The report explains that the programme was set up because the increasing costs of adult social care are “a well-documented national pressure”. It cites a survey conducted by the Association of Directors of Adults Social Services (ADASS) which found that 81% of councils expect to overspend their adult social care budgets in 2024-25.

The report explains that the work of the programme is based around three key areas: Managing demand, Managing costs, and Maximising income. It provides examples of workstreams that are being conducted under each of these areas.

It also notes that the programme is “seeing so far” a reduction in the number of reablement episodes and the overall number of reablement hours commissioned. It also notes that [l]ow numbers of new residential and nursing placements have been maintained.

2023/24 Interim Audit Findings

The report pack contains the Interim Audit Findings report prepared by Grant Thornton, who are the external auditors of Barnet Council. The report summarises the findings of the audit work that has been performed to date on the Council’s 2023/24 Statement of Accounts.

The report highlights challenges that have been encountered in obtaining audit evidence for various areas of the accounts and states that these issues may lead to an increase in audit fees.

The report also highlights three issues that will be the subject of further discussion and/or consideration:

1. Pension contributions
2. Cash and cash equivalents
3. Property, Plant, and Equipment

Pension contributions

The report notes that “for the financial years 20/21, 21/22, and 22/23, the council made early payments of approximately £20.44 million to the pension fund”.

Cash and cash equivalents

The report notes that “the cash balances held by the council do not align with the cash balance held by the schools” and that “[i]t was revealed that there is no bank reconciliation process in place for the schools, posing a potential significant risk of the ledger balance held by the council being materially inaccurate”.

Property, Plant, and Equipment

The report highlights a number of issues relating to the valuation of the council’s property, plant, and equipment including the fact that:

During the audit management was unable to provide the audit team with evidences for key inputs used in valuations of Property plant and equipment such as floor area and rental agreement information to support calculations for assets valuations.

The report goes on to state that:

Furthermore, we have discovered that the council had instructed the valuation of assets as at 01.12.2023; however, no assessment was conducted to confirm the material accuracy of the values at the balance sheet date of 31.03.2024. This absence of assessment presents a potential risk that a material uncertainty may remain undetected if the valuation between these dates' changes significantly.

Internal Audit Exception Recommendations Report and Q2 Progress Report

This report provides an update on the progress made against internal audit recommendations and the work that has been completed on the Internal Audit plan 2024-25.

The report notes that:

During Q2 24-25 for the period 01 July 2024 to 30 September 2024, the service completed 6 reviews and at the end of Q2 had delivered 53% of our annual internal audit programme for 2024/25, against a target of 50% for Quarter 2 2024-25.

The report also notes that follow up work was undertaken on 33 high and 9 medium priority recommendations and that “of the 42 recommendations followed up: 33 were implemented/closed (74%); 9 were in progress (26%); and”.

Corporate Anti-Fraud Team (CAFT) Half Year Report 2024-25

The report pack contains a report that describes the work of the council’s Corporate Anti-Fraud Team (CAFT). It notes that the team is made up of three specialist investigative teams:

1. The Corporate Fraud Team, which includes Concessionary Travel Fraud.
2. The Tenancy Fraud Team.
3. The Financial Fraud Team (Proceeds of Crime).

The report summarises the work that has been conducted by each of these teams in the six months to 30 September 2024.

Corporate Fraud Team

The report notes that the Corporate Fraud Team investigated 83 cases of alleged fraud. 2 of these cases led to criminal prosecutions (one relating to Covid business grants and the other to schools fraud). The report includes details of these noteworthy cases.

The report notes that the team also investigated 429 cases relating to Concessionary Travel fraud and summarises the outcomes of these cases. It also includes details of four noteworthy cases relating to Concessionary Travel Fraud.

Tenancy Fraud Team

The report notes that the Tenancy Fraud Team investigated 324 cases relating to Tenancy Fraud and summarises the outcomes. It notes that the team were responsible for the recovery of 18 properties and that “14 Right to Buy applications were denied due to the applicants not being eligible to purchase the property under the scheme”. The report includes details of six noteworthy cases of Tenancy Fraud.

Financial Investigations (Proceeds of Crime)

The report notes that there have been 17 financial investigations conducted under the Proceeds of Crime Act. It provides a breakdown of the areas of investigation for these cases and also includes details of two noteworthy cases.

Treasury Management Mid-Year Performance Update – Q2 2024/25

This report provides an update on the council’s treasury management performance for the period 1 July 2024 to 30 September 2024.

The report notes that through this period “the council’s treasury position changed as the council borrowed £65m and treasury investment balances fell by £40m”.

It explains that the council’s treasury management activity is currently focused on:

close liquidity management and strategic borrowing decisions, and has allocated significant resource to updating processes and procedures over 2024/25 as recommended by a recent Internal Audit review of the Treasury Function undertaken by PwC.

The report also discusses the council’s strategic approach to investing in UK Government Bonds (Gilts) which are being used to manage credit and interest rate risk associated with a third-party commercial agreement related to Brent Cross Plot 1. It explains that “[o]n the maturity of a Gilt in the first quarter of 24/25, the Treasury team reinvested the principal by purchasing Treasury Bills that would mature closer to a drawdown of the Brent Cross Plot 1 loan”.

The report provides a progress update on a number of strategic priorities that the treasury team are focusing on.

Quarterly Risks Report (Q2 2024/25)

The report pack includes a report on the council's strategic and high-level service risks for Quarter 2 of 2024/25.

It explains that “[t]here were 195 open risks across the Directorate risk registers in Q2 (seven less than in Q1; 11 risks were closed and four new risks were identified)”.

The report summarises these risks in terms of which directorate they relate to and the type of risk that they are. It also provides details of five strategic and 25 high-level service risks.

Member Development Programme 2022 - 26 Update

The report pack includes an update on the Member Development Programme. It summarises the sessions delivered since March 2024 and also sets out the sessions planned for the rest of 2024 and into 2025.

The report notes that Barnet Council was awarded Charter Plus Accreditation by the LGA in January 2024 and that it aims to maintain and improve the standard of member development. The report refers to mandatory training statistics:

Since the last Committee, a further mandatory training session has been held on Adults’ Safeguarding.

The report notes that the attendance for the Adult Safeguarding session was 70% and that attendance for the Children’s Safeguarding session was 59%. It states that “[m]andatory training statistics have been referred to each political Group” and that “[r]ecordings of all mandatory training sessions are available on the Member Development area of the intranet and any Members with outstanding mandatory training have been informed”.