Statement of Accounts 2011/2012 - Blackburn with Darwen Borough ...

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ANNUAL GOVERNANCE STATEMENT Officers on a wide range of reviews. Overview and Scrutiny arrangements have been reviewed and streamlined at Annual Council on the 17th May 2012. The Audit Committee, in addition to having responsibility for reviewing the Corporate Governance Framework, also has responsibility for reviewing the effectiveness of risk management arrangements. The Standards Committee promotes and maintains high standards of Member conduct and monitors the operation of the Code of Conduct. The committee also assesses and determines member complaints. The Localism Act 2011 has brought changes to the standards regime. The existing standards regime is currently being considered and will be replaced by new standards arrangements from 1 July 2011, which will include new arrangements for dealing with member complaints. Standards for England has now been abolished and all member complaints will need to be considered by the authorities themselves. 7. The existing elements for maintaining and reviewing the effectiveness of the framework include: The Council has had robust corporate governance and management arrangements in place for many years which have led to good financial management, the delivery of efficiencies and planned investment in priorities. The Council is already implementing improvements to these business systems and processes. Audit and Assurance produces an annual strategy and plan which are approved by the Audit Committee. It reports to individual managers on the outcomes of its audit reviews, agreeing management actions with them. It also reports to the Audit Committee on progress and outcomes of its planned work. Throughout the year, it reviews and reports to the Chief Executive on matters arising from the Management Accountabilities Framework reports. At the year end, it produces a statutory opinion report which is part of the Annual Governance Statement Process. Routinely, each quarter, Audit and Assurance reports to the Chief Executive on governance matters of particular importance through its independent reviews of MAF reports. The Audit and Assurance Strategy sets out the internal audit resources and skills requirement. The staff resources are considered adequate for the Council’s current needs to ensure that it meets the requirements of the Accounts and Audit Regulations. The resources are prioritised to consider the fundamental systems and most significant risks identified in the annual Audit Plan. Reviews of these areas are required to provide a statutory opinion for the Annual Governance Statement. The Council is continuing with a series of transformational projects which will generate efficiencies during 2012/13 and in future years. The Transformation Board was established to ensure that these planned efficiencies were delivered. It will continue to drive and monitor the service reviews that are being undertaken to closely manage the achievement of budget savings in 2012/13 and future years. Financial Controls – The integrated financial ledger system is very tightly controlled. Daily integrity checks are undertaken to ensure that at the highest level all the debits and credits balance, and that portfolio totals are all in line in respect of both objective and subjective code analyses. The control figures in respect of accounts payable and accounts receivable are also checked each day. All external feeders into the ledger are monitored to ensure that not only are all feeders input promptly, but that the correct feeders are input without duplication. The main bank account of the Council is reconciled to the ledger system controls on a weekly basis, and the income account monthly (although separate daily bank and cash book reconciliations are undertaken by Capita’s revenues section). Systems are in place to ensure that subsidiary systems such as Council Tax, Business Rates and Housing Benefits are also reconciled on daily and weekly frequencies. The Council produces integrated financial monitoring reports covering both revenue and capital expenditure, and these were further developed during 2011/12 to also incorporate commitment accounting. The improvements made in the co-ordination of the preparation of the statement of accounts continues to be maintained, and the new International Financial Reporting Standards were successfully implemented last year. Since 2011 the Council has continued to add to its list of Corporate Contracts. Formalising contracts for goods and services it procures helps ensure the Council achieves best value. An updated contracts register has also been added to the intranet for all to view. Integrating e-invoicing into the finance system is the latest development of the e-procurement system. This will be followed shortly by the introduction of “purchase cards” which will help reduce process costs - - 84 - -
ANNUAL GOVERNANCE STATEMENT on low value orders. E-tendering software will also be implemented leading to significant savings in the procurement process. The Council is committed to continue to support local suppliers and businesses by encouraging them to respond to quotation or tendering opportunities that arise within the Council and with Capita. The Strategic Procurement team continue to offer pre-tender meetings, explaining the tender process and how to complete the documents to participate in any opportunities. This approach has already proved successful with local suppliers, resulting in a number of contracts being awarded in the Borough and at the same time also realizing some significant savings. The following Council contracts have been awarded to local suppliers or SMEs; • Desktop Stationery • Bar Products and Services • Office Furniture • Confidential Waste and Shredding • Vending Machines • Water Coolers • Ad hoc Office removals • Portable Appliance Testing • Grounds Maintenance Equipment • CCTV • Dog Warden Patrol Officers The competitive dialogue process for Residual Waste is near completion and the contract should be awarded and in place by December 2012. In addition, continued support is provided on strategic procurement projects both across the authority and to Capita colleagues. Procurement guidance and best practice documents have been updated in line with current legislation and EU directives. Procurement and Finance have recently re-written and updated the Council’s Procurement Strategy and Policy for the next three years. In 2012/13 Procurement and Finance will undertake a programme for Procurement training for officers across the Council, this will include sustainable and environmental procurement elements. Legal and Regulatory – The Council’s Constitution sets out the relative roles and responsibilities of Members, Officers and Committees. It defines, through the procedure rules, how day-to-day activities must be undertaken and it allocates statutory responsibilities to named individuals. The decision-making processes are also defined by the Constitution and Executive Member or key decisions may only be taken after both the Finance and Legal departments have been consulted. Performance Management – Corporate Plan targets are monitored at DMTs and programme area meetings; with briefings being held for Executive Members and quarterly at the Executive Board. In 2011/12 an integrated performance challenge framework has been implemented which, in addition to Corporate Plan performance metrics, sees key issues from Resources (Finance; HR; and issues escalated from the MAF) being challenged quarterly in the same session. This allows for any cross cutting issues to be identified, with the implications being fully discussed and remedial actions being agreed. The Medium Term Financial Strategy is reviewed at Finance Council, and builds upon the priorities agreed at Policy Council and identified within the Corporate Plan. Business Continuity Planning (BCP) – Departmental business continuity plans are nearing completion, taking into account the substantial changes to structures and services across all departments. An internal audit of business continuity across all departments took place in July 2011 and identified significant gaps; the majority of which have now been met or are nearing completion. A staged project plan has been implemented and extensive work across the Council has ensured that departmental and corporate business continuity preparedness has substantially increased, with further improvements due to be realised on final completion of the draft plans. Health and Safety - All employees have responsibility for their own and other people’s health and safety. The overall responsibility for health and safety management lies with the Chief Executive. The Corporate health and safety policy outlining the arrangements in place to meet the Council’s statutory duty is signed by the Chief Executive and Leader of the Council. Work is currently underway to review the Corporate health and safety policy and develop model department health and safety policies to assist Directors in the ongoing management of safety within their respective departments. This will be introduced to departments through supporting Directors and nominated department health and safety champions. This will enable department and corporate safety and wellbeing objectives to reflect reflect business needs and contribute to overall improvements in safety performance. - - 85 - -
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Statement of Accounts 2011/2012
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FINANCIAL REPORT 2011/2012 1.0 Over
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FINANCIAL REPORT 2011/2012 Schools
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STATEMENT OF RESPONSIBILITIES 1.0 T
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COMPREHENSIVE INCOME AND EXPENDITUR
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CASH FLOW STATEMENT The Cash Flow S
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Statement of Accounts 2011/2012 - Blackburn with Darwen Borough ...

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