Meeting documents

To be presented by David Johnston and Zahir Mohammed.

Zahir Mohammed and David Johnston attended to present this report.

·         Zahir Mohammed thanked the Audit Team for the report and the Committee for their comments, which would be taken on board.

·         It was advised that BCC were concerned over this issue as a large sum of money had been put into BLT and going forward BCC want to ensure BLT is functioning well. Measures had now been put in place to address this.

·         BCC had now set up a BLT Commissioning Group, aimed at holding governance and performance to account on a quarterly basis.

·         A more formal process would be implemented to recruit the board of Trustees, including adverts and proforma’s to outline the role requirements.

·         In relation to the BCC nominated Trustees, the Cabinet Member will no longer be a eligible.

·         A BLT Annual Report would also go to Cabinet.

·         Region based Community Manager for BLT would also be looking after the project side of BLT.

·         A deadline of 30 September 2015 had been implemented for the majority of improvement measures, which are aiming to be met.

·         David Johnston advised that a meeting had taken place with the Manager of BLT also, and in principle agreement had taken place regarding the personal specification for all Trustees.

·         Consideration would also be given to governance arrangements, where trustees should be drawn from (e,g, Head Teachers could have a conflict of interest with BLT).

·         It had also been suggested that the size of the Board of Trustees be reduced as 20 seemed excessive.

Member Questions

Question 1

·         The Chairman queried whether BCC were able to also suggest an independent Chairman be appointed to the Board of Trustees?

·         David Johnston agreed that this had also been suggested.

Comment 1

·         A Member questioned the advice BCC had given BLT in the beginning as it seemed BLT was not fit for purpose.

Comment 2

·         Members advised that they were happy that the new team were looking at the issue robustly to iron out any issues.

Question 2

·         A Member queried whether there had already been a turnover of the Trustees? To avoid further lack of governance and duty of care, an entirely new board should be implemented.

·         David Johnston advised that discussion had taken place with the Trustees and BLT were in agreement that a completely new set of Trustees should be implemented.

Question 3

·         A Member questioned whether BCC intends to oversee implementation of the Action Plan, to monitor progress and timings?

·         Zahir Mohammed advised once the Commissioning Group has been set up, an Action Plan would be created with a planned implementation deadline of 30 September 2015. Once formulated the Action Plan would be monitored quarterly and annually by Cabinet.

·         In addition the OCB would oversee the next Commissioning Group meeting.

Question 4

·         A Member queried where this Committee factored in to the process, would a report be presented to the Committee before sign off?

·         Ian Dyson agreed that it was  important for this Committee to retain oversight of this, due to the Limited Assurance status.

·         It was advised that the Risk Management Group meeting was being planning to take place before the next Regulatory and Audit Committee in November and before the Commissioning Group meets. It was suggested that the Risk Management Group scrutinise the risk register and issues raised around BLT, look at progress made with any actions, and for a report to be brought back to the November meeting.

ACTION: Risk Management Group

·         Ian Dyson suggested that Zahir Mohammed and David Johnston then attend this Committee in January to provide an overall update, in actions implemented and deadlines met.

·         This approach was agreed by the Committee.

ACTION: Zahir Mohammed & David Johnston

Member Comment 3

·         A Member suggested that feedback on this report be conveyed to the member of the public who made the initial complaint in relation to BLT.

·         A Member also advised that although the Risk Management Group is a closed forum, a full report needs to come back to this Committee for a more transparent debate.

·         Sarah Ashmead advised that more information could be put into the public domain. Once produced the Improvement Plan could be made transparent.

·         Ian Dyson advised that timings could be an issue as the meeting of the Commissioning Board and the Committee are too close for papers to be submitted and published within the required timescales. Sarah Ashmead advised that if the Cabinet Member is happy with the report in draft, this could be brought back to the next meeting. The Cabinet Member agreed. A Report outlining actions being taken and the improvement plan with timescales to be presented at the Committee meeting in November.

ACTION: Zahir Mohammed and David Johnston

Member Comment 4

·         A Member also advised that the report needed to be clear that BCC are limited with the actions available, relating to CMA only and that BCC are unable to do anything directly with BLT.

·         The Committee agreed with this.

·         Ian Dyson advised that correspondence had been sent to the complainant to offer a meeting with the Chief Auditor and Monitoring Officer to relay the report findings.

The Chairman thanked Zahir Mohammed and David Johnston for attending the meeting.