Agenda, decisions and minutes

In the event of a fire, please await direction from venue staff who will help assist with the evacuation.   Please do not return to the building until instructed to do so by the fire warden(s).

The evacuation procedure was noted.

To receive apologies for absence from Members.

Apologies for absence had been received from Cllr Kevin Guy (Bath & North East Somerset Council).  Councillor Richard Samuel attended as substitute.

Members who consider that they have an interest to declare are asked to: a) State the item number in which they have an interest, b) The nature of the interest, c) Whether the interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest, non-disclosable pecuniary interest or non-pecuniary interest. Any Member who is unsure about the above should seek advice from the Monitoring Officer prior to the meeting in order to expedite matters at the meeting itself.

There were no declarations of interest declared under the Localism Act 2011.

To receive any announcements from the Chair of the West of England Combined Authority Committee.

There were no announcements from the Chair.

To consider the written recommendations of the Auditors VfM report on Governance issued by the Combined Authority’s External Auditor.

The Committee RESOLVED:

(1)  Fully accept the findings of the report and the external auditor’s recommendations;

(2)   Note that the written recommendations SR1, SR2 and SR3 have been identified by the external auditor as Section 24 Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 statutory recommendations as detailed in the report.

(3)  Note the progress that has been made and the range of corrective actions that have already been taken to date as detailed in appendix 1.

(4)  Note that the financial issue detailed in the report for the employee exit payment has already been considered and accounted for in the 2021/22 draft published accounts.

(5)  Consider and approve the emerging revised action plan presented to committee, that includes a response to each of the external auditor’s recommendations, noting final adoption by Committee will follow actions set out in recommendations 6 and 7.

(6)  Agree that the action plan be presented to both the Audit Committee and the Scrutiny & Overview Committee as a matter of urgency to consider and review from their differing constitutional positions and report any feedback to the Combined Authority Committee.

(7)  Request that Combined Authority Committee receives a report that includes any feedback on the action plan from the Scrutiny & Overview Committee and Audit Committee and provides further detail on the delivery of the Action Plan at a future meeting.

(8)  Note that the West of England Combined Authority will continue to maintain an open dialogue with the external auditor, Chair of the Audit Committee, and Chair of Overview and Scrutiny Committee to keep them appraised of the progress in implementing the Action Plan.

This Special Meeting of the West of England Combined Authority had been called to consider the written recommendations made by the Combined Authority’s auditors under the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014.  Those present were Metro Mayor Dan Norris (Chair), Mayor Marvin Rees (Bristol City Council), Councillor Toby Savage (South Gloucestershire Council) and Councillor Richard Samuel (Bath & North East Somerset Council, as substitute for Councillor Kevin Guy).

The Committee was requested to consider the written recommendations of the Auditors VfM report on Governance issued by the Combined Authority’s External Auditor. There were eight recommendations set out in the report.

The Metro Mayor Dan Norris stated that there was currently no seconder for the recommendations and therefore the meeting would be adjourned to a later date.

Meeting Closed 1315.

[subsequent to this meeting it was arranged that the meeting would reconvene on 9 December 2022]

The meeting was reconvened at 1pm on Friday 9 December 2022 at The Orchard Room at Bailey’s Court Activity Centre, Baileys Court Rd, Bradley Stoke.  Members of the Committee present were:

Metro Mayor Dan Norris (Chair, West of England Combined Authority)

Councillor Toby Savage (South Gloucestershire Council)

Councillor Richard Samuel (Bath & North East Somerset Council, as substitute for Cllr Kevin Guy)

Councillor Kye Dudd (Bristol City Council, as substitute for Mayor Marvin Rees)

Also Present: Richard Bonner (Chair of the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership), Cllr Winston Duguid (Chair of the West of England Combined Authority Overview and Scrutiny Committee)

External Auditors Present: Jon Roberts (Grant Thornton), Barrie Morris (Grant Thornton) and Tom Foster (Grant Thornton).

The Chair opened the meeting and stated that he was pleased that Grant Thornton had been re-appointed by the PSAA as the Authority’s External Auditors for the five years from March 2023.  The Chair also stated that an enhanced action plan had been circulated which showed the shared ambition to which the Combined Authorities and Unitary Authority could take ownership.  The Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (SOLACE) and been approached to act as intermediaries for any remaining points of disagreement.

Comments from the Chair of the Authority’s Audit Committee had also been circulated to the Committee.  The Chair stated that it was intended that the Audit Committee and Overview & Scrutiny Committee be asked to review the action plan on a regular basis.  The Chief Executive of the Combined Authority would be the responsible officer for insuring that the action plan be implemented and updated (it was intended that the Action Plan was a living and dynamic document that could be updated on a regular basis).

Councillor Duguid, Chair of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee, stated that he had seen the revised Action Plan and welcomed the new attitude in collaborative working and said that there may be a new and different chemistry between the leaders following May 2023’s local elections.  As Mayoral Authorities would be competing for funds from central government it was important that the Combined Authority was as united as possible in this purpose.

Jon Roberts  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.