To consider the report.

Andrew Vallance, Head of Finance, presented the report to the Committee.

Councillor Bond commented that Catherine Hickman and her team had been doing an outstanding job with such limited resources. Councillor Bond raised three points which concerned him. These were as follows:

·         Para 2.6, using the competitive tendering process felt like an artificial loop as it prevented the authority going through a proper tendering process.

·         It was certain councils that had started the organisation and put in the capital and then they were asking others to join but not giving capital towards it.

·         Since it was not in the public sector, the contract had not been seen. Should the Committee know of anything in particular that was in the contract?

Andrew Vallance reassured the Committee that he had known of the organisation for many years and had personally gone through the contract with the legal team. Andrew Vallance informed the Committee that it was not a contract, it was an agreement, which was different to a contract. SWAP were an effective body that was highly regarded and seen as cutting edge. If they were successful and endorsed by Cabinet, they would be invited to the February Committee meeting.

Adele Taylor added that resourcing was a concern in the current arrangements and it had been difficult to fill all the roles. SWAP had the breadth of skills with specialist areas of work. Other arrangements had been considered but this was the most appropriate.

Councillor Bowden asked about hierarchy and who got what level of interaction. Was RBWM a small or large organisation? Were there any risks and was it politically biased? He also asked about the impact if any authority was subject to a S114. Andrew Vallance informed the Committee that hierarchy was not a concern, there was an owners board that met twice a year and the Chair of this Committee would attend and vote. It was non-political. RBWM was similar to East Riding, there were six larger authorities and we were larger than the district councils and police. We were six or seven out of twenty-five. Adele Taylor added that internal audit were politically neutral. If any of the authorities were heading to a section 114, internal and external audit would always come in to support the relevant authorities and there would be no impact on any other authority.

Councillor Jones commented that it was a great idea that if the recommendation was agreed by Cabinet, that they be asked attend the February meeting. Councillor Jones commended the officers for such a detailed report with great analysis of pros and cons. Councillor Jones asked if mitigations had been put in place for the concerns? Andrew Vallance reassured the Committee that a dedicated team would be in place serving RBWM with six people including a team lead. Andrew Vallance commented that no authority had ever left SWAP as yet, although some changes to organisations had happened through local government reorganisation.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: that the Committee noted the report and recommended to Cabinet that the Council became a member of South West Audit Partnership for the delivery of internal audit services from 1st April 2022.