Minutes of meeting
Renfrewshire Council · 20 January 2025
Back to Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Board — 20 January 2025 and its agenda
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Minute of Meeting Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Board Date Time Venue Monday, 20 January 2025 15:00 Council Chambers (Renfrewshire), Council Headquarters, Renfrewshire House, Cotton Street, Paisley, PA1 1AN Present: Councillor Jennifer Adam, Councillor Andy Doig, Councillor Gillian Graham, Councillor John Gray, Councillor Lisa-Marie Hughes, Councillor Robert Innes, Councillor James MacLaren, Councillor Janis McDonald, Councillor Ben Smith Chair Councillor Andy Doig, Convener, presided. In Attendance E Henry, Head of Education (Children’s Services); L McIntyre, Head of Policy & Partnerships, L Fingland, Service Planning & Policy Development Manager (both Chief Executive’s); C Dalrymple, Head of Facilities & Properties Services, L Feely, Head of Housing (Environment, Housing & Infrastructure); C McCourt, Head of Finance & Procurement, M Conaghan, Head of Corporate Governance, K Campbell, Interim Chief Auditor, Emma Shields, Strategic Service Delivery Manager, M McKillop, Senior Auditor, C MacDonald, Senior Committee Services Officer and D Cunningham, Committee Services & Licensing Officer (all Finance & Resources). Webcasting of Meeting Prior to the commencement of the meeting the Convener intimated that this meeting of the Board would be filmed for live or subsequent broadcast via the Council's internet site. Transparency Statement Councillor J MacLaren declared that he had a connection to agenda item 6 by reason that he worked for a charity involved with drug rehabilitation and donated to another charity involved in drug rehabilitation. However, he indicated that he had applied the objective test and did not consider he had an interest to declare.
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Declarations of interest There were no declarations of interest intimated prior to the commencement of the meeting. 1 Summary of Internal Audit Reports for period 1 October to 31 December 2024 There was submitted a report by the Chief Auditor relative to the requirement in terms of the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards (PSIAS) that Internal Audit communicated the results of each engagement to the Board. The appendix to the report detailed the category of assurance, service, assurance rating and gave recommended risk ratings for each engagement as either critical, important, good practice or service improvement. A summary of the findings was also provided in relation to final reports issued for those engagements completed during the period 1 October to 31 December 2024. The report intimated that in addition to the reports listed in the appendix, Internal Audit had an ongoing commitment to arrange corporate and service initiatives, progress information security matters in partnership with ICT and Legal Services, provide regular advice to officers, provide Internal Audit services to the associated bodies for which Renfrewshire Council was the lead authority and to OneRen and the Integration Joint Board, co-ordination of the Council’s Corporate Risk Management activity and management of the counter fraud, risk management and insurance team. DECIDED: That the summary of Internal Audit findings report for the period 1 October to 31 December 2024 be noted. 2 Internal Audit and Counter Fraud Progress and Performance for Period to 31 December 2024 There was submitted a report by the Chief Auditor relative to Internal Audit and Counter Fraud performance between 1 April and 31 December 2024 in terms of the delivery of the Audit Plan for the year and outlining actual performance against targets set by the Director of Finance & Resources. No formal performance targets for fraud investigation had been established as a major part of the team’s work involved being the single point of contact for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Single Fraud Investigation Service and the Service Level Agreement for the work contained time targets for completing this work. It was noted that the types of fraud referrals received to date were wide-ranging and the team’s objective was to concentrate on investigating those referrals considered to contain the greatest fraud risk. The report also detailed the progress made against local and national initiatives involving Internal Audit and the Counter Fraud Team during the reporting period. The
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report advised that the Internal Audit Team and the Counter Fraud Team were currently working on a hybrid basis and were undertaking home/site visits when the need arose. DECIDED: That the Internal Audit and Counter Fraud Team progress and performance from 1 April to 31 December 2024 be noted. 3 Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) Annual Report 2023/24 There was submitted a report by the Director of Finance & Resources relative to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman's (SPSO) Annual Report 2023/24. The report intimated that the SPSO was the final stage for complaints about Councils, the National Health Service, housing associations, colleges, universities, prisons, most water providers, the Scottish Government and its agencies and departments and most Scottish authorities. The Health Sector was the sector about which the SPSO received most complaints with Local Authority sector receiving the second highest number. No complaint details for specific organisations were included in the report. However, information was received separately from the SPSO relative to Renfrewshire which indicated that the number of complaints determined by the SPSO was 54, compared with 35 in 2022/23. The report noted that there were 58 cases received (these included cases carried forward from the previous year). Of the 54 complaints determined during the period, one went to investigation stage and a copy of the SPSO investigation report relative to the case was attached as an appendix. DECIDED: (a) That the Annual Scottish Public Services Ombudsman report for 2023/24 be noted; and (b) That it be noted that of the 54 complaints against Renfrewshire Council determined by the SPSO in 2023/24 none went to public investigation. 