This meeting included a review of the Council’s polling districts, a request to approve the Annual Governance Statement and the consideration of the external auditor’s report on the 2022-23 accounts. The Council also had to note the implementation of the nationally set pay awards for 2024-25 for both Chief Executive level posts and staff on City Pay Bands 1-11.

Review of Polling Districts

The report requested approval for changes to the polling districts in Cambridge ahead of the publication of the Register of Electors on 1st February 2025. The report explained that the changes were necessary to comply with the Electoral Administration Act 2013, which requires a review of polling districts, polling places and polling stations to be conducted by each local authority every 5 years. The Committee received a report (24-12-05 Polling District Review - FINAL) which described the process of the review, and the responses to the public consultation that took place between 7th October and 18th November 2024.

Appendix C of the report contained a list of Cambridge’s 54 polling districts, and the report explained that the review proposed reducing this number to 52 because the recent changes to Parliamentary Constituency boundaries had realigned them with city ward boundaries. The report explained:

“A polling district is a geographical area created by the sub-division of a parliamentary constituency. In practice, the same polling district boundaries are used at all elections, and so they must also be coterminous with city ward and county division boundaries.”

The report also listed the venues used for polling stations during the previous elections in Appendix D, and described how these venues were selected by the Returning Officer. The report explained that the review recommended approving the following changes to the boundaries of three polling districts:

1. Moving 14 properties on Boundary Court, Rathmore Road, from the EDK polling district into the EBK polling district.
2. Moving 15 properties on Blinco Grove, Hartington Grove, Hinton Avenue, Mowbray Road and Rock Road from the KDK polling district into the KAK polling district.
3. Moving 14 properties on Roseford Road, from the BAB polling district into the BCB polling district.

The report included maps that showed the proposed changes (Appendix A - Proposed Changes, Appendix A1 - EDK to EBK, Appendix A2 - KDK to KBK and Appendix A3 - BAB to BCB). It said these changes would ensure that the 12 registered voters affected by the changes to EDK would continue to vote at Lichfield Hall on Lichfield Road, that the 12 voters affected by the changes to KDK would vote at The Wilkinson Room on Hills Road and that the 19 voters affected by the changes to BAB would continue to vote at the Good Shepherd Church Hall on Mansel Way. The report explained that:

“Voters affected in the KDK polling district will receive extra information in advance of the next election to inform them of their new polling station.”

The report included a summary of the comments received during the consultation (Appendix B - Consultation Comments), and described the reasoning behind the rejection or acceptance of these suggestions. It also included a number of comments relating to other aspects of the Council’s boundary arrangements, like City ward and Local Authority boundaries. The Committee was asked to approve the proposed changes to these polling districts, and to agree:

“that the polling place for each polling district is the polling district boundary.”

Annual Governance Statement

The Committee received a report asking them to approve the Council’s Annual Governance Statement 2022-23, which is a statutory document that must be produced each year. The report explained that the Annual Governance Statement should set out the Council’s arrangements for ensuring that it conducts its business in accordance with the law, that it manages risk properly and that public money is safeguarded and properly accounted for. The report said that the statement was compiled in accordance with guidance produced by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), in conjunction with the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (SOLACE). It said that the statement included an assurance provided by the Head of the Shared Internal Audit Service that they considered the Council to have a robust system of governance, risk management and internal control, saying that:

“From the audit reviews undertaken, no areas were identified where it was considered that, if the risks highlighted materialised, it would have a major impact on the organisation as a whole.”

It also included details of assurances provided by partners, like those responsible for the Council’s Shared Waste Service, which is run in partnership with Huntingdonshire District Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council. The report said that the Waste service:

“received positive assurance from their internal audit reviews and maintained their accreditation with the ISO9001 (Quality Management) and ISO14001 (Environmental Management) standards.”

The report also discussed the challenges faced by the Council in the previous financial year, the measures the Council had taken to mitigate them, and the impact that these measures had on the Council’s finances. These challenges included the ongoing cost of living crisis, which the report described as impacting:

“many people and organisations in Cambridge, in the face of a complex and intertwined set of circumstances.”

It described the Homes for Ukraine scheme as having required:

“council services continued to adapt, seeking new ways of working – including with communities and partners - to deliver the services that are important to local.”

It mentioned that:

“The council’s Rent Corrections webpage has information for tenants concerned about the impact of any refund on benefits, more detail about why these errors occurred, and more.”

The report also included an updated version of the Council’s Local Code of Governance, saying that the Code:

“stands as the overall statement of the Councils corporate governance principles and commitments.”

It said this code was:

“underpinned by the 7 principles of good governance as set out in the CIPFA / SOLACE publication ‘Delivering Good Governance in Local Government Framework 2016’”.

Statement of Accounts 2022-23 - Audit Opinion

The Committee had to note the report by the external auditors, Ernst and Young. The report explained that national issues had led to a backlog of local authority audits, which had caused the government to introduce legislation that required all audits up to and including 2022-23 to be completed by 13th December 2024. The report explained that although Cambridge City Council had provided the external auditors with a draft of the 2022-23 accounts in June, there had not been time for them to complete all of the necessary audit procedures required to allow them to sign off the accounts by the deadline. It said this would result in the auditors issuing a “disclaimer of opinion” (Appendix 1 Cambridge City Council - Audit Completion Report for Those Charged with Governance - 21 N), in which the auditors state that:

“they have been unable to complete sufficient work to come to a conclusion on the statement of accounts.”

The Committee also had to note the Council's own unaudited statement of accounts (Appendix 2 - Cambridge City Council Unaudited Statement of Accounts 2022-23 Final Published 05.12.24). The report said that the legislation required that the Statement of Accounts be approved:

“based on the current Reset and Recovery legislation.”

Officer Delegated Decision - To Implement the Joint Negotiating Committee for Chief Executives of Local Authorities Pay Award for 2024-25

The Committee had to note the implementation of the nationally agreed 2024-25 pay award for Chief Executive level posts, which had been set by the Joint Negotiating Committee for Chief Executives of Local Authorities. The Committee received a report that explained that, because this decision related to:

“rates of salary, wages, car allowances or other allowances payable to officers and other employees of the Council”

the decision had been delegated to the Head of People. It said that the pay award determined by the national body was:

“an increase of 2.5% on each pay point”

backdated to 1st April 2024. The report included a copy of the circular issued by the Joint Negotiating Committee for Chief Executives of Local Authorities (Appendix A - Chf Exec Pay 01Apr24).

Officer Urgent Decision - To Implement the National Joint Council Local Government Services Pay Agreement 2024

The Committee had to note the decision by the Council to implement the 2024-25 pay award for staff on City Pay Bands 1-11, which had been determined by the National Joint Council for Local Government Services. The Committee received a report which explained that the Chief Executive had taken this decision because it related to:

“rates of salary, wages, car allowances or other allowances payable to officers and other employees of the Council”

which meant that it was delegated to the Head of People. It said the pay award determined by the national body was a flat rate increase of £1,290 for all pay points up to point 43, and an increase of 2.5% for pay points 44-56, backdated to April 2024. The report included a copy of the circular issued by the National Joint Council for Local Government Services (Appendix A - LGS Pay 01Apr24).