The report of the Head of Business Enterprise and Commercial Services is to follow.

Contact:  Tim Smith 01743 258676

51.1The Committee received the report of the Head of Business Enterprise and Commercial Services – copy attached to the signed Minutes – which set out the management action that had been undertaken to address the recommendations set out in the internal audit report dated 21 April 2017 in respect of the corporate landlord function and estate management at the Council.

51.2The Head of Business Enterprise and Commercial Services informed the Committee that there had been 19 recommendations set out in the Internal Audit report, one of which was fundamental, eight were significant and ten required attention.  He reported that management actions had now been put in place to address the recommendations, which included additional staffing resources and more effective controls and processes in order to ensure that all rent associated with leased out property was identified, invoiced and collected in a timely manner.  It was hoped that the new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system would provide an opportunity to move the Asset Management data onto one system.

51.3The Head of Business Enterprise and Commercial Services reported that an independent review of the assets and estate function had been commissioned in order to identify where/how improvements could be made.  The full report was expected during the second/third week of January 2018.  He also informed the Committee that an independent review had been commissioned of all systems and processes that were undertaken within the Council to ensure that they supported economic growth and commercial strategies.

51.4In summary, the Head of Business Enterprise and Commercial Services reassured Members that management action was being taken in order to address the issues raised in the Internal Audit report and such actions were reviewed on a quarterly basis.  In response to a query, the Head of Business Enterprise and Commercial Services drew Members attention to Appendix B of the report which set out the management responses to the recommendations contained in the Internal Audit report together with dates when the actions were to be completed.  He stated that it was hoped that all of the actions would be completed by Easter 2018.

51.5The Portfolio Holder for Corporate Support explained that the role had changed significantly since the Internal Audit report had been issued and he reminded members that the Audit report was backward looking.  He stressed the importance of looking forward as the service was currently in a different position and the focus was changing quite rapidly.  He was however satisfied that sufficient resources were now in place in order to address the recommendations.

51.6In response to a query the Head of Audit confirmed that Estate Management would be revisited by Internal Audit in 2018/19 which would allow more time for implementation of the changes.  In response to a further query, the Head of Business Enterprise and Commercial Services explained that there had been no lost income but some income could have been collected earlier. The focus was now on obtaining the right information about the leases and knowing when to raise invoices etc.  A report on progress was requested for a future meeting.

51.7RESOLVED:

        That the progress made to address the recommendations in the Audit report of 21 April 2017 to ensure that all improvements be effectively implemented and monitored via the action plan for estate management be noted and that a further update report be presented to the Committee at its June 2018 meeting.