Item 14 - Appendix 1

West Dunbartonshire Council · 1 February 2023
Back to Corporate Services Committee — 1 February 2023 and its agenda

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Page 1

Appendix 1: Resources Delivery Plan 2022/23 – Interim Progress
Our Council
Our workforce is resilient and skilled where digital technology supports service delivery for our residents
Action Status Progress Due Date Note Owner
Develop and implement wellbeing, employee
engagement, equality and training plans to
enable capabilities, improved resilience and
promotion of a diverse workforce.
31-Mar-2023
Across the service, regular team meetings and ‘Be-the Best conversations,
have taken place throughout 2022/23 as has engagement using ‘Trickle’. A
new Finance Manager will be in post in March 2023 and a further review
will be carried out of employee engagement within Finance once the new
appointment is in post. Furthermore, the Chief Officer is actively
supportive of fully flexible working arrangements to support the workforce
to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Staff are consulted with ahead of
major operational and/or process related changes to explain clearly the
rationale for the change.
Management
Team
Develop and implement employee life cycle
plans in line with the People First Strategy to
attract and retain the workforce.
31-Mar-2023
A review of the Finance structure is currently on hold due to a new Finance
Manager being appointed but not in post until March 2023. Review to be
rescheduled for 2023/24 to allow new appointee time to review current
arrangements. Across the service, the establishment has been considered
as part of activity to deliver an effective service and identify efficiencies in
order to deliver a balanced 2023/24 revenue budget.
Management
Team
Implement service review process including
role design, use of new technology and new
ways of working to add resilience, address
gaps, and establish opportunities for
efficiencies
This is considered in all areas of Resources on an ongoing basis. Within
Finance, a review of the structure is currently on hold due to a new
Finance Manager being appointed but not in post until March 2023. Review
of Finance to be rescheduled for 2023/24 to allow new appointee time to
review current arrangements.
Management
Team
Develop and implement training plans and
development opportunities to improve
capabilities and resilience within the
workforce.
31-Mar-2023
This is on-going in all areas of Resources. Within Finance, the resignation
of the Council’s Finance Manager has provided an opportunity to
reconsider the allocation of responsibilities across the Finance Team. This
includes a focus on providing development opportunities, training and
building resilience as we look further ahead to the possibility of multiple
retirements in the next 3 to 5 years. This will be developed further in
2023/24 when the new Finance Manager is in post.
Management
Team
Appendix 1

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Our Council is adaptable and focused on delivering best value for our residents
Action Status Progress Due Date Note Owner
Review ways of decreasing corporate debt
through continued improvements to debt
collection processes in relation to sundry,
NDR, Council Tax and rent
31-Mar-2023
Reviews completed in relation to the rent collection processes between
Housing and Corporate Debt, the Universal Credit/Alternative Payment
Arrangements process with the Department for Work and Pensions, and
the debt recovery process and the impact of cost living increases. All have
resulted in improvements to systems and processes. In addition, informal
benchmarking has been completed which confirmed our processes are
robust, efficient and effective at collections whilst being value for money.
The remaining milestones are all on track with completion dates of 31
March 2023.
Ryan Chalmers
Review ways to improve rent collection rates
in conjunction with Housing and W4U 31-Mar-2023
The Universal Credit/Alternative Payment Arrangements process with the
Department for Work and Pensions has been reviewed to ensure rental
income is maximised, including automating UC payments. The remaining
milestones are due by 31 March and are progressing as planned.
Ryan Chalmers;
Stefan
Kristmanns
Maximise automation opportunities across the
organisation to improve efficiency 31-Mar-2023 Some automations have been adjusted to factor system issues.
Progressing well otherwise with updates provided to Automation Board. Arun Menon
Risk Description Current Assessment Target Assessment Date Reviewed Note Owner
Debt is not recovered
efficiently or
effectively, with
inherent risk of
financial loss
The processes deployed in collection of
monies owed to the council are inefficient
and ineffective resulting in money not
collected on time or having to be written
off
15-Dec-2022
Effectively implement the Corporate Debt
Policy and ensure income maximisation in
collaboration with W4U. Improvements to
automation of collecting debt to be
considered and implemented.
Ryan Chalmers
Increase in the level
of rent arrears due to
the level of Welfare
Reform changes and
general state of
economy
The Council sees an increase in its level of
rent arrears due to lower disposable
income and national changes to the
national benefits regime and the ongoing
economic position
15-Dec-2022
The risk of an increase in rent arrears is due
to the current cost of living that's linked to
increasing energy costs, food costs and
inflation.  Financial support and advice is
provided to those impacted by the cost of
living with arrangements being reviewed as
appropriate.
Ryan Chalmers

