Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence from Councillors.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor S McCormack

To receive information on any changes in the membership of the Committee.

Note – When a member of a Committee is unable to attend a meeting of a Committee or Sub-Committee, the relevant Political Group Leader (or their nominated representative) may, by notice to the Monitoring Officer (or their nominated representative) prior to the meeting, appoint a substitute member from within the same Political Group. The contact details on the front of this agenda should be used for notifications.

There were no substitutes.

Councillors are requested to declare any interests on items included in this agenda. Please refer to the workflow on the preceding page for guidance.

Declarations received will be reported at the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest

To confirm and sign as a correct record the minutes of the Meeting held on 23 January 2020.

The minutes of the meeting held on 23 January 2020 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive any public questions, statements or petitions submitted in accordance with the Constitution. Further information on the requirements for submitting these is available to view at the following link:-

https://democracy.bcpcouncil.gov.uk/documents/s2305/Public%20Items%20-%20Meeting%20Procedure%20Rules.pdf 

The deadline for the submission of public questions is Thursday 13 February 2020.

The deadline for the submission of a statement is 12.00 noon, Wednesday 19 February 2020.

The deadline for the submission of a petition is 12.00 noon, Wednesday 19 February2020.

There were no public issues.

To receive a presentation from the Head of Finance.

The Committee received a presentation from the Head of Finance providing a description and overview of key statistics and particularly the numbers of properties involved and covered by the two accounts. It was explained that, legally and as recognised by Central Government, BCP Council has only one Housing Revenue Account (‘HRA’). However, within the Council, it was a matter of local choice as to how the accounts were administered. The current internal arrangement was that the Poole and the Bournemouth accounts were administered separately. The Committee was also reminded that Christchurch had sold its housing stock in the 1990s and did therefore not have an HRA.

The presentation set out in detail the way in which costs were charged to the HRA in terms of treatment of core services; core-plus services and non-core services. The approach to dealing with external debt, land and property ownership and with sale of Council dwellings was also explained.

It was suggested and agreed that the presentation would be circulated to members of the Committee with a view to it being retained for reference and updating going forward.

The Chairman recorded his thanks to the Head of Finance for an informative presentation.

The Committee noted that that the presentation to the next meeting would be on the subject of ‘Sustainable Procurement’.

Other items which would be added to the agenda would include an update on the latest position regarding the Kinson Community Centre; a report on the Whistleblowing, Counter Fraud and Corruption policies and a report on the Annual Evolution of Financial Regulations for 2020-21.

A revised copy of the Committee Forward Plan to reflect these additions would be circulated to members of the Committee after the meeting.

In the meantime, the Chairman reminded Members of his ongoing invitation for them to suggest subjects for future presentation to the Committee. There was also a suggestion, which was supported by the Committee, that Officers explore the potential for a self-assessment of the performance of the Audit and Governance Committee using the CIPFA self-assessment tool. It was noted that this was available on an ‘off-the-shelf’ basis and so could potentially be used quickly and relatively cheaply. This process could then also be included within the programme of work set out in the Committee’s Forward Plan.