Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor R Sutton and N Smith.

Under the Code of Conduct members are reminded that in declaring interests you should make clear the nature of that interest and whether it is a disclosable pecuniary interest, registerable interest or other interest.

There were no interests declared.

To note the Committee’s work plan

Consideration was given to the inclusion of any items on the work programme.

The report of the Audit Manager

The Audit Manager presented the report.

A Member asked about the high risk recommendations and whether they had all been implemented or were set to be implemented by the end of September. The Audit Manager advised that some had been extended, and discussions had taken place with Officers who said that they were on track to be completed within the extended timescale.

The Chair invited the Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development to address the Committee.

Members questioned him about the timescale for the implementation of some recommendations within the Workforce Planning audit report, what challenges the workforce faced and what plans were in place to address them, and how these would be communicated and scrutinised.

In response, the Head of Human Resources and Organisation Development

advised Members that a central issue was recruitment and retention, particularly in the complex parts of the workforce where it was difficult to compete with the private sector. These issues were sectoral and not unique to the Council, and there were tools available to mitigate them. A workforce strategy was being developed to sit below the Council Delivery Plan, and was being worked on by a Working Group from within the Corporate Leadership Team and Team Managers; this would be presented to the Corporate Scrutiny Committee and then Cabinet in late 2024. The strategy would be publicly available, and an action plan would sit below the strategy which would be primarily used by Officers. The Council historically had a good record of career mobility and development within the organisation, and there would be a focus on apprenticeship and internal development in the new strategy.

It was moved by Councillor R Boam, seconded by Councillor A Barker, and

RESOLVED THAT:

The report be noted.

The report of the Head of Finance

The Head of Finance presented the report. Additionally, she noted a minor change to the recommendations as to when the report would be presented to the Cabinet.

A discussion was had about the impact of the decrease in interest rates on the Treasury Management Strategy. The Head of Finance advised that it would impact the strategy, but it had been factored into projections, and she would write to Members with further details.

The Chair thanked Members for their comments, which would be presented to the Cabinet on 24 September.

The report of the Head of Legal and Support Services and Monitoring Officer

The Strategic Director of Resources presented the report, on behalf of the Monitoring Officer.

It was moved by Councillor G Rogers, seconded by Councillor JG Simmons, and

RESOLVED THAT:

The report be noted.

The report of the Strategic Director of Resources

The Strategic Director of Resources presented the report.

Members affirmed their support for the formatting changes to the report.

It was moved by Councillor A Barker, seconded by Councillor R Boam, and

RESOLVED THAT:

The report be noted.

The report of the Head of Legal and Support Services and Monitoring Officer

The Deputy Monitoring Officer presented the report.

It was moved by Councillor JG Simmons, seconded by Councillor D Everitt, and

RESOLVED THAT:

The report be noted.