In the absence of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman Members agreed that Councillor Mike Whiting (Substitute for Councillor Ann Hampshire) would chair the meeting.

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 October 2021 (Minute Nos. 398 - 402) as a correct record.

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 26 October 2021 (Minute Nos. 398 – 402) 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 Director of Resources introduced the report which outlined the mid-year outturn position on treasury management transactions for 2021/22, including compliance with treasury limits and Prudential and Treasury Performance Indicators.  The report would be considered by Full Council on 12 January 2022.

Recommended:

(1)      That Council notes the performance information in the Treasury Management Half Year Report 2021/22.

(2)      That Council approves the prudential and treasury management indicators detailed within the Treasury Management Half Year Report 2021/22.

The Director of Resources introduced the report which set-out proposals for appointing the external auditor to the Council for the accounts for the five-year period from 2023/24, and drew attention to the letter of invitation from the Public Sector Audit Appointments (PSAA) to opt into the national scheme for auditor appointments from April 2023.  The decision to take advantage of the national auditor appointment arrangements would need to be made by Full Council, under the local audit regulations.  The Director of Resources outlined the options open to the Council which included arranging their own procurement and appointing themselves, or joining the national collective scheme administered by the Public Sector Audit Appointments (PSAA).  

The Director of Resources responded to points and questions raised by Members.  She advised that the lack of external public auditors had been a national issue following the abolition of the Audit Commission.  She confirmed that the Council was not able to appoint an external auditor that did not have Key Audit Partner status and so was not able to appoint a local audit firm.  The Council were not guaranteed to keep Grant Thornton as their external auditors and she spoke about how invaluable it was to the Council to have the consistency of the same audit team.  The Director of Resources confirmed that there was some provision within the Council’s budget for an increase in audit fees, and also funding from the Department for Housing Communities and Local Government, but it was unknown whether that funding would be available for 2022/23. 

In response to further questions from Members, the Director of Resources considered that the regulators of external audit were part of the problem and explained that the rules of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), who currently governed all auditors, were based on private audit which did not have the same risks and requirements as Local Government audit.  She spoke of her frustration that whilst the accounting regulations were tweaked for Local Government, the audit regulations were not meaning that the Council were audited as if it was a private organisation.  The Redmond Review had recommended that the FRC become the Audit, Reporting and Governance Authority (ARGA) which would have a public element and long-term the Director of Resources was hopeful that there would be a regime that was fit for purpose for Local Government and confirmed that the Council would champion local authorities when responding to any consultations.

Recommended:

(1)  That Council accepts the invitation from Public Sector Audit Appointments to opt-in to the national scheme to reappointment external audit.

The Head of Audit Partnership introduced the report which summarised the work of the Audit Team in completing the 2021/22 Audit & Assurance Plan agreed by the Committee in March 2021.  He drew attention to the Internal Audit Interim Report 2021/22 set-out in Appendix I of the report which summarised progress towards delivering the plan up to mid-October 2021 and the path towards completing the plan over the next six months.

The Head of Audit Partnership confirmed: that internal audit had been able to work independently from council officers and Members; no audit work had identified management taking risks considered unreasonable; and that Mid-Kent Audit had enough resource to deliver the 2021/22 plan.

The Head of Audit Partnership advised that this would be his last meeting as he was leaving to work at the London Borough of Lewisham.  He thanked his team for their work and also the Committee for their support.

Resolved:

(1)  That work so far towards completing the 2021/22 Audit & Assurance Plan and updates on the Mid-Kent Audit Partnership be noted.

There was a vote of thanks to Rich Clarke (Head of Audit Partnership) who was leaving the Council.  The Director of Resources said that the Chairman had asked that she pass on his thanks to Rich for all his hard work and support.

Members wished Rich well in his new job.