(a) Whistleblowing
(b) Update on the latest Governance Arrangements for Fire and Police
(c) Update on approach made to the Ministry of Housing Communities & Local Government regarding quorum
Presented By:Chair
Minutes:
(a) Q&A Session with the Mayor (minute no. 80)
The Chair requested an update on an invitation being extended to the Mayor to attend a Q&A session with members of this committee. The Director of Finance reported that the Mayor was to be invited to the next meeting of the committee on 12 November.
(b) Strategic Risk Register (minute no. 81)
Councillor Craig Collingswood expressed his disappointment that the strategic risk register had not been included on the agenda for this meeting, contrary to the undertaken given at the last meeting. This was concerning, given the corporate importance of the risk register and that members would not have seen the register for five months by the time it was reported to the November meeting.
The Corporate Assurance Manager apologised for this omission. Significant work had been undertaken during the summer, with further work planned for October/November, to review and refine the strategic risk register. The Director of Strategy and newly-appointed Investment Programme Risk Manager were involved in the work to strengthen risk assessment within the organisation, which would result in a more robust risk register.
Members noted this explanation and agreed that the strategic risk register should become a standing item on the agenda of all future meetings of the committee. It was further agreed that reports were no longer to be removed from meeting agendas once that had been scheduled onto the committee’s forward plan.
(c) Whistleblowing
The Chair relayed from the Monitoring Officer that there were no matters to be brought to the attention of the committee.
(d) Governance Update - West Midlands Fire Authority and West Midlands Police & Crime Commissioner
The Chair relayed an update from the Monitoring Officer on recent developments relating to the proposed governance changes affecting the West Midlands Fire Authority and the West Midlands Police & Crime Commissioner.
The WMCA Board considered a report at its meeting on 14 September. It was now expected that the final draft Order would be laid before Parliament later in the month. In respect of the arrangements for the audit oversight of the fire service functions, detailed discussions were soon to commence which would involve the Chair of this committee as appropriate.
Work was also being undertaken in respect of Police & Crime Commissioner governance, although this was at an earlier stage due to the combined role not being planned for until May 2020. It was likely that the audit arrangements would remain unchanged, which would therefore require this committee to establish a relationship with the police audit committee.
The Chair reported that he intended this committee should give further oversight to the resources allocated by the WMCA for development of the proposals connected with the Police & Crime Commissioner, to ensure that they were sufficient for the complex work being undertaken, but also did not result in resources being withdrawn from other key workstreams. This committee should also be seeking further detail on the implementation plan that would oversee the merger of the fire authority and the combined authority. Members of the committee supported these approaches.
[Councillor John O’Shea declared a personal interest in this item as he was the chair of the West Midlands Police & Crime Panel.]
(e) Quorum Requirement for Audit and Scrutiny Committees
The Chair reported that the unusually high quorum set for combined authority audit and scrutiny committees within secondary legislation had been raised with officials from the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government. This was proving to be a difficulty for all combined authorities. Civil servants had undertaken to look at this issue again when legislative time became available.
(f) Health and Safety Update
The Chair reported that the Monitoring Officer had informed him that that there were no health and safety issues requiring the attention of this committee. Unfortunately, there had been one recent death at a bus station, but an inquest had recorded the death as suicide.
(g) Standards Update (minute no. 83)
The Chair indicated that a report would be submitted to the next meeting on 12 November on progress in developing a code of conduct for individuals not covered by a code of conduct for elected members, along with details of how this committee might seek to further promote high standards of conduct amongst its members.