Issue - meetings

Report of the Audit Manager

The Audit Manager presented the report to Members, highlighting the executive summaries of the three final reports issued since the last meeting.  She drew Members attention to the Section 106 audit which in her opinion was a grade three and therefore required significant improvement.  Follow up work during September found that progress had been made and regular reviews would continue to be undertaken.  The Audit Manager also referred to a number of weaknesses identified during an investigation in the Housing Repairs Service and advised that a full audit would be carried out in quarter four.

Councillor S Sheahan asked for further details regarding the weaknesses in the control systems of Housing Repairs.  The Audit Manager explained that it would not be appropriate to go into the full details  due to the nature and approach of the investigation but it included controls around  purchases and management of stock and assets. 

Councillor S Sheahan asked what the issue was regarding Section 106 contributions.  The Head of Planning and Regeneration explained that when responsibility for administration and monitoring of Section 106 agreements moved into Planning & Regeneration, the whole administrative process was not working as there were no systems, no consistent or centralised records and no controls in place at all.  He had requested help from audit as he had recognised that there was a problem, and welcomed the rigorous audit and its findings, which had greatly assisted to focus actions to bring it under control.  He went on to explain that there was now a dedicated resource to administer the process and they were approximately half way through compiling details of all Section 106 agreements together into a single database.    All records included a summary for each agreement and, once complete and published on-line, would be able to be viewed by all.  He added that there was now an improved form for when Section 106 money contributions were requested which ensured that the right checks were made for compliance before any money was released.  Councillor S Sheahan asked if there was a risk of developers trying to claim back unspent money.  The Head of Planning and Regeneration responded that it was hard to calculate but believed there was a reasonably low risk due to the good relationship that was had with the developers.

In response to a request from Councillor R Ashman, the Head of Planning and Regeneration agreed to provide an update at the next meeting to highlight any areas of concern regarding unspent S106 money.

In response to a question from Councillor P Purver, the Head of Planning and Regeneration stated that he was unsure of the exact number of Section 106 agreements that had expired but would provide it at the next meeting as part of the update.

It was moved by Councillor J Cotterill, seconded by Councillor D Harrison.

RESOLVED THAT:

The report be noted.