Issue - meetings

In accordance with paragraphs 2.24 of the Council’s Committee Procedure Rules and Appendix on Public Speaking a total period of 15 minutes is allocated for members of the public to put questions to the committee on any matter relating to this agenda. Each member of the public will be allowed up to two minutes each to speak, and the Chair will have discretion to vary this where they consider it appropriate.

Members of the public wishing to speak are required to provide notice of this at least three clear working days’ in advance of the meeting and should include the question with that notice.

Member of the public, Ms Debbie Jamison attended the meeting and spoke in relation item 10 of the agenda. Ms Jamison challenged the reason for part of the report being considered under Part 2 as the investigations had concluded. In addition, Ms Jamison raised concerns around land transactions at another site within the borough and requested it be brough to the attention of the Audit and Governance Committee for investigation.

The Director of Governance and Compliance advised that details contained in the part 2 report, should remain part 2 due to the potential commercial impact on the sites involved with investigations. The Head of Audit and Risk confirmed she would contact Ms Jamison outside of the meeting to gather more information about her concerns.

Councillor Janet Clowes attended the meeting and spoke in relation to item 10 on the agenda. Councillor Clowes welcomed the report and thanked Officers for their work on this area, which had been ongoing for some time. In addition, it was stated that procedures and processes had matured over time which now recognise a change in culture, governance and legislation.

Councillor Janet Clowes attended the meeting and spoke in relation to item 11 on the agenda. Councillor Clowes stated that she understood the reasons for the Public Interest Report being undertaken but questioned the value for money of the report and the way in which it was conducted, specifically the length of time for the report to be produced and that it was undertaken by the same External Auditors who were appointed at the time the issues were being investigated.

The Director of Finance and Customer Service confirmed that the fee proposals would be independently assessed by the Public Sector Audit Appointments Ltd and as the Section 151 Officer, he would have the opportunity to seek clarification on how the fee has been calculated and to ensure the process has been completed proportionately. In addition it was confirmed that the External Auditors (Grant Thornton) commissioned the report as they felt it was in the public interest to be completed, it was not an action of the local authority.