Issue - meetings

This report summarises the key findings and conclusions of the District Auditor on the Council’s arrangements in respect of the 2005/06 audit year.

Note: A revised version of the above report, including the comparative figures referred to in paragraph 6f) of the original version, was published on 21 March 2007.

RESOLVED: (i)         That the District Auditor’s letter be noted.

REASON:      To comply with the statutory requirements for the external audit of the Council.

                        (ii)        That Officers be asked to prepare a report indicating the options for further improving performance in the Housing activity area.

REASON:      In order to address the performance issues in this area highlighted by District Audit.

Members considered a report which summarised the key findings and conclusions of the District Auditor on the Council’s arrangements in respect of the 2005/06 audit year.  These were contained in the Annual Audit and Inspection Letter, attached as Annex A to the report.  The Letter would be published on the Council’s website before 31 March 2007.  The District Auditor was in attendance to present the Letter and answer Members’ questions.

In summary, the Letter indicated that the Council was “improving adequately and demonstrating a 3 star overall performance” for CPA purposes but that preparing for the corporate assessment in January 2008 presented “challenges for the Council”.  It also noted that the Council had maintained strong financial management and “sustained a strong focus on value for money, with very good performance across a range of services whilst containing overall service costs in line with the lowest spending councils nationally”.  It identified various improvements made across a wide range of services as well as areas in need of improvement, some of which remained outstanding from the previous year.

Members commented that, while the general thrust of the Letter was positive, the ‘Direction of Travel’ statement did not appear to reflect the actual improvements achieved by the Council over the past three to four years.  In fact, performance had improved since 2003/04 in every area except for housing, where the picture was more mixed.  It was noted that public satisfaction levels had declined despite improved service levels and that this could be related to the way in which information was provided to residents.

RESOLVED: (i)         That the District Auditor’s letter be noted.

REASON:      To comply with the statutory requirements for the external audit of the Council.

                        (ii)        That Officers be asked to prepare a report indicating the options for further improving performance in the Housing activity area.

REASON:      In order to address the performance issues in this area highlighted by District Audit.