The Council considers that the criteria for listing the Happy Hour has not been satisfied and it will be added to the list of rejected applications for listing.

Approved.

That as no objections to the proposals contained within The Borough of Watford (Church Street, Watford) (Prohibition of Stopping and waiting Except Taxis) Order 2017 were received that the Orders be made as advertised.

Approved

The committee received a report from the Head of Finance (Shared Services) setting out the committee’s proposed work programme for the remainder of the financial year 2017/18 and 2018/19.

It was agreed that risk training would be given to Audit Committee.  Discussions would take place with the Head of Democracy and Governance about the exact timing of the training.

RESOLVED –

that risk training be added to the committee’s work programme.

The committee received a report of the Head of Finance (Shared Services) which included the latest draft of the Treasury Management Statement for 2018/19. 

The Head of Finance (Shared Services) explained that the strategy would be formally agreed at Full Council when the budget was set.  Further work was being carried out which meant that the financial information could change before the strategy was presented in January.  He referred to the external borrowing from the Local Enterprise Partnership for two specific projects.

RESOLVED –

that Audit Committee recommends the Draft Treasury Management Strategy 2018/19 to Council with any amendments proposed.

The committee received a report from the Head of Finance (Shared Services) regarding the Annual Governance Statement Action Plan. 

The Head of Finance (Shared Services) informed the committee that last outstanding actions had been completed.  There were no further actions to monitor.

The committee agreed that there was no point including this as a standing item if there was nothing to report.  It was noted that the annual report would continue to be presented and would outline the current position. 

RESOLVED –

1.      that the Annual Governance Statement Action Plan update be removed as a standing item for the committee until such time as there are actions to be monitored.

2.      that an annual report on the Annual Governance Statement be presented to explain the latest position.

The committee received a report of the Shared Internal Audit Service (SIAS) that detailed progress made in delivering the Council’s Annual Audit Plan for 2017/18. 

The Client Audit Manager introduced the report and provided some of the highlights within it.  He noted that performance against the two main indicators was largely on track with billable days at 54% against a profiled target of 57% and projects to draft at 50% which equalled the profiled target.  He also noted that it had been possible to delete the IT legacy recommendations which had reduced the overall number of outstanding recommendations. 

In response to a comment about the lack of updates for the Tree Surveying recommendations, the Client Audit Manager advised that the deadline was 31 December 2017, so the crucial update would be due in the next report.

The Chair said that he was pleased to see that Appendix C was much shorter than previous versions.  He noted that there were several other recommendations that had been completed in this edition.

The Client Audit Manger cautioned that additional recommendations could be added depending on the current audit reports still to be produced for 2017/18.

RESOLVED –

1.      that the Internal Audit Progress Report for the period to 17 November 2017 be noted.

2.      that the amendments to the Audit Plan as at 17 November 2017 be approved.

3.      that the removal of the implemented recommendations (as shown in Appendix C of the report) be agreed.

4.      that changes to the implementation dates for two recommendations (as shown in paragraph 2.5 of the report and Appendix C) be agreed.

The committee received a report of the Head of Democracy and Governance which presented an updated and revised Risk Management Strategy.  It was accompanied by a one-page summary. 

The Head of Democracy and Governance said that she hoped councillors had noticed that the latest committee reports included ‘risks’ as the second section of the report.  This ensured officers considered risks when putting forward reports asking councillors to make decisions.  The revised strategy had been discussed at Leadership Team and Extended Leadership Team meetings.  The risk categories had been reviewed as had the council’s appetite for risk.  At the next Audit Committee councillors would receive the Corporate Risk Register, which would look different to previous versions.

The Head of Democracy and Governance added that a one-page summary guide had been produced for quick reference.  She was holding lunch and learn sessions for officers.  She would also be providing the Audit Committee with training and there would be a further training session for all councillors.

In response to a comment about risks, the Head of Democracy and Governance said that the aim was to get officers to think about the range of things that could go wrong and how they might be mitigated.  There was always a chance that something could happen that had not been considered as a risk.

