Gosport Borough Council
Councillors:
28
Wards:
14
Committees:
10
Meetings (2025):
47
Meetings (2024):
47
Meeting
Standards & Audit Sub Board - Gosport
Meeting Times
Scheduled Time
Start:
Thursday, 14th November 2024
6:00 PM
Thursday, 14th November 2024
6:00 PM
End:
Thursday, 14th November 2024
10:00 PM
Thursday, 14th November 2024
10:00 PM
Meeting Status
Status:
Confirmed
Confirmed
Date:
14 Nov 2024
14 Nov 2024
Location:
Council Chamber
Council Chamber
Meeting Attendees
Agenda
1
Apologies for Non Attendance
Minutes
There were none
2
Declarations of Interest
Minutes
There were none
3
Minutes of the Meeting of the Sub Board held on 19 September 2024
Attachments:
- Document Minutes Public Pack, 19/09/2024 Standards & Audit Sub Board 06 Nov 2024
Minutes
Following a discussion on minute 19 paragraph 5, the sub board members asked for the line “The CIA explained that the score was based on no further decisions currently being made therefore no live risk and an exit strategy.” to be removed.
RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 19 September 2024 were signed as a true and correct record.
RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 19 September 2024 were signed as a true and correct record.
4
Deputations- Standing Order 3.4
(NOTE: The Board is required to receive a deputation(s) on a matter which is before the meeting of the Board provided that notice of the intended deputation and its object shall have been received by the Borough Solicitor by 12 noon on Tuesday 12 November 2024. The total time for deputations in favour and against a proposal shall not exceed 10 minutes)
Minutes
There were none
5
Public Questions - Standing Order 3.5
(NOTE: The Board is required to allow a total of 15 minutes for questions from Members of the public on matters within the terms of reference of the Board provided that notice of such Question(s) shall have been submitted to the Borough Solicitor by 12 noon on Tuesday 12 November 2024)
Minutes
There were none
6
Financial Accounts 22/23. Audit of financial statements update
This reports seeks to update members as to the status of the Gosport Borough Council Report and Accounts status for the year 22/23. This is the year that has been impacted by the national audit backlog.
Attachments:
- Document Finance - 2223 Audit Update November Board - v2 06 Nov 2024
Minutes
Consideration was given to a report by the Head of Finance updating members as to the status of the Gosport Borough Council Report and Accounts status for the year 2022/23. This is the year that has been impacted by the national audit backlog.
The Members were advised that the backstop date was 13th December and there was no reason to think that the dates stated couldn’t be met.
RESOLVED: That the Sub Board noted the update given for awareness of the timescales that EY and GBC finance team are working to.
The Members were advised that the backstop date was 13th December and there was no reason to think that the dates stated couldn’t be met.
RESOLVED: That the Sub Board noted the update given for awareness of the timescales that EY and GBC finance team are working to.
7
Internal Audit Progress Report 1st April to 28th October 2024
To update the sub board on the progress of the Audit Plan 2024/25, agreed (March 2024), to the Members with responsibility for governance.
Attachments:
- Document Audit Progress Covering Report Nov 2024 06 Nov 2024
- Document Appendix A Internal Audit Progress Report GBC Nov 2024 Final 06 Nov 2024
Minutes
Consideration was given to a report by the Chief Internal Auditor (CIA) updating the Sub Board on the progress of the Audit Plan 2024/25.
The CIA advised that this was the standard report brought to members and showed good progress ahead of schedule with one audit added and no plans to remove any.
Members were advised that although there had been a lot of progress on the Health & Safety electrical and gas checks follow up, it had been near impossible to access every property and therefore remained open due to the nature of the task rather than nothing being done.
In answer to a Members question regarding the CCTV audit, the CIA advised that the Head of Corporate Policy and Community Safety now has oversight of all three CCTV systems to provide consistency.
In answer to a Member’s question officers advised that there was little demand for access to footage with approximately 6 requests per year.
The CIA advised that it was too early to comment on whether there was a drift upwards of High exceptions, stating that the follow ups are key. He also advised that the patterns of movement through the exceptions is considered at the start of any audit, but agreed to consider articulating these patterns in future reports.
In answer to Members’ questions, the CIA advised that the issue of staff qualifications in regard to private sector housing would be followed up in the next financial year, and that if an audit sample taken indicates failure there is a process in place which increases the test sample to determine if it is human error or systemic problems.
Officers advised that to address ongoing issues of resourcing in the Council Tax department, a plan to make use of Benefits staff to look at the immediate problem of debt collection is being introduced. A review of both areas will look at both skills and experience and how resources can be best used over the two areas. This is a model followed in other authorities, which increases resilience and protects jobs.
RESOLVED: That the Standards and Audit Sub Board noted the progress of the Audit Plan 2024/25 from 1st April to 28th October 2024 as set out in Appendix A
The CIA advised that this was the standard report brought to members and showed good progress ahead of schedule with one audit added and no plans to remove any.
Members were advised that although there had been a lot of progress on the Health & Safety electrical and gas checks follow up, it had been near impossible to access every property and therefore remained open due to the nature of the task rather than nothing being done.
In answer to a Members question regarding the CCTV audit, the CIA advised that the Head of Corporate Policy and Community Safety now has oversight of all three CCTV systems to provide consistency.
In answer to a Member’s question officers advised that there was little demand for access to footage with approximately 6 requests per year.
The CIA advised that it was too early to comment on whether there was a drift upwards of High exceptions, stating that the follow ups are key. He also advised that the patterns of movement through the exceptions is considered at the start of any audit, but agreed to consider articulating these patterns in future reports.
In answer to Members’ questions, the CIA advised that the issue of staff qualifications in regard to private sector housing would be followed up in the next financial year, and that if an audit sample taken indicates failure there is a process in place which increases the test sample to determine if it is human error or systemic problems.
Officers advised that to address ongoing issues of resourcing in the Council Tax department, a plan to make use of Benefits staff to look at the immediate problem of debt collection is being introduced. A review of both areas will look at both skills and experience and how resources can be best used over the two areas. This is a model followed in other authorities, which increases resilience and protects jobs.
RESOLVED: That the Standards and Audit Sub Board noted the progress of the Audit Plan 2024/25 from 1st April to 28th October 2024 as set out in Appendix A
8
Any Other Items
Minutes
The Chairman invited the Head of IT (HOI) to brief Members on the recent outage and the subsequent actions taken to ensure more resilience in future.
The HOI gave a very detailed explanation of what had caused the outage, and Members were satisfied every avenue is being looked at to identify control measures.
Members understood that in small authorities there can be a reliance on one or two officers, and resilience must be built in so there is not a single point of failure.
The HOI explained that the move to cloud based systems increased reliability, and reduced the need for physical kit and data center.
Members wished to extend their thanks to Steve Leggatt
The HOI gave a very detailed explanation of what had caused the outage, and Members were satisfied every avenue is being looked at to identify control measures.
Members understood that in small authorities there can be a reliance on one or two officers, and resilience must be built in so there is not a single point of failure.
The HOI explained that the move to cloud based systems increased reliability, and reduced the need for physical kit and data center.
Members wished to extend their thanks to Steve Leggatt
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