minutes

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 8 March 2012 (Minute Nos. 578 - 586) were taken as read, approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

declarations of interest

No interests were declared.

part a minutes for confirmation by council

financial regulations update

The Head of Finance introduced the report which presented a revised set of Financial Regulations and sought the Committee's approval to Council to adopt the Regulations.

A Member made the following comments: the budget needed to be more transparent and understandable in terms of expenditure, and that continued improvements needed to made to make it less opaque; would there become a point where no institutions met the required standard for Council investments; concern that if virements were only agreed by the Corporate Services Director, other Directors may not be kept informed of substantial virements within their directorate; discrepancies in wording between pages 14 and 15; the virement limit for individual Cabinet Members was too high and should be reduced; the wording "and at the same time be available to all Council Members" be added to B1.1; and C1.2 should read "…the annual Internal Audit Plan to be approved, changed or rejected by the Audit Committee".

The Head of Finance responded to some of the comments and provided assurance regarding the Council's investment policy. He undertook to review the Member's comments and the document before submission to Council.

A Member commented on the wording under paragraph 5.1.1 and the Head of Finance agreed to remove the words "unless these Rules are more stringent".

part b minutes for information

benefit fraud annual report 2011/12 - activity and outcomes

The Benefit Fraud Investigation Team Manager introduced the report, which provided a summary of the benefit fraud activities and outcomes undertaken during 2011/12. She reported that 2011/12 had been a successful year for the team and outlined some of their achievements. She explained that the Welfare Reform Act would change some of the Council's sanctions and administrative penalties.

A Member considered that the Council had an excellent fraud team, but the reduction in staff was a concern given the importance of the team's work. She queried what happened to concerns raised by Councillors regarding blue badge fraud. She stressed that any reports of suspected fraud raised by Councillors should trigger an investigation.

The Benefit Fraud Investigation Team Manager explained that Kent County Council were working with Local Authorities on new initiatives to tackle blue badge fraud. However, Swale Borough Council could only refer concerns regarding disability based benefits to the Department for Work and Pensions for investigation.

Members referred to the figures regarding social housing fraud. The Benefit Fraud Investigation Team Manager explained that Government was proposing to introduce new legislation which would make social housing fraud a criminal offence and give Local Authorities greater powers to prosecute. She advised that a local social housing Fraud Forum had recently been launched and the Council worked closely with social landlords to tackle fraud issues.

In response to a query, the Benefit Fraud Investigation Team Manager confirmed that the team conducted on-going investigations regarding Council Tax and single persons discount. She explained that the team could data-match information against the electoral roll; a full data-match was currently underway and was undertaken every two years. The proposals contained within the Welfare Reform Act would give Councils greater powers and support to investigate Council Tax fraud.

Members raised concern regarding the staffing levels of the Fraud Investigation Team and it was proposed and seconded that it be referred to the Scrutiny Committee as a potential review. Upon being put to the vote this was agreed.

audit committee update 2011/12

The District Auditor (Audit Commission) introduced the report which provided the Committee with an update on the Audit Commission's progress in delivering their responsibilities as the Council's external auditors and an update on the externalisation of the Audit Practice.

internal audit annual report 2011/12

The Head of Audit Partnership introduced the report which provided details of the work of the Internal Audit Team over the financial year 2011/12 and the opinion of the Head of Audit Partnership in relation to the Council's control environment, in the context of the Annual Governance Statement.

A Member referred to paragraph 3.16 and asked what further work was required regarding the Council's risk management arrangements. The Head of Audit Partnership explained that the Council had strategic and operational risk registers but they needed to be reviewed in light of the Council's new corporate priorities.

In response to comments regarding monitoring arrangements for S.106 agreements, the Chairman reminded Members of the resolution from the meeting on 8 March 2012 that a further report from the Head of Planning be provided in six months time.

Members discussed the summary of internal audit evaluations with regard to IT disaster recovery, and the Internal Audit Manager confirmed that the protection and security of Council data on laptops would form part of a future audit.