Agenda item

Up to 30 minutes is allowed for this item; no longer than 10 minutes for  presentation of the report and then up to 3 minutes for each question to be put and answered.

In the absence of the Portfolio Holder, the Leader presented the annual report for the Portfolio Holder for Finance and Governance.

Council was advised that the Portfolio Holder for Finance and Governance was the lead Cabinet Member for Finance, Customer Services, Business Transformation and Organisational Development, Democratic, Electoral and Legal Services. 

The annual report was extremely detailed.  The following key points were highlighted for Members’ consideration:

·             The financial issues that had led to the non-delivery of the 2020/21 accounts and Government returns.  During 2021/22, the Council had lost a significant number of staff in the Finance Department and this, alongside development of the Tech1 finance system, had led to a deterioration in the financial reporting of the Council’s position.  There had been a recovery process in place since March 2022 and, aligned to this, there had been two phases of recruitment for the team which had resulted in a reconstituted finance team with a wider range of skills than had previously been the case.  The Cabinet and Audit, Standards and Governance Committee had both been updated on the situation and had been informed that, although a lot of the short-term deficiencies had been rectified and solutions were being embedded, there was still a significant issue with the 2020/21 accounts having not yet been completed.  The main problem remained with the Tech1 finance system and the cash receipting solution, which was holding up the completion of the accounts, although a solution was expected imminently.

·             Revenue collection rates had returned to a level similar to that in place prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.

·             In total £8 million of Covid-19 grants had been distributed to 1,895 recipients in the District.

·             There were 27,460 households who had received payments under the Energy Rebate Scheme.

·             The Council’s ICT team had used robotics to extract 350,000 invoices and purchase orders from the Council’s old finance system and to correct 40,000 records in the Uniform system.

·             The Human Resources team had developed an Agile Working Policy and supported its implementation.  The team had also conducted a full staff survey and implemented a corporate training programme, including delivery of training in HR and health and safety.

·             A new Equalities Strategy 2022 – 2026 had been developed for the Council, which had set the direction for equalities work over the following four year period.  In total, 12 local organisations had received financial support under the Bromsgrove Equality Small Grants scheme to support community activities.

·             There had been increased participation in the Bromsgrove Community Panel’s activities, comprising a list of Bromsgrove District residents who had agreed to participate in Council engagement and consultations.  In 2021, an additional 159 people had joined the panel, meaning that there were 366 members in total by the date of the meeting.

·             The MS Power BI dashboard was in the process of being introduced, which would provide a visual platform with a primary focus on business intelligence.  The content of the dashboard would complement the Council’s existing measures dashboard, the content of which was reported to the Cabinet on a quarterly basis.

·             An updated Project Management Framework had been delivered and was providing training for 100 managers and team leaders in project planning and establishing a project monitoring process for the Corporate Management Team (CMT) to provide oversight of corporate projects.

·             Over the preceding 18 months, the Democratic Services team had facilitated the Council’s decision-making process throughout a period of significant change and disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

There remained a number of key objectives over the following 12 months, in addition to addressing the financial challenges that had been outlined to Members, which included:

·             Developing a Cyber Security Strategy.

·             Assessing ways to reduce the carbon footprint of the server room in line with the Council’s Carbon Reduction Strategy.

·             Introducing a customer portal onto the website to support self-service of Council functions, such as requests about Environmental Services tasks.

·             Planning and conducting a new Community Panel Survey.

·             Refreshing the Council’s Performance Strategy.

·             Preparing for the Member induction process for Councillors due to be elected in May 2023.

Members subsequently discussed the report in detail and in doing so raised questions on the following points:

·             The difficulties that had been experienced within the Financial Services team and the proportion of posts that had been filled through the recruitment process by the date of the meeting.  Members were informed that all posts, apart from four vacant positions, had been filled in the Financial Services team by the date of the meeting.  Council was advised that recruitment to Financial Services within local government was challenging for the whole sector, not just Bromsgrove District Council.

·             The updates that had been provided on financial recovery at the Cabinet and Audit, Standards and Governance Committee and the extent to which this represented a positive situation, due to the challenges that had been encountered.

·             The extent to which the problems with the Council’s new finance system had been resolved and whether the 2020/21 accounts were on track to be completed by the end of the 2022 calendar year.  The Interim Section 151 Officer clarified that the Council was working closely with the software provider and it was anticipated that the problems with the cash receipting part of the system would be resolved soon, meaning that the accounts could subsequently be completed.

·             The penalties that could be applied to the Council as a result of non-delivery of the 2020/21 accounts.  The Leader explained that the Council would receive a warning but there would be no fines imposed by the Government.

·             The outcomes that had been achieved during the year as a result of service delivery.  The Leader suggested that it would take some time for the outcomes to be clear.

·             The reasons why the Council did not already have a Cyber Security Policy and a Workforce Strategy in place.  Council was informed that many local authorities did not have Cyber Security Policies in place and some authorities that did have such policies had been subject to cyber attacks.  The Council continued to work hard to address cyber security.

·             The reference in the report to a decrease in payments in person since the Covid-19 pandemic, the support that was being provided to customers who would previously have paid for services using that payment method and the number of residents who continued to make payments in person.  The Leader advised that Officers would be asked to provide this data for Members’ consideration after the meeting.

·             The problems that had been experienced with the introduction of the new finance system and the extent to which Members had been provided with adequate information prior to the introduction of the scheme about the challenges this would entail.

·             The problems with the cash receipting part of the new finance system and the fact that Bromsgrove District Council and Redditch Borough Council were the first authorities to be using this system in the country.  The Leader acknowledged that, with the benefit of hindsight, it would have been preferable not to be the first authority to trial a new part of the system but lessons had been learned from this experience.

·             The former staff who had left the Council’s employment and the need for exit interviews to be held with them in order to ascertain the reasons for their departure so that the Council could learn lessons for the future.  Council was advised that many staff had left for career progression reasons, although a number of people had also assessed their work during the Covid-19 pandemic and decided to make changes in their lives.  There were also significant challenges nationally in terms of recruiting experienced, qualified staff to work in Financial Services, including for external auditors.

·             The 25 per cent of walk-in general queries from customers about the location of services within Parkside and the extent to which the signage in the building was adequate.

·             The financial challenges facing the Council like other local authorities, and the extent to which Members should be giving consideration at this point to introducing a unitary authority in either the north of the county or for the whole of Worcestershire.  The Leader commented that it was not the right time to review the potential to introduce a unitary authority.  However, the Leader suggested that there might be more opportunities to extend shared service arrangements to involve other Councils alongside Bromsgrove District and Redditch Borough Councils, and this could lead to significant savings for both the Council and partner authorities.

·             The work that had been undertaken to provide the Council Tax Energy Rebate and the extent to which all eligible households had received the support they were entitled to.  Members were advised that all eligible customers had received their rebates.

·             The need for transparency in relation to the Council’s finances and the process for the introduction of new IT systems.

·             The updates that had been provided to the Audit, Standards and Governance Committee and the Cabinet and the extent to which they had challenged and received assurances in relation to the information provided in respect of the new finance system.  Members were advised that both Committees had received detailed reports on the subject of the Council’s financial recovery, financial and performance monitoring data and risk management.  This had included the provision of information about the problems that had been experienced with the new finance system and the action that was being taken to address these problems.

·             The public consultation that had been undertaken with the Bromsgrove Community Survey Panel, which had informed policy development, and the potential for the outcomes of this survey to be reported to Council.