Agenda and minutes
Venue: Board Room 2 - Brent Civic Centre, Engineers Way, Wembley HA9 0FJ. View directions
Contact: Nikolay Manov, Governance Officer 020 8937 1348, Email: nikolay.manov@brent.gov.uk
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Declarations of personal and prejudicial interests Members are invited to declare at this stage of the meeting, any relevant personal and prejudicial interests and discloseable pecuniary interests in any matter to be considered at this meeting. Minutes: There were no declarations of interest received from Members.
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Minutes of the previous meeting PDF 65 KB Minutes: RESOLVED that the minutes of the previous meeting, held on 8 December 2016, be approved as an accurate record of the meeting.
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Matters arising Minutes: There were no matters arising. |
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Deputations (if any) Minutes: There were no deputations received.
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Localism Act 2011- Pay Policy Statement PDF 102 KB The report informs the General Purposes Committee of the arrangements that have been put in place in Brent Council to meet the requirements of the Localism Act 2011 which requires English and Welsh authorities to produce a pay policy statement on an annual basis. The Act requires the pay policy statement to be approved by a meeting of Full Council and the statement will be reported to the meeting of the Full Council in February 2017. Additional documents:
Minutes: David Veale (Director of Human Resources and Organisational Development) introduced the report, which informed the Committee of the arrangements that had been put in place by the Council to meet the requirements of the Localism Act 2011. The Act required local authorities in England and Wales to produce, approve and publish a pay policy statement on an annual basis by 31 March each year. Mr Veale explained that the statement would be reported to the meeting of the Full Council in February 2017.
Mr Veale drew Members’ attention to the Council’s approach to dealing with Her Majesty Revenue and Customs (HMRC) changes to regulations for provision of personal services from April 2017 (page 12 of the Agenda Pack). He noted that the Council’s approach to the matter was being formulated and it was suggested that the expectation had been that the Council would base decisions on the use of the HMRC online assessment tool to determine whether individuals hired on an interim basis would be on a Pay As You Earn (PAYE) or personal services basis. Mr Veale informed Members that interim appointments would be paid on a PAYE basis, with a policy on the subject being brought to the Committee and Full Council’s attention.
In response to a question relating to the use of contractors, Mr Veale explained that, in special circumstances, contractors could come and work for the Council and stated that consultants would be paid on a PAYE basis, which would match the remuneration of directly employed staff at a similar role, unless there had been a strong business case to bring a particular specialist in on a short-term basis. In the latter case, the daily rate of the consultant might have to be matched their private services charge.
RESOLVED that:
The content of Localism Act 2011 – Pay Policy Statementbe noted;
(ii) The draft Pay Policy Statement be approved as an accurate and factual representation of the Council’s pay arrangements for 2017/18; and
(iii) Any amendments required during the 2017/18 financial year be brought back to a future meeting of the General Purposes Committee for approval. |
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Appointments to Sub-Committees / Outside Bodies Minutes: Councillor Butt drew Members’ attention to the nominations for appointments to the General Purposes Sub-Committees and it was RESOLVED that:
(i) Councillor Mili Patel, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, be appointed as a substitute Member of the Senior Staff Appointments Sub-Committee; and
(ii) Councillor Shama Tatler be appointed as a Member of the Senior Staff Appointments Sub-Committee;
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Exclusion of Press and Public The following item(s) is/are not for publication as they relate to the following category of exempt information as specified in the Local Government Act 1972 namely:
Paragraph 3
“Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)”.
Minutes: RESOLVED that under Section 100A (4) of the Government Act 1972 the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of Agenda Item Number 8 on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the relevant paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act:
Paragraph 3
“Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).” |
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Review of shared internal audit and investigation arrangements The review set out to examine the shared arrangements for the internal audit and investigation service. Minutes: Peter Gadsdon (Director of Performance, Policy and Partnerships) introduced a report, which examined the effectiveness of the current internal audit arrangements which had come into effect in October 2015 following the Council’s agreement to enter into a shared arrangement for its internal audit service with the London Boroughs of Ealing and Hounslow in June 2015.
Mr Gadsdon summarised key milestones and events associated with the functioning of the shared internal audit and investigation arrangements in the period from October 2015 to August 2016.
It was noted that the report and its recommendations had previously been approved by the Council’s Audit Committee.
Members of the Committee asked questions that related to management structure issues, the potential internal audit arrangements and the exit procedure if the recommendations of the report were adopted.
RESOLVED that:
(i) The contents of the Review of Shared Audit Service be noted;
(ii) The shared service arrangement for the provision of the internal audit and counter fraud and investigation service be terminated and the service be brought back in-house;
(iii) A Chief Internal Auditor for Brent be appointed; and
(iv) The contract with the external Strategic Internal Audit Partner for the Audit and Investigations Shared Service be continued if possible.
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Any other urgent business Notice of items to be raised under this heading must be given in writing to the Head of Executive and Member Services or his representative before the meeting in accordance with Standing Order 64. Minutes: There were no other items of urgent business.
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