Agenda for East Midlands Shared Services Joint Committee on Monday, 21st June, 2021, 10.30 am

Agenda and minutes

Venue: LB 31-32 - Loxley House, Station Street, Nottingham, NG2 3NG. View directions

Contact: Adrian Mann, Governance Officer  Email: adrian.mann@nottinghamcity.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

Appointment of the Chair and Vice Chair

Minutes:

Resolved to appoint Councillor Lee Breckon as Chair of the East Midlands Shared Services Joint Committee for the 2021/22 municipal year.

 

Resolved to appoint Councillor Sam Webster as Vice Chair of the East Midlands Shared Services Joint Committee for the 2021/22 municipal year.

2.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Councillor Eunice Campbell-Clark

3.

Declarations of Interests

Minutes:

None.

4.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 158 KB

Minutes of the meeting held on 13 January 2021, for confirmation

Minutes:

The Committee confirmed the minutes of the meeting held on 13 January 2021 as a correct record and they were signed by the Chair.

5.

Governance and Terms of Reference pdf icon PDF 322 KB

Report of the Assistant Director of Finance, Strategic Property and Commissioning (Leicestershire County Council) and the Interim Corporate Director of Finance and Resources (Nottingham City Council)

Minutes:

This item does not contain any decisions that are eligible for call-in.

 

Lucy Littlefair, Head of East Midlands Shared Services (EMSS), presented a report on the Committee’s current governance arrangements and terms of reference. The following points were discussed:

 

(a)  it is a requirement of the Partnership Agreement between Leicestershire County and Nottingham City Councils to review EMSS’ governance arrangements and the committee’s terms of reference and procedure rules on an annual basis. No changes to the governance structure are proposed for this year. However, in order to ensure that the committee can carry out its governance role effectively, members should aim to attend meetings as often as possible, supported in those meetings by the regular attendance of the appropriate professional officers;

 

(b)  as the County Council hold the Chair for the next two municipal years, the committee meetings in this period will take place at County Hall in Leicester. In the early stages of the pandemic, statutory provisions were passed by Parliament enabling Local Authorities to hold formal public meetings remotely. However, this provision expired on 6 May. The committee is an executive body and, as such, the legislation as it stands currently requires that members meet publically and in person to conduct its business and make decisions.

 

The Committee noted the report.

6.

Audit Plan 2021/22 pdf icon PDF 131 KB

Report of the Assistant Director of Finance, Strategic Property and Commissioning (Leicestershire County Council) and the Interim Corporate Director of Finance and Resources (Nottingham City Council)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Lucy Littlefair, Head of East Midlands Shared Services (EMSS), presented a report on the internal audit plan for 2021/22. The following points were discussed:

 

(a)  a detailed internal audit plan for 2021/2022 has been produced by Nottingham City Council, developed in conjunction with EMSS and its sponsors. The audit will review the internal control procedures in respect of the key systems and processes run by EMSS on behalf of itself and its clients. This year, it may be necessary to complete both pre and post ‘go live’ reviews of the newly implemented financial and HR systems due to the key processes that they carry out, and to ensure that the known problems in the old systems have been corrected effectively in the new ones.

 

Resolved to approve the East Midlands Shared Services Audit Plan for 2021/22.

 

·  Reasons for the decision

 

To provide assurance that EMSS has robust internal audit arrangements in place.

 

·  Other options considered

 

To not implement an internal audit plan. EMSS managers are responsible for ensuring that there are proper standards of internal control operate within the organisation, and a robust audit plan is a key pillar of EMSS’ governance and assurance framework. For this reason, this option was rejected.

7.

Future Meeting Dates

For agreement:

Monday 20 September 2021 at 10:30am

Monday 15 November 2021 at 10:30am

Monday 21 March 2022 at 10:30am

Minutes:

Resolved to meet on the following dates:

·  Monday 20 September 2021 at 10:30am

·  Monday 15 November 2021 at 10:30am

·  Monday 21 March 2022 at 10:30am

8.

Exclusion of the Public

To consider excluding the public from the meeting during consideration of the remaining items in accordance with Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, under Schedule 12A, Part 1, Paragraph 3, on the basis that, having regard to all the circumstances, the public interest in maintaining an exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information

Minutes:

The Committee decided to exclude the public from the meeting during consideration of the remaining agenda item in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 on the basis that, having regard to all the circumstances, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information, as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act.

9.

Exempt Minutes

Exempt Minutes of the meeting held on 13 January 2021, for confirmation

Minutes:

The Committee confirmed the exempt minutes of the meeting held on 13 January 2021 as a correct record and they were signed by the Chair.

10.

Annual Report 2020/21

Report of the Assistant Director of Finance, Strategic Property and Commissioning (Leicestershire County Council) and the Interim Corporate Director of Finance and Resources (Nottingham City Council)

Minutes:

This item does not contain any decisions that are eligible for call-in.

 

Jill Turner, Business Development Manager at East Midlands Shared Services (EMSS), presented a report on EMSS’ overall performance in 2020/21.

 

The Committee noted the report.

11.

Budget Outturn 2020/21 and Medium-Term Financial Plan 2021-25

Report of the Assistant Director of Finance, Strategic Property and Commissioning (Leicestershire County Council) and the Interim Corporate Director of Finance and Resources (Nottingham City Council)

Minutes:

Lucy Littlefair, Head of East Midlands Shared Services (EMSS), presented a report on EMSS’ Medium-Term Financial Plan (MTFP), its financial performance for 2002/21, the final budget for 2021/22 and the draft proposed budget for 2022/23 to 2024/25.

 

Resolved to approve the recommendations as set out in the exempt report.

12.

Strategic Update

Report of the Assistant Director of Finance, Strategic Property and Commissioning (Leicestershire County Council) and the Interim Corporate Director of Finance and Resources (Nottingham City Council)

Minutes:

This item does not contain any decisions that are eligible for call-in.

 

Lucy Littlefair, Head of East Midlands Shared Services (EMSS), presented a report on EMSS’ people, customer, operational and technology priorities.

 

The Committee noted the report.