Cabinet considered the report for information regarding the CIPFA review of governance undertaken during 2019 and early 2020.

The Leader informed that he requested that this item be brought to Cabinet before it goes to scrutiny and any recommendations to Cabinet at its next meeting. As the Leader of Council he felt that it would have been remise of him not to have introduced this item as it was a damming indictment of cultural and process failure that he would not defend.  He believed in sound financial governance and believed in a culture that got the best out of the organisation, that was fair, open, transparent and wanted a high level of challenge.  But that delivered for residents, businesses and visitors to the area.

The Leader apologies that when concern had been raised to the previous administration that their concerns had not been addressed. As a new Member of this council he found it very difficult reading of the report.  There seemed to be a cultural failure, undue pressure and blocking those who raised concerns.  He would not defend those who were named in the report.  The Leader said that under his administration things would be different, bring this report before them was a good example. The organisation was now more open and collaborative in getting things done.  It was for scrutiny to raise questions and recommendations from the report.  These are now legacy issues and there were focus on the new difficult demands due to C-19.

The Lead Member for Finance and Ascot informed Cabinet that after the May 2019 elections he become Lead Member for Finance and I had expectations regarding the financial information he should receive. Timely and accurate financial information was essential to enable a business to be properly managed and to facilitate appropriate decision making. Frustratingly and unacceptably, this was not made available to me or Cabinet at that time.

He held discussions with the Managing Director and supported his decision for an internal investigation on financial governance by CIPFA and took part in meetings with John O’Halloran, Director Business Advisory and Consultancy at CIPFA, and Peter Robinson.

The initial report on Clewer and Dedworth capital schemes exposed weaknesses in the capital approvals process; no business case had been provided and funds were inappropriately used.  This was the draft report reviewed by the Corporate O&S committee in October 2019 and he welcomed their comments.

Following that initial investigation, a structured work programme had been agreed with the Interim CIPFA accountants, Peter Robinson and Terry Neave, who led the finance team on budget monitoring reports and the 2020/21 budget build. This was not a formal review of governance but something much more thorough. Many in the finance team, who are still working for the authority, worked above and beyond as they accepted the task of bottoming out problems that were exposed and learning some difficult lessons.

This period of self-reflection for the organisation had at times been difficult and unsettling; a series of uncomfortable truths about how the organisation had previously run had to be addressed.

It was beyond doubt and clearly set out in the report that there had been cultural problems at the top of the organisation that resulted in the finances being mismanaged. The CIPFA report was a snapshot of a time passed, not our present situation.

CIPFA had identified the need for a robust treasury management strategy; we now have one in place, which is crucial in the management of cash flow and the necessity and timing of borrowing. Problem identified; solution delivered.

CIPFA identified the need for a clear capital strategy; we now have one in place, which sets out a capital approvals and monitoring process. We have also introduced a capital Programme Review Board, which had its first meeting on the 15th June. Problem identified; solution delivered.

CIPFA identified the need for a Medium-Term Financial strategy which set out a framework essential for planning finances in the longer term; this was now in place and was drafted by CIPFA's Terry Neave. Problem identified; solution delivered.

CIPFA identified issues with the S151 officer and personnel; we have now appointed a new full-time S151 officer with a strong track-record in Local Government Finance and have recently hired a new Head of Finance, Andrew Vallence, who comes with a great deal of experience and knowledge. Problem identified; solution delivered.

The Lead Member said that he had always been a supporter of transparency and hoped members agreed that the Budget report to Council and more recently the  2019/2020 outturn report, written under the direction of our relatively new Director of Resources and S151 officer Adele Taylor, were amongst the most transparent financial reports that had yet been produced.

The Council was in a remarkably different place than it was a year ago. Before there was a culture of fear and evasiveness; now we have a culture of openness and transparency.  This had been driven by our strengthened officer team and Cllr. Johnson’s much different style of leadership. With these in place and the previous cultural shackles removed, he had confidence in the future and believe RBWM could flourish as an organisation. Importantly the organisation must work together to overcome the COVID-related challenges everyone faced and ensured the culture that previously pervaded would not return.

Mr O’Halloran, CIPFA, addressed Cabinet and informed that they were the professional body for finance in the public sector and set the financial standards for local government.  The initial piece of work had been undertaken at the request of the council and since then we had worked to help identify the issues within the report. Ex S151 officers had helped undertake the review.

The Deputy Leader of the Council, Resident & Leisure Services, HR, IT, Legal, Performance Management & Windsor informed Cabinet that she welcomed the report as it supported the changes that had been implemented.  It was important to challenge and review, under her portfolio best solutions were sought for common goals.  She referred to the Braywick leisure centres finance that today would have been under better scrutiny, however pre C-19 it would have been on time and within budget.  Examples of other authorities costs for leisure centres were provided. Pre C-19 the centre was due to bring in £3 million of revenue.  The new centre was also more sustainable. Praise was also given to the excellent work undertaken by the libraries and customer services team. The new working model introduced by IT had also demonstrated its value under the current difficult times. This report allowed us to move forward and face challenges face on.

