Agenda item

We received the Action List from the meeting held on 26^th May 2016.  In doing so, the following points were noted:

·         A progress report on unsatisfactory / Unsound Audit opinions will be presented to Audit Committee on a six monthly cycle.

·         The Chair had reported the Audit Committee Annual Report to Full Council on 16^th June 2016.

·         The Chair had sent a letter of response in respect of the issue raised by a member of the public regarding Chepstow School.  However, County Councillor Easson had emailed the Chair indicating that he had some additional questions in respect of this matter. As the Committee would not be meeting again until September 2016, the Chair had agreed to present County Councillor Easson’s motion as follows, with a view to the committee voting on whether to discuss this matter further.

County Councillor Easson’s motion:

"I propose that in the light of my concerns raised below, that the Audit Committee invite the responsible officers to provide a response to these queries at a future meeting of this  Committee.'’

Firstly, I questioned the phraseology used to illustrate the reduction of "6 FTE posts" at Chepstow School. It does not indicate the total FTE complement at the school which will demonstrate the actual % age reduction in posts. I request that this statistic be provided.

Secondly, in relation to the employment of an outside HR agency at Chepstow School, was the procurement process open and transparent? Were there opportunities for other applicants to apply via a tender process? Why was the Local Authority HR department not able to command such work?

I understand that the same agency has been employed to carry out the HR function at Monmouth School, if my understanding is correct, was the employment of such an agency also carried out under an open procurement process? Does this agency have any connection with organisations in England with links to schools with Academy status, for example "E S Management Services". Could this information be sourced?

Thirdly, does the Wales Audit Office have a view on the use of school finances to allow the use of interest free loans as "golden hellos" when employing teaching, or any other staff? Would the same criteria apply, for example, in the employment of ancillary staff? In the reported instance full repairment of the loan has, I understand, been accounted for, however, what legal measures are, or were in place, should such loans be defaulted upon?

The motion was seconded by County Councillor Batrouni.

County Councillor Murphy informed the Committee that he and County Councillor Hacket-Pain, as cabinet Members, had called in the new Business Manager, the Chair of Governors, the Temporary Business Manager and some other representatives from Chepstow School and would be meeting them shortly with a view to obtaining further information in respect of a number of issues relating to the school and how the school’s budget is likely to be brought under control. County Councillor Murphy stated that he would be willing to put the points raised by County Councillor Easson to the representatives of Chepstow School at this meeting and report back to County Councillor Easson.

The Chair asked the Committee to indicate their support for the motion.  In doing so, the following votes were recorded:

In favour of the motion:                   2

Against the motion:                         7

Abstentions:                                      2

The motion was denied.

We resolved that County Councillor Murphy presents the points raised by County Councillor Easson to the representatives of Chepstow School with a view to obtaining answers to these questions.

·         Annual Governance Statement – The Chief Internal Auditor stated that a summary has been incorporated into the final version of the report.  However, this had not been put onto the draft set of accounts yet.  He informed the Committee that he will send a separate summary to Committee Members in the following days.