Following a question about the new General Data Protection Regulations, the Head of Democracy and Governance advised that she chaired a working group on this subject.  All departments had been asked to carry out a data audit, for example the type of personal information the service collected, how it was stored and who it was shared with.  The Council had a lot of legal obligations that required it to hold personal information.  It was necessary to look at the privacy statements on correspondence.  A report would be presented at the next meeting, by which time the council should have clear plans in place. 

On a separate note the Head of Democracy and Governance advised that all councillors had been registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office and they would each receive their individual registration.

The Head of Democracy and Governance highlighted some of the new elements of the General Data Protection Regulations.  These included –

·       Requirement to document what information was held by the organisation;

·       An individual could withdraw their consent at any point for the information to be held by an organisation if they had given the information as a result of consent;

·       An individual could ask for their information held by an organisation to be put into a compatible format and for them to be able to move it elsewhere if they had provided the information by consent;

·       Data subject access requests would be free instead of an individual being charged £10 and it would have to be responded to within a month instead of the current 40 days limit.

·       The council would be required to employ a Data Protection Officer, who would report to Leadership Team.

RESOLVED –

that the Risk Management Strategy be approved.

RESOLVED –

that under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business as it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the public were present during consideration of the item there would be disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in Section 100(1) Schedule 12A of the Act for the reasons stated in the report.

Cabinet received a report of the Managing Director

The Mayor introduced the report and explained it would also be going to Full Council.  The feedback had been good; particularly that staff liked working for the council and the encouragement to share best practice with other organisations.  There was also sensible challenge in the report around having the right skills in place to deliver the council’s ambitions.

The Managing Director described the review as the equivalent of a CQC inspection or OFSTED. It was the sector’s way of reviewing how well a council was performing.  The peer review found Watford’s performance to be in the top 10% of district councils in the country.  The feedback concluded that the council was bold, progressive and ambitious.  Areas for improvement included enhancing capacity and skills which was recognised and being addressed through the People Strategy.  The council was also aware of the need to join up the Medium Term Financial Strategy with Watford 2020 and the Commercial Strategy to become more integrated.  It was recognised that the council’s partners were very supportive and engaged and that they had offered to be ambassadors for the council.  The Local Government Association was not aware of the level of creativity at Watford which other districts would benefit from and there should be opportunities for two way learning across the district network.

Councillor Taylor thanked the Head of Corporate Strategy and Communications for the level of detail included in the preparation for the peer challenge.

RESOLVED –

that Cabinet:

1. notes the final Corporate Peer Challenge report and recommends the report to Council

2.  notes that the Corporate Peer Challenge actions based on the recommendations will be incorporated into the council’s strategic planning at both corporate and service planning level.

3. notes that the Corporate Peer Challenge team will re-visit Watford next year to assess progress against the team’s recommendations

Cabinet received a report of the Head of Human Resources

Councillor Watkin introduced the report and explained that the People Strategy would reflect the council’s 2020 programme and would ensure there would be the right skills in place.  The People Strategy, ICT Strategy and 2020 Programme were all aligned.  The aim was to have a focussed workforce ready to deliver what the council needed.

RESOLVED –

that Cabinet notes the progress on the People Strategy

To approve in principle the proposed restructure of the ICT Section subject to the outcome of the statutory consultation with staff and trade unions and delegate approval of the final structure to the Head of Service Transformation in consultation with the Portfolio Holder.

Cabinet received a report of the Senior Environmental Crime Officer

Councillor Collett introduced the report and explained that currently fixed penalty notices were £200, which were reduced to £120 if they were paid within ten days.  Regulations came in 2016 which allowed councils to make variations and it was considered time to change the penalty level to £300 with a reduced fee of £150 which would be in line with other councils.  It was considered that this was a significant enough penalty to be a deterrent and would reflect that the council took fly tipping seriously. 

In response to questions from the Mayor, the Head of Community and Environmental Services explained that the penalty helped to cover the council’s costs and the increased monetary value would act as a deterrent.  It was also explained that an example of small scale fly tipping offence was two black sacks.

RESOLVED –

that the penalty charge for a fixed penalty notice issued for fly tipping under the Unauthorised Deposit of Waste (Fixed Penalties) Regulations 2016 be set at £300 and reduced to £150 if paid within 10 days.

Approved

Approved.

Approved.

Approved.

Approved.

Approved.