Agenda and minutes

To receive and note any apologies for absence.

There were no apologies for absence.

Under the Code of Conduct members are reminded that in declaring disclosable interests you should make clear the nature of that interest.

There were no declarations of interest.

To confirm and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 23 January 2020.

Consideration was given to the minutes of the meeting held on 23 January 2020.

By affirmation of the meeting it was

RESOLVED THAT

The minutes of the meeting held on 23 January 2020 be confirmed as an accurate record.

Report of the Auditor

Ms Z Thomas presented the Internal Audit report updating Members on the key findings and recommendations.

Members spoke of the high quality of the report. Following questions from Councillors P Dann and K Lynch, Ms Thomas confirmed that the Partnership received an internal audit annually and agreed to update references to improvement points within the report.

By affirmation of the meeting it was

RESOLVED THAT

The report be approved.

Report of the Section 151 Officer

Mr A Wilson presented the report, informing the Joint Committee of the Outturn for the 2019/20 financial year.

In response to Members, Mr Wilson gave assuranes that alongside the £50,000 already aside for contingencies, the proposed figure of £50,000 would be sufficient to assist with post payment verification and fraud checks required on grant payments to businesses as part of COVID-19 support measures.

By affirmation of the meeting it was

RESOLVED THAT

a)      That the financial performance of the Partnership be noted

b)      Consideration of proposed use of year end reserves, being:

1) The redistribution of £145,903 of savings via a reduction to 2020/21 contributions and

2) The creation of a new earmarked reserve to deal with the post payment verification and fraud check required on grant payments to businesses due to Covid support measures of £50,000

Report of the Section 151 Officer

Mr A Wilson presented the report, setting out to the Joint Committee the financial performance of the Partnership for the period April to August 2020.

By affirmation of the meeting it was

RESOLVED THAT

The financial performance of the Partnership be noted and the recommendation on invoicing at paragraph 3.5 be agreed.

Report of the Head of Partnership

Mrs S O’Hanlon presented the report to Members setting out the End of Year Performance figures for the three Councils.

In response to a question from Councillor D Bill on future expansion of the Partnership, Mrs O’Hanlon confirmed that this was an aspiration going forward but as a result of pressures from COVID-19 there had not been significant progress as staff focused on other areas of work.

By affirmation of the meeting it was

RESOLVED THAT

The report be received.

Report of the Head of Partnership

Mrs S O’Hanlon presented the report to Members setting out the performance up to September 2020, highlighting that all three Councils had continued to meet targets on processing of new claims alongside the additional work undertaken by the Partnership due to COVID-19. It was noted that collection rates for all three authorities had dropped compared to the previous year as a result of factors from COVID-19.

By affirmation of the meeting it was

RESOLVED THAT

The report be received.

Verbal update from the Head of the Partnership

Mrs S O’Hanlon gave Members a verbal update on work undertaken by the Partnership in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, with the presentation slides to be shared with Members after the meeting.

It was suggested and agreed that the partnership should put together a report setting out the various work undertaken by the Partnership in response to COVID-19. This could then be distributed to each of the Council’s communications teams to share as they chose.

The dates of future meetings will be circulated prior to the meeting for consideration and then the forward plan will be drawn up accordingly.

Consideration was given to the list of suggested future meeting dates circulated in advance of the meeting.

By affirmation of the meeting it was

RESOLVED THAT

Meetings take place on the following dates at 16:30:

2020/21

Thursday, 21 January

Thursday, 22 April

2021/2022

Thursday, 24 June (Annual Meeting)