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Strong financial governance and sustainable budget management (Service Objective)
Action Status Progress Due Date Note Owner
Revise the Code of Good Governance 31-Mar-2023 The Code of Good Governance was reviewed and updated as part of the
2021/22 Annual Governance Statement review. Andi Priestman
Ensure continued compliance with the Code of
Good Governance during 2022/23 31-Mar-2023 The Code of Good Governance was reviewed for compliance as part of the
2021/22 Annual Governance Statement review. Andi Priestman
Prepare and submit draft Annual Governance
Statement for 2021/22 to the Audit
Committee
30-Jun-2022 The Draft Annual Governance Statement for 2021/22 was approved by the
Audit Committee in June 2022. Andi Priestman
Continue to improve and deliver the
Assurance Statement for 2021/22 to support
the Annual Governance Statement
30-Jun-2022 The Annual Governance Statement was reviewed for best practice as part
of the 2021/22 exercise. Andi Priestman
Complete the Internal Audit & Corporate
Fraud Plan 2021/22 and report to Audit
Committee as part of the Annual Assurance
Statement
31-Aug-2022
The Internal Audit Annual Report and Assurance Statement was presented
to the June 2022 Audit Committee and regular progress updates on the
2022/23 audit plan continue to be reported on a regular basis to Audit
Committee.
Andi Priestman
Implement the change to the Accounting
Code of Practice in relation to leasing 31-Mar-2023
The implementation date was reviewed by Scottish Government and
changed nationally. Due to this timelines have been adjusted accordingly.
Work to implement the change to the Accounting Code of Practice is
ongoing. Relevant officers within the Authority have been briefed on
requirements and information required to comply is being collected. We
are in the process of procuring software to use for the collation and
processing of information.
Jackie Nicol-
Thomson
Develop and provide financial services to
West Dunbartonshire Energy Limited 31-Mar-2023
We continue to provide financial services to the energy company and we
are working to develop a separate entity in Agresso. However, this
requires an upgrade to the system which has been delayed due to a
number of technical issues. We are working to resolve these and continue
to progress this action.
Adrian Gray;
Laurence Slavin
Review reconciliations and VAT processes for
automation and implement those identified as
appropriate
31-Mar-2023
The reconciliation and VAT processes have been reviewed and areas
identified for possible automation. One reconciliation was initially identified
as a test and processes have been documented and are currently with the
automation team for consideration and prioritisation. The VAT processes
will be documented for onward submission to the automation team.
Laurence
Slavin; Karen
Shannon
Review capital programme, monitoring and
reporting 31-Mar-2023
The capital programme has been reviewed and a report presented to
Council on 21 December 2022. The next phase will review monitoring and
reporting arrangements. This will take place in 2023/24, led by the new
Finance Manager.
Laurence Slavin

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Action Status Progress Due Date Note Owner
Review financial arrangements against the
CIPFA financial code of practice 30-Sep-2022 The Code was reviewed and passed to external audit for information. Laurence Slavin
Risk Description Current Assessment Target Assessment Date Reviewed Note Owner
Failure to provide
assurance of the
system of financial
controls
Either Internal Audit or External Audit is
unable to provide assurances on the
Council's financial control environment
14-Dec-2022
Audit plan for 2021/22 is complete.  New
plan for 2022/23 was approved by Audit
Committee in June 2022 and regular
progress reports are presented to Audit
Committee at each cycle.
Andi Priestman
Failure to meet
statutory deadlines
for external returns
(including HMRC) and
financial statements
Finance Services failing to meet statutory
deadlines resulting in lost revenue or
penalty costs 
14-Dec-2022
The risk assessment remains unchanged.
There are a range of controls in place to
ensure that the likelihood of this risk
occurring remains relatively low.  
Laurence Slavin
Financial projections
are significantly
incorrect
Financial projections for both capital and
revenue are significantly incorrect for 
various reasons – including unexpected
costs – resulting in insufficient reserves
being held 
16-Dec-2022
Information on projections are updated on
an ongoing basis. However, with the
volatility of the economy, inflation and bank
interest rates, the figures are changing
regularly. 
Laurence Slavin
Significant financial
funding reductions /
limitations from
Scottish Government
It is expected that the Council will be
faced with significant ongoing funding
reductions/limited increases from the
Scottish Government settlement. This is
based on recent settlements, the March
2022 Resource Spending Review which
states that Council funding will remain as
‘flat cash’ (at current 2022/23 levels) until
2025/26 with a £100m added in 2026/27
– the real term impact of this (taking
inflation into account) for the next four
years is a 7% reduction between 2022/23
and 2026/27. This coincides with a period
where costs are expected to rise in
relation to social care due to an aging
population; inflationary increases with RPI
at a level not seen since 1991; post-
COVID-19 ongoing costs; increases in the
16-Dec-2022
The Chief Officer for Resources provided a
verbal update to Council on 21 December
2022 on the 2023/24 local government
settlement. Assumptions on future Scottish
Government funding are updated regularly
and a further update will be provided when
Council agrees the 2023/24 budget in March
2023. It is still expected that future Scottish
Government funding will be insufficient to
pay for current levels of service delivery. 
Laurence Slavin

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Risk Description Current Assessment Target Assessment Date Reviewed Note Owner
cost of borrowing as interest rates
increase and pay award pressures linked
to inflation. The ongoing population
decline of West Dunbartonshire versus the
average population for the whole of
Scotland leads directly to funding
reductions with marginal impact on
service delivery cost/need.
Risk Status
Alert
Warning
OK
Action Status
Cancelled; postponed for this year
In progress and on track
Completed