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/ieListMeetings.aspx?CommitteeID=151&Info=1&bcr=1
The deadline for the submission of public questions is midday on Thursday 23 May 2024 [midday 3 clear working days before the meeting].
The deadline for the submission of a statement is midday on Wednesday 29 May 2024 [midday the working day before the meeting].
The deadline for the submission of a petition is Wednesday 15 May 2024 [10 working days before the meeting].
Minutes:
The Committee was advised of the receipt of four public questions and five public statements, as follows:
Public Questions from Mr Alex McKinstry (on Agenda Items 9 & 10)
Question 1.
Further to Item 9, the audit plan: can you confirm when the Council's draft accounts for 2023-4 (and accounting records) will be made available for inspection by "interested persons", pursuant to the provisions of Section 26 of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014? Moreover, in the run-up to the inspection period, could officers possibly consider the following:
(i) providing a link to the NAO guidance, "Local Authority Accounts: a Guide to Your Rights", within the statutory notice;
(ii) improving the timeliness of responses. I requested five items of account during the 2023 inspection period, but these only arrived after the deadline for raising queries or objections. (The statutory window is very tight, i.e. 30 working days.) I requested nine items of account during the 2022 inspection period but none of these documents were ever received or made available.
Response:
The statutory deadline to produce the draft 2023/24 accounts is the 31st May 2024. Alongside the publishing of the draft accounts the public inspection notice will be added to the council’s website and the inspection period will be open from the 1 June to 12 July 2024. If the draft accounts are delayed the public inspection period will open the day after the draft accounts are published. We will consider adding the link to the National audit office guidance in the public inspection notice. The finance team will look to respond as timely as possible to requests but noting some requests take a significant amount of time to satisfy. The team will look into any requests which are believed to be outstanding from Mr McKinstry.
Question 2.
The report for Item 10 states (paragraph 1.8) that during 2022, seasonal food and beverage outlets along the beach - "pop-ups", as they became known - were given an informal green light by the planning directorate, "with the expectation that formal applications would be forthcoming". As far as I can make out however, it wasn't until October that year that outline applications were made for three "seasonal outdoor events spaces" along the seafront, each of which was in fact turned down. Can you confirm, then, whether any of BCP's seafront pop-up facilities operated with formal planning permission during the summer of 2022, or indeed (with the exception of the West Beach dining area) the summer of 2023?
Response:
As mentioned in the report in paragraph 1.8, advice was received from the planning department that the temporary activities proposed along the BCP seafront area for 2022 were agreed with in principle, with the expectation that planning applications would be submitted. For 2023, the advice received from the planning department, as mentioned in paragraph 1.9, was that operations were acceptable provided planning applications were submitted and registered. In relation to the specific question of whether any of BCP's seafront pop-up facilities operated with formal planning permission during the summer of 2022, or the summer of 2023, I can advise that neither the one BCP Council temporary offer in 2022 or the two BCP Council temporary offers in 2023, operated with formal planning permission.
Public Questions from Mr Philip Gatrell on Agenda Item 8
Question 1.
The external auditor’s draft Audit Findings Report for 2021/22 was presented to this regulatory Committee on 30 November 2023.
Report page 22 notes unspecified “assets” disposals recorded in the 2021/22 draft Statement of Accounts - presumably regarding “Long-Term Assets” - “had been disposed of in prior years but not accounted for in the year they were disposed in”. Will a Finance Officer provide this meeting with the following information for each such asset item identified by the external auditor –
- Description.
- Financial year of actual disposal.
- Financial year any proceeds received.
- Where applicable the designation as a Bournemouth, Christchurch or Poole asset.
- Whether classified in the revised 2021/22 Accounts as a “Derecognition -
Disposals” or “Derecognition - Other” or otherwise.
- Original acquisition cost or valuation, accumulated depreciation etc and net
book value on disposal.
- Amount of any proceeds and
- Resultant loss or gain and to which specific ledger account that amount is now
debited or credited.
Response:
There are two asset which were identified.
Asset 1
- Description. A338 - Wessex Fields Link Land
- Financial year of actual disposal. 2020/21
- Financial year any proceeds received. 2020/21
- Where applicable the designation as a Bournemouth, Christchurch or Poole asset. Bournemouth
- Whether classified in the revised 2021/22 Accounts as a “Derecognition - Disposals” or “Derecognition - Other” or otherwise. Derecognition - Disposals
- Original acquisition cost or valuation, accumulated depreciation etc and net book value on disposal. Original Cost - £2,352,000 Revised Valuation 2,935,000. No depreciation as land.
