Agenda and draft minutes
Venue: Room C1, 1st Floor, Town Hall, Mulberry Place, London E14 2BG
Contact: Angus Taylor: Democratic Services, 020 7364 4333 Email: angus.taylor@towerhamlets.gov.uk
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APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE To receive any apologies for absence. Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from Ms Sue Rossiter (Independent Member) and from Councillors Zara Davis and Carli Harper-Penman.
Councillor Sirajul Islam indicated that he would have to leave the meeting at 8.30 p.m., due to other commitments.
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DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST PDF 56 KB To note any declarations of interest made by Members, including those restricting Members from voting on the questions detailed in Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act, 1992. See attached note from the Monitoring Officer. Minutes: There were no declarations of interest.
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To confirm as a correct record of the proceedings the minutes of the ordinary meeting of the Standards Advisory Committee held on 17th July 2012.
Minutes: Mr Barry O’Connor stated that his title should have been recorded in the attendance list as “Independent Person” rather than “Independent Member”.
RESOLVED
That, subject to the above amendment, the minutes of the meeting held on 12th June 2012 be approved as a correct record of proceedings. |
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REPORTS FOR CONSIDERATION |
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Anti - Fraud Update 2012 PDF 131 KB Additional documents:
Minutes: Mr Tony Qayum, Corporate Fraud and Governance Manager, presented the report and introduced Ms Sue Oakley, who covered work on the National Fraud Initiative (NFI) as his deputy.
Mr Qayum commented that the report included appendices relating to: · Annual Fraud Report · Fraud Survey Benchmarking exercise undertaken by the Audit Commission · National Fraud Initiative
These activities had been recently reported to the Audit Committee and were now put before the Standards (Advisory) Committee in order to focus on the ethical matters arising, rather than on the controls, checks and balances already in place, and as a review to confirm that an appropriate level of governance had been established.
The report also included the annual briefing letter from the Audit Commission, which was complimentary on the whole.
Mr Qayum added that the NFI documentation was very detailed to demonstrate the processes involved, which took up a huge amount of staff time. It was necessary to demonstrate that there had been compliance with proper procedures to acquire information and that communication had been undertaken with other colleagues and organisations.
In response to queries from Members, Mr Qayum stated that: o The Council’s operational systems of risk management and control were addressed in the Audit Commission report and the Committee had been given details of irregularities that had been identified. o The sum of £7.8m shown as tenancy fraud was a notional amount based on the actual losses to the organisation for which recovery was being sought. Where housing properties were recovered, a notional value of £200,000 per unit formed part of the recovery calculations as an indicative value. o The estimated figure of £8.7m for detected fraud in 2010/11 was not included as a budgetary activity and did not impact on the budgetary process. o The checklist for action proposed by the Audit Commission would be utilised and a response had been prepared last year on a similar basis, which had been submitted to the Audit Committee. It was hoped that there would be the opportunity to develop a threat assessment check and test corporate systems further. o Tenancy fraud involving Registered Social Landlords (RSL) was also addressed by the Subletting Team and approximately one third of recovered properties had related to RSL units. o Notifications of RSL tenancy frauds were received from a range of sources and there was good communication between the Council and the RSLs. Each referral was the subject of much desk top research to make a proper assessment of the likely amounts to be recovered. There might be a period of a year before an outcome was achieved but all referrals would be processed. o The Council received grant funding from the DWP to deal with Housing benefit fraud on their behalf and there had been a suggestion that there would be a single fraud investigation service from 2017. Tower Hamlets was more successful in this field than most other local authorities and future outcomes would be reported to this Committee as well as the Audit Committee. |
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Additional documents:
Minutes: Ms Isabella Freeman, Assistant Chief Executive (Legal Services) introduced the report concerning the council-wide enforcement policy as agreed by Cabinet on 3 October 2012. She commented that the Council carried out prosecutions for offences that have a direct impact on the lives of residents, as the level of these offences was such that the Crown Prosecution Service did not have the resources to pursue..
In reply to queries from Members, Ms Freeman indicated that:
With regard to comments by a Member, Ms Freeman confirmed that the number of premises licences suspended by the Licensing Sub-Committee would be included in further enforcement reports.
RESOLVED
That, subject to the aforementioned point, the report be noted.
At this point, the Chair indicated that agenda item 4.4 would be considered as next business, owing to its related nature to 4.3. However, the minutes remain in the original order for ease of reference.
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Complaints and Information Annual Report PDF 63 KB Additional documents:
Minutes: Ms Ruth Dowden, Complaints and Information Manager, introduced the report addressing the volume of complaints and information requests received by the Council in the period 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012, the outcomes of those cases and the standard of performance in dealing with them. She added that the Local Ombudsman was not currently bringing forward any cases for the Council’s attention.
In response to queries from Members, Ms Dowden indicated that:
RESOLVED
That the report be noted. |
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Covert investigation under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 PDF 103 KB Minutes: Ms Isabella Freeman, Assistant Chief Executive (Legal Services), introduced the report concerning the Council’s authorisation investigations under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA).
Ms Freeman commented that from November it would be necessary for the Council to seek approval from the Magistrates’ Court to carry out covert investigations under RIPA. This would mainly be used in cases where there was a requirement to obtain evidence concerning sales of alcohol and cigarettes to children. However, in most other instances the Council would be able to use other ways of securing evidence as at present. So it was not expected that this would impact on enforcement powers unduly.
RESOLVED
That the report be noted. |
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Code of Conduct for Members - Complaints Monitoring Report PDF 71 KB Minutes: Ms Isabella Freeman, Assistant Chief Executive (Legal Services), introduced the report and added that there were 6 matters outstanding as at the 1st July 2012. One of the 5 as is set out in the report had been referred to the First Tier Tribunal and that was under appeal. Four had been subsequently closed following consideration by the Investigations and Disciplinary Sub committee. There was one matter that was at investigation stage which would be reported back to the next meeting. It was proving difficult to meet the tight deadline set in the procedure of completing investigations within one month as witnesses and Councillors were not available and extensions were necessary. This would be a matter for the review in due course.
RESOLVED
That the report be noted.
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ANY OTHER BUSINESS WHICH THE CHAIR CONSIDERS URGENT To consider any other business that the Chair considers to be urgent.
Minutes: (1) Recruitment of Independent Person
Ms Freeman reported that the position had been advertised in October but there had been no response. It was intended to advertise further in East End Life. Further action would be considered if there continued to be a failure to attract candidates.
(2) Members’ On-line Time Sheets
Ms Freeman indicated that the Service Head, Democratic Services was looking towards the use of an update to the Mod.Gov system to enable Members to upload their attendances directly on time sheets and to update their disclosable pecuniary interests. It was hoped to be able to report progress to the next meeting on 15 January 2013.
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