Agenda item

Nigel Howcutt presented a report to the Committee

Risk Based Verification Policy

This report is published annually, the purpose of the report is to monitor System and Processes used by Councils to ensure their processes are up to date and accurate.

This process currently costs 10K per Annum which is 1/3 less than previous years.

With the introduction on Universal Credit the caseloads have decreased, the majority of claims which are being dealt with are “low risk”, these tend to be claims which are “passported” therefore all the evidence and verification work has been done by the DWP.

Full details can be found in the Part 2 minutes

Strategic Risk Register Q3

Because of timings the Q2 report was presented at the end of November 2019, since then the scores on the SRR have not changed but the commentary has been updated, any edits requested through the Audit committee can be made to Cabinet when it is presented in March.

N.Howcutt Welcomed questions from the Committee.

Councillor Chapman enquired if the delay to the expected 2020 review of  National redistribution on the business rates was a definite delay or a possible delay.

N.Howcutt confirmed it was a definite delay, they are awaiting the outcome of the fair funding review this year which will give more certainty over the level fo resources required by LA’s that will then be fed into the business rates funding model for future years, it is expected the Council will be self-sufficient  by 2022 / 23 so effectively  there is no reliance on business rates, from that period onwards.

Councillor Tindall has some concerns regarding the recruitment process for professional staff such as planners, Building Control and Environmental Staff. He feels there is a lack of retention in these areas and would like to know how this is being addressed. He also feels the risk should be rated larger than 6, with SR2 being split into professional and nonprofessional staff.

N.Howcutt confirms he will feedback the concept of splitting SR2 into professional and Nonprofessional staff. As far as recruitment and retention of professional roles is concerned, it is an issue across all local authorities, DBC has the apprenticeship and graduate incentive schemes which are being rolled out across DBC, these are funded by almost 500k over the next 3 years, there have been 3 new apprentices singed up in the last month.  Although at the moment they would be classed as general staff their training requirements will push them into the professional category over time which is why there would be a concern about splitting the SR2 as reporting is not necessarily easily separated ese are things that will need to be considered.

There will always be an issue when it comes to professional qualified staff such a surveyors and accountants, these are 2 key areas in which Local Authorities struggle to recruit. This is mainly due to the competition with other authorise and the private sector, things like flexible working and work life balance are areas that can make the roles at DBC more attractive.

Councillor Tindall appreciates it may be difficult to split into professional and nonprofessional but asks if it could be ensured that there is a particular narrative about professional staff within the commentary of SR2 every time.

N.Howcutt assures Councillor Tindall he will look at all options and will report back to the Group.

Councillor Townsend would like clarification on SR6 – the risk that that the borough doesn’t have sufficient investment to ensure essential infrastructure is available across the borough, it is felt that the report is mainly focused on developments in Hemel Hempstead and he feels it should be looked at more broadly considering the size of proposed developments in Tring and other surrounding areas.  Councillor Townsend isn’t comfortable with the mitigated risk score being as low as it is, Health care is  a particular concern and he would like clarification as to who is responsible for ensuring there are enough GPs to serve the population. 

Councillor Tindall would like to add that the Primary Care Networks (PCNs) are due to go live in July and he would like to know if the risk register will be looking at the PCN and taking this into account.

N.Howcutt explains that this section of the report is vast and covers many different areas such as highways. Transport, Health as well as Education to name a few. Also the responsibility for most large infrastructure projects sits with Hertfordshire County Council who also monitor future demand for services like education provision and community provision, these things will factor into the local plan once that is finalised.

Health is slightly different, an element of the Section 106 and CIL payments is allocated towards additional health care provision in and around the borough dependant on what is being built, one example is LA3 (Stoney Croft area) DBC has been allocated 300k towards enhanced GP facilities in the area because of the development of the new homes, and the council is supporting the local health service to deliver an enhanced doctors surgery..

Councillor Townsend thinks it is about communication with the public to try and reassure them that the infrastructure will be in place where developments are planned and would like to highlight that he feels this is a highly sensitive area.

N.Howcutt agrees this is a sensitive area and requires cross agency partnerships, a significant step forward has been made with the creation of “The Growth Board” with the aim of funding infrastructure across Hertfordshire as a whole.