- Amount of any proceeds and £3,375,000
- Resultant loss or gain and to which specific ledger account that amount is now debited or credited. Other operating income and expenditure
Asset 2
- Description. Bournemouth Community Centre Community Arts
- Financial year of actual disposal. 2020/21
- Financial year any proceeds received. 2020/21
- Where applicable the designation as a Bournemouth, Christchurch or Poole asset. Bournemouth
- Whether classified in the revised 2021/22 Accounts as a “Derecognition - Disposals” or “Derecognition - Other” or otherwise. Derecognition - Disposals
- Original acquisition cost or valuation, accumulated depreciation etc and net book value on disposal. Revalued figure was £290,000 with £3,590 in depreciation £286,410. Historic cost £129,775
- Amount of any proceeds and £49,500
Resultant loss or gain and to which specific ledger account that amount is now debited or credited. Other operating income and expenditure
Question 2
My two public statements to this Committee on 11th April 2024 are reproduced in the minutes but are not formatted as submitted; thus rendering them practically incomprehensible. Regarding the first of those previous statements -
- The identified £722,000 discrepancy regarding the 2021/22 draft Accounts is included on page 45 of the external auditor’s adjustments dated 21st May 2024 presented to this meeting; although not shown in the previous draft Audit Findings Report presented on 30th November 2023.
- In the absence of mention in the auditor’s Findings, will the Director of Finance - or their Deputy - explain the cause and its effect in monetary amount on each specified 2021/22 ledger account regarding the identified prior year discrepancy of £2,305,339 relating to 2020/21 adjusted in 2021/22?
- Assuming external auditor’s consent will the Director or Deputy amend the published 2022/23 draft Accounts note by inserting “As Restated” over the 2021/22 comparative column and correcting the identified two 2021/22 comparative addition errors?
Response:
We are unable to decipher the actual question being asked and where the figure of £2,305,339 appears. We have no plans to adjust the draft 2022/23 accounts at this time.
Statement from Mr Philip Gatrell on Agenda Items 8 and 9
Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 and registered Local Government electors’ rights regarding Council Annual Draft Accounts:
Subsection 26(1) –
During an external audit anyone may inspect the relevant accounting records and documents and make copies.
26(2) - The auditor must give local electors or their representatives opportunity to question auditor about the accounting records.
Section 27 - Local electors can object to auditor regarding certain matters.
Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015: Information must be made available “on reasonable notice at all reasonable times” under Regulation 14 and within the public inspection period of Regulation 15. Thus ensuring the auditor’s response to electors.
Despite the 2021 “Moss” case decision, there are Officer failures to provide information in time or at all. Information requests therefore require submission as soon as possible, with Officer commitment to timescale fulfilment on Council premises or electronically. Thereby avoiding local electors current experience where earlier years information remains outstanding.
Statement 1 from Mr Ian Redman on Agenda Item 6
To quote Cllr Slade; “"This administration will be based on the solid foundations of openness, transparency, accountability, honesty and integrity." The council will be welcoming to everyone, with decisions that are explained, questions answered, a place where challenge and scrutiny is embraced and encouraged." And yet two public statements submitted to the last meeting, clearly referencing agenda items, were not allowed and many of the answers to resident’s questions are nonsensical or misleading.
Internal Governance say customer satisfaction can be judged, not by asking the customer for actual feedback but the by number of internal reviews requested. When it is suggested BCP follow best practise and publish all FOI requests on their website, the answer in effect is “the computer says no”. If BCP wanted to, it could publish all FOI requests without a new system.
Statement 2 from Mr Ian Redman on Agenda Item 8:
Grant Thornton were made aware of concerns about Bounce Back Challenge Fund Grants but took no action and have not reported on the scheme. On 28th May 2024, a first Gazette notice for compulsory strike-off was issued against Adventure is Out There 365 Ltd for not filing their annual accounts. Virtually everybody said a £70,000 grant for the Lagoon water park was a waste of taxpayer’s money but it was continuously defended by Nigel Stannard, Adam Richens and Graham Farrant. If it is not the external auditor who checks the checker.
Statement 1 from Mr Alex McKinstry on Agenda Item 10.
When the history of BCP Council is written, it'll be interesting to learn why there was such a rush to commercialise the beaches in 2022 - to the point where numerous protocols were bypassed, including, it now transpires, planning permission for seafront pop-up restaurants. These were structures on land that stood for more than 28 days; as such they required formal planning consent under Section 57 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. These structures also stood in high-risk Flood Zone 3 as defined by the Environment Agency, and thus required flood risk assessments under Paragraph 173 of the National Planning Policy Framework. The Council should lead by example, and act lawfully. This lack of planning consent was a significant governance failing therefore, and ought to have been included in the audit report on seafront activities, presented to this Committee on 26 October 2023.
Statement 2 from Mr Alex McKinstry on Agenda Item 10.
Turning to the commercialisation of the beaches generally, it's hard to see how such a policy can flourish, given that most pop-up restaurants to date have been on Bournemouth's beaches; and as such, they conflict with CS31 of the Bournemouth Core Strategy (2012): "The Local Planning Authority will refuse planning permission for development that results in the loss of public and private open spaces ... which contribute to the recreational ... value of an area." The exception is where such land is "surplus" AND "the benefits arising from development outweigh the loss", and one can hardly posit that large areas of Bournemouth's beaches at the height of summer are "surplus". Similar restrictions would be imposed by NE7 of the draft BCP local plan. I'll be genuinely keen to see, therefore, how this commercialisation can be accommodated within the glare of the aforementioned planning strategies.