Issue - meetings

To note the refreshed self-assessment against the CIPFA Financial Management Code and the self-assessment against the DLUHC Best Value Theme for Use of Resources.

The Committee received a report from the Deputy Chief Executive on self-assessments against the CIPFA Financial Management Code and the DLUHC Best Value Theme for Use of Resources. The Committee were advised that the CIPFA Financial Management Code had been introduced in 2019 and that the self-assessment should be a living document. The Deputy Chief Executive suggested that external review of the self-assessment would be useful, and that Southern Internal Audit Partnership may be able to include it within their audit plan. The Committee were supportive of this idea.

The Committee queried whether having another LGA Finance Peer Review would be appropriate and were advised that this could be discussed with the LGA to gauge their opinion on the frequency of reviews but stated there would be cost and resourcing considerations also.

The Committee identified that the layout of Appendix D and E made them difficult to read. The Committee went on to identify several out-of-date references in Appendix B including reference to Overview and Scrutiny Committee and a discrepancy in the amount in the Sinking Fund. The Committee queried the reference to quarterly monitoring reports and advised these had not been received. The Chief Accountant advised that two e-mails providing access to Centros had been sent out and this would be followed-up on to see why they had not been received by members. The Deputy Chief Executive agreed that there were elements within Appendix B that needed updating and agreed that this would be done and the report brought back to this Committee in July. The Chief Accountant advised the Committee that Finance had been working with Assets on modelling and assumptions for the Sinking Fund.

The Committee suggested the following changes may be useful; the inclusion of more recurring KPI’s, clarification on authority levels in terms of financial stewardship, more information on the culture of the organisation specifically how the culture was set at the top level, and that the self-assessment should be conducted by different people each time. The Deputy Chief Executive advised that there were several different structure around financial stewardships, some of which were set out in the Constitution. He went on to state that DLUHC had a Best Value Theme Indicator on Culture which could provide a more rounded view.

The Committee resolved to:

1. Note the refreshed self-assessment against the CIPFA Financial Management Code

2.    Note the self-assessment against the DLUHC Best Value Theme for Use of Resources.