The Lead Member for Housing, Communications and Youth Engagement reiterated that the report was damming and showed failures from the top of past administrations.  Issues had been raised against past administration and scares were held.  For him within the housing team were things were going wrong were identified and the Homelessness strategy report would demonstrate improvements.  Cross party working was important to address issues the council faced today. 

The Lead Member for Planning and Maidenhead informed that he had been a cabinet member for the longest time from those here today.  The then Cabinet members could only make decisions on the facts presented and this report showed that they had not been at hand at the time.  This was above finance it was about culture.  He gave examples of the work he had undertaken but explained that the then Leader main priority was delivering low council tax, his concerns had been overridden.  His main concerns was for the people in the borough.  The new Leader was in a different place with collective responsibility and working.

The Deputy Chairman of Cabinet, Adult Social Care, Children’s Services, Health and Mental Health informed that he welcomed the report and commended those who commissioned it and brought it forward.  There was now a new leader and culture in place.  There have been excellent examples of compassionate, open leadership in place within Cabinet, there have been good reviews on the Council and an excellent response to the current C-19 pandemic. The transformation programme had been imbedded in Adult services ad was showing results in children’s services, they would put council tax up to support these.  He welcomed chairing the new sub-committee mentioned earlier by the Leader.

Mr Hill addressed Cabinet as a member of the public and said that CIPFA said that challenge was a good thing, which he felt was a shame they had to, he was concerned that the report said officers did not live up to a standard that was required, he felt that they brock the law.  The level of debt was questioned, how fraud could not have been identified without record of financial management.  He mentioned concerns raised by CIPFA to the external auditors and felt the Managing Director should have acted upon these.  All unlawful payment from tax payers money should be investigated.  He mentioned that governance issues had been reported to the monitoring officer but questioned if they had been listened to.  The cost of the leisure centre was questioned.  There seemed to be no separation of powers between officers and Members.

The Leader thanked Mr Hill for his comments and hoped the discussion at overview and scrutiny would look at these issues.

The Lead Member for Environmental Services, Climate Change, Sustainability, Parks and Countryside informed that she was a new councillor and thus brought a new approach.  The culture when she joined was very difficult and different to what it was today.  She referred to the environmental challenge that had cross organisation and party working.

Cllr Jones addressed Cabinet and said that we were now hearing that past Cabinet Members were not in favour with the then culture and that this was new to her. She had raised concern for many years and felt the views of all councils member should be heard. Corporate O&S had already requested the report and she wanted reassurance that opposition member would be listened to in future when concerns were raised. The Leader responded that he would listen to all member, they may not always be agreement, but he would listen.

Cllr Del Campo thanked the Leader for the apologies of the past and asked that his administration would not hinder members speaking at Council and how his group used the whip.  The Leader responded that this meeting would not be used as a post-mortem of Tuesday’s Council meeting and would not comment on some members comments.  He wanted a more professional and business like use of council meetings.  Amendments should be shared before meetings and this was discussed with the managing director.

Cllr Price said that with regards to section 3 of the report regarding  Clewer and Deabworth that the previous Member was not named and that the reference to this ward member did not apply to the current ward members that covered the area.

Cllr Sharpe said that the report did not reflect on the council and was disappointed to see the findings.  It was good that things had changed and the new administration provided the opportunity for collaborative working.

Cllr Walters said that he had raised issues within the past administration and the report showed issues that existed.   Disagreeing with the then leader did not end with good outcomes for him.  Good to see a different style of leadership. 

Cllr Bhangra thanked the new administration for the new open style of leadership especially given the new crises we face.   The errors of the past should be used as a benchmark and he that the Lead Member responsible for adult social care for all his work.

Cllr Werner thanked the leader for his apologies for the issues within the report. He questioned that progress on governance was being made there were a number of issues that needed improving.  What will the leader do to bring everyone together for the borough, how will governance be monitored he suggested a sub group of the Corporate O&S Panel and he asked if the Leader would remove Cabinet Members from the previous administration. 

The Leader thanked Cllr Werner and said that a legally balanced budget had been set at the start of this year, that was robust and set with CIPFA. If not for C-19 it would be a balanced budget with difficult decisions taken alone. All authorities were dealing with the current difficult situation.  With regards to his Cabinet he mentioned that they had his full confidence, that he had very high standards for them and for his Group that was not disappointingly used by other groups. Cabinet were delivering with a positive agenda.

The Leader summed up that the report was providing a review of the past, that there had been lessons to be learnt and actions applied. The culture has been and will continue to change. He said he had apologies for the past but would not apologies for the work being undertaken by the current administration and gave examples of work being under taken under every portfolio.  He supported his Cabinet and administration. 

Cabinet noted the report.