Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Bob Bayford.

To receive any declarations of interest. Members are advised to consider the advice contained within the Declaration of Interest advice attached to this Agenda. If a Member declares an interest, they should complete the Declaration of Interest Form

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve the summary of recommendations and decisions of the Cabinet meeting held on 31 August 2021, copy attached.

Councillor Ashbee proposed, Councillor David Saunders seconded and Members agreed the minutes as a correct record of the meeting held on 31 August 2021.

Members discussed the report on the financial management review. This report was driven by the need to update our finance and procedure rules, and to inform the replacement of our financial information system. Cabinet also considered the consultant’s report that was attached as an annex to this item which set out the detail and outlined some positive aspects of the council’s financial management approach as well as areas where improvements should be made.

This was an important matter that Members ought to consider in order to make the required improvements for managing the council’s finances. The context in section 2 of the report explains how , in the past, the council had not always managed its finances in the best way. The report proposed better financial management controls to mitigate against financial impacts in the future.

Section 3 of the report lists the key findings of the review, all of which were recommended to Cabinet. Members welcomed the idea of increased budget reporting and approval of reserves, via reports to members, through the Section 151 Officer.

Cabinet recognised that some of these changes will take time, but Members were looking forward to working through the action plan with officers.

The following Members spoke under Council Procedure Rule 20.1:

Councillor Garner;

Councillor Austin;

Councillor Everitt;

Councillor Yates.

Councillor Saunders proposed, Councillor Kup seconded and Members agreed to note the report.

Members considered the update report that was referred to Cabinet by the General Purposes Committee. The first update report on the costs of our ongoing proceedings was presented to Cabinet on 8 June. Members requested to see regular updates on costs and were advised that GPC is the appropriate committee to have oversight of costs. GPC considered and noted an update report on costs on 25 August but also requested that the costs be reported to Cabinet.

The estimate of current future costs was based on the current known worst case scenario. Those costs have yet to be incurred, but obviously have to be identified and estimated. Those costs might change depending on the outcome of current proceedings.

Councillor Ashbee proposed, Councillor Pugh seconded and Members agreed to note the report.

Councillor Ashbee proposed, Councillor Pugh seconded and Members agreed to note the report.