4 2023/24 Complaints Handling Performance There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive relative to the annual complaints report 2023/24. The report provided information on complaints closed during the year from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 and performance on key indicators and highlighted improvements made to the complaints handling procedure over the past year to ensure that complaints were handled well, and the organisation learned from them and improved services. It was noted that 10,025 complaints were received in 2023/24 compared with 9,155 in 2022/23; 91.5% of the complaints were closed at frontline response stage; 85.7% of frontline complaints and 94% of investigation complaints received were completed within target timescales; the average time to respond to frontline complaints increased to 8.5 days, against a target of 5 days and was a increase from the previous year’s
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performance of 4 days. This was partly attributable to a housekeeping exercise as detailed within the report. The average time to respond to an investigation complaint was 15.2 days, which was slightly longer than the 14 days reported for 2022/23, however, it was still well within the SPSO target of 20 days. The 2023/24 breakdown of complaints received by services continued to be broadly reflective of the volume of services provided, with Environment, Housing and Infrastructure delivering the highest volume and widest scope of frontline Council services and consequently it received the highest volume of customer interactions and complaints. A performance scorecard was included within the appendix to the report to provide additional data. It was noted that all indicators would continue to be monitored regularly, and support and guidance would be provided to all services to assist with analysing and improving performance where required. DECIDED: That the report be noted. 5 Summary of Recent Audit Scotland Report on Transformation in Councils There was submitted a report by the Director of Finance & Resources relative to a summary of a recent Audit Scotland report on transformation in councils. The report advised that in October 2024 Audit Scotland published a national report entitled ‘Transformation in Councils’ which summarised the current progress of transformation within local government and the challenges that might impact the delivery of the required changes. Audit Scotland set out the barriers to transformation programmes and the actions to be taken to mitigate any issues. The report noted that as part of the national programme of thematic best value reviews applicable to local government, the Accounts Commission had agreed the focus for Best Value thematic work in 2024/25 should cover how councils redesign services to maintain outcomes and deliver services more efficiently. It was noted that the Council’s external auditors would explore the theme in Renfrewshire as part of the annual audit programme and would submit a report to the Board later in 2025. The findings would also feed into a national report which would be published by the Accounts Commission. DECIDED: That the content of the Audit Scotland report and the local activity relating to transformation, change and financial sustainability within Renfrewshire Council be noted. 6 Audit Scotland Report - Alcohol and Drugs Services There was submitted a report by Chief Executive relative to an Audit Scotland Report on alcohol and drug services. The report advised that in October 2024 Audit Scotland published a report on ‘Alcohol and Drug Services’ which looked at how effectively Scotland’s alcohol and drug services were delivering the Scottish Government’s strategies. The audit focused on the current leadership and accountability arrangements, how responsive drug and alcohol services were to the needs of people and the effectiveness of funding arrangements.
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DECIDED: That the report be noted. EXCLUSION OF PRESS AND PUBLIC The Board resolved that the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of Item 6 as it was likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted, that if members of the press and public were present, there would be disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in paragraph 12 of Part I of Schedule 7A of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. 7 Summary of Internal Audit Investigation/Review Reports for period 1 October to 31 December 2024 There was submitted a report by the Chief Auditor relative to the requirement in terms of the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards (PSIAS) that Internal Audit reported on the findings and conclusions of audit engagements to the Board. The appendix to the report provided a summary of the findings of an internal audit investigation. DECIDED: That the summary of Audit Reports finalised during the period from 1 October to 31 December 2024 be noted.