The Chairman will advise the meeting of the evacuation procedures to follow in the event of an emergency. This is particularly important for visitors and members of the public who will be unfamiliar with the building and procedures.

The Chairman will inform the meeting whether there is a planned evacuation drill due to take place, what the alarm sounds like (i.e. ringing bells), where the closest emergency exit route is, and where the second closest emergency exit route is, in the event that the closest exit or route is blocked.

The Chairman will inform the meeting that:

(a) in the event of the alarm sounding, everybody must leave the building via the nearest safe available exit and gather at the Assembly points at the far side of the Car Park. Nobody must leave the assembly point until everybody can be accounted for and nobody must return to the building until the Chairman has informed them that it is safe to do so; and

(b) the lifts must not be used in the event of an evacuation.

Any officers present at the meeting will aid with the evacuation.

It is important that the Chairman is informed of any person attending who is disabled or unable to use the stairs, so that suitable arrangements may be made in the event of an emergency.

The Chairman ensured that those present were aware of the emergency evacuation procedure.

To approve the Minutes of the Meeting held on 26 July 2021 (Minute Nos. 183 - 190) as a correct record.

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 26 July 2021 (Minute Nos. 183 – 190) were taken as read, approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

Councillors should not act or take decisions in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves or their spouse, civil partner or person with whom they are living with as a spouse or civil partner.  They must declare and resolve any interests and relationships.

The Chairman will ask Members if they have any interests to declare in respect of items on this agenda, under the following headings:

(a)          Disclosable Pecuniary Interests (DPI) under the Localism Act 2011.  The nature as well as the existence of any such interest must be declared.  After declaring a DPI, the Member must leave the meeting and not take part in the discussion or vote.  This applies even if there is provision for public speaking.

(b)          Disclosable Non Pecuniary Interests (DNPI) under the Code of Conduct adopted by the Council in May 2012.  The nature as well as the existence of any such interest must be declared.  After declaring a DNPI interest, the Member may stay, speak and vote on the matter.

Advice to Members:  If any Councillor has any doubt about the existence or nature of any DPI or DNPI which he/she may have in any item on this agenda, he/she should seek advice from the Monitoring Officer, the Head of Legal or from other Solicitors in Legal Services as early as possible, and in advance of the Meeting.

No interests were declared.

The Head of Finance and Procurement introduced the report which detailed the implications of treasury decisions and transactions, and gave details of the outturn position on Treasury Management transactions in 2020/21 and confirmed compliance with Treasury limits and Prudential Indicators.  The report had also been prepared in accordance with the CIPFA Treasury Management Code and the Prudential Code.

The Head of Finance and Procurement drew attention to paragraph 2.9 of the report which set-out the treasury management position for the year.  He noted that the Council had reduced it’s borrowing through the year from £25million to £15million.  The Head of Finance and Procurement drew attention to Appendix I of the report which set-out the CIPFA Treasury Management and Prudential Indicators which the Council had complied with.

Members made comments and asked questions:

·         Pleased to see that in these uncertain times one of the Council’s investments still provided a good return;

·         needed to be aware when borrowing of any potential interest rate rises;

·         considered that the finance team had done very well;

·         could the maximum permitted duration for deposits of 13 months be extended?;

·         where were the sale of ratepayer assets listed in the report?; and

·         Arlingclose had been the Council’s treasury advisers for 12 years, would the Council consider a change of advisor?.

In response the Head of Procurement and Finance explained that the permitted duration for deposits had originally been set-up to protect how the Council invested its surplus cash and could be for a longer duration if required.  The sale of Council assets were capital receipts and were detailed in the next agenda item, he drew attention to the table on page 12 of the report which detailed how much of the Council’s capital receipts had been used to fund capital expenditure.  The procurement of the Council’s treasury advisor would be reviewed in 2022 and quality was very important in that area of work.  The Director of Resources added that there were not many companies providing treasury support for Local Authorities.

Recommended:

(1)      That the Treasury Management stewardship report for 2020/21 be approved.

(2)      That the Prudential and Treasury Management Indicators within the report be approved.

Item added 18.10.21 – SBC Final Audit Opinion 2020/21 (Part of Appendix I).

The Head of Finance and Procurement introduced the report which sought the Committee’s approval of the Council’s Annual Financial report for 2020/21 and included the external auditor’s Audit Findings Report for consideration.  The Head of Finance and Procurement drew Members’ attention to the significant items in the Expenditure and Funding Analysis; the Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Statement; the Movement in Reserves Statement; the Balance Sheet; and the Cash Flow Statement.

A Member spoke about London Housing Associations sending persons to Swale, some of whom were unemployed, and he asked whether the Council received any subsidy from Central Government to help with their council tax payment?  The Director of Resources stated that Council Tax was the responsibility of the Local Authority.  Residents could claim any discount they were entitled to and that was factored into the Council Tax Base when setting the budget. 

Mr Oliver Durbin (Grant Thornton) introduced the Audit Findings Report which was set-out in Appendix I of the report.  Mr Durbin thanked the Council’s Head of Finance and Procurement and the finance team for their excellent collaboration and work in assisting them to deliver a robust audit. 

Mr Durbin reported that they would be issuing an unmodified audit opinion which meant that no major adjustments were required to the Council’s annual financial report 2020/21, with only minor disclosure adjustments required to the final version.  Mr Durbin advised that their Value for Money (VFM) procedures were ongoing and hoped that these would be finalised by the end of 2021. 

Mr Durbin spoke about the delay in completing the audit which had been due for completion on 20 September 2021.  He advised that this was because of resource limitations within Grant Thornton. 

Members raised comments and asked questions, which were responded to by officers including:

·         The font size used for the Audit Findings Report was too small to read and totally unacceptable.  Mr Darren Wells (Grant Thornton) noted the comment which they would bear in mind for future reports;

·         why had the report from the external auditors been so late?;

·         with regards to external audit fees there were six items still to be confirmed, Members needed to know the final costs;

·         there was no comparison with previous years costs in the Audit Findings report pack so how would Members know whether the Council was getting VFM from its auditors?;

·         the external audit costs were highlighted on page 106 of the report and showed a 20% increase in the audit fees;

·         would like an explanation of why the fees payable for the certification of grant claims and returns had increased? Mr Wells explained that this referred to the external audit of the housing benefit subsidy return and was a separate piece of work.  The programme for this was set by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), any errors identified would delay the programme which would mean a rise in costs;

·         how many work hours did the audit fee include?  Mr Wells agreed to find out for Members;

·         there was no  ...  view the full minutes text for item 402.