Agenda item

To seek the Committee’s view on the appointment of an Independent Member to the Corporate Governance Committee.

Consideration was given to a report by the Internal Audit Manager (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) seeking the Committee’s view on the appointment of an Independent Member to the Corporate Governance Committee.

By way of background, the Internal Audit Manager reported that Government reports and the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) had now recommended the appointment of at least one Independent Member, suitably qualified, to an Audit Committee. The Government has also indicated its intention to make this mandatory in the future. In preparation for this, some authorities have already appointed an Independent Member in the interests of good governance and transparency and it is proposed that Huntingdonshire should do the same. Having been acquainted with the benefits to the Committee, which included specialist knowledge and insight, independent challenge, transparency and neutrality and assisting with maintaining continuity and corporate memory for the Committee, Members’ attention was then drawn to Appendix A which outlined a draft example person specification for the role.

A question was raised by Councillor J A Gray querying who would be sitting on the Appointments Panel to interview candidates for the role(s). It was confirmed that this would comprise the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Committee, Director of Finance and Corporate Resources and the Internal Audit Manager. A subsequent question was then raised by Councillor J A Gray on the proposal to appoint an individual on a three year term commencing 1st May 2023 and how this contradicted the benefit of corporate memory within the Committee given that all District Councillors would be up for election at the same time. In acknowledging this, it was suggested that further thought might need to be given to CIPFA’s recommendation for up to 2 individuals to be appointed with the start date of commencement varying for each individual.

In response to a question raised by Councillor P Kadewere querying whether individuals would be remunerated, it was confirmed that this matter would also require some further thought. The Elections and Democratic Services Manager advised that the Independent Remuneration Panel had recently met to undertake a full review of Members’ Allowances and that the matter would need to be referred onto them for consideration. The Committee were also informed that the Lead and Deputy Independent Persons appointed by the Council for the purposes of conducting Code of Conduct investigations received some form of remuneration for their work and that perhaps this might provide a starting point for the level of remuneration to be awarded to any Independent Members appointed to the Committee. Given the discussions on remuneration and the number of Independent Members to be appointed, Councillor J E Harvey proposed an amendment to recommendation (b) of the report now submitted for up to 2 non-voting Independent Members to be appointed by the Council on to the Committee which was supported by Members.

In response to a question raised by Councillor I P Taylor proposing the start date of commencement 6 months after the May elections, the Elections and Democratic Services Manager advised against stipulating a start date now given the level of work yet to be undertaken to refine the proposals which included seeking Council approval in February 2023, engaging with the Independent Remuneration Panel to address questions which had been raised around remuneration and the need to advertise and recruit to the roles.

Owing to the absence of detail within the report, the Committee considered a suggestion to bring the report back to a future meeting. The view was expressed by Councillor J A Gray that the process should not be held up and that the report should continue to be submitted to Council on 22nd February 2023 with a suggestion that detail on the proposals should be worked up by the Chair and Officers and circulated to the Committee outside of the meeting. In that light and following discussion on the matter, the Elections and Democratic Services Manager suggested that an additional recommendation be added to the report proposing delegated authority to be given to the Chair and Vice-Chair, in conjunction with the Corporate Governance Committee, to finalise details including the level of remuneration, term of office and length of appointment  of Independent Members to the Committee. Councillor J E Harvey also requested that the start date of commencement also be included in the delegation.

Councillor R J West questioned whether the Government or CIPFA had issued any best practice guidance on the process of setting up Independent Members on Audit Committees, to which the Internal Audit Manager responded that it was up to individual Councils to do. She then went on to advise that Cambridge City Council had appointed an Independent Member to its Committee.

Councillor A M Blackwell queried whether individuals would be able to terminate their service part way through their term. The Elections and Democratic Services Manager responded that the advert would need to specify the term of office required for the role so that candidates were aware of commitments prior to applying. Furthermore, it was noted that the Council ultimately would be responsible for confirming Independent Member appointments to the Committee.

Members were reminded by Councillor R J West of the Overview and Scrutiny Co-opted Members that served a four year term ending in 2014. It was confirmed by the Elections and Democratic Services Manager that this provision no longer existed and had been removed from the Council’s Constitution.

Having agreed to amend recommendation (b) and to add a further recommendation giving delegated authority to the Chair and Vice-Chair with a view to finalising details within the proposals, the Committee

RESOLVED

(a)  to note the additional guidance provided on the appointment of Independent Member(s) to Audit Committees;

(b)  to recommend to Council the approval of the appointment of up to 2 non-voting Independent Members to the Corporate Governance Committee as set out in paragraph 5.6 of the report now submitted;

(c)  to recommend to Council the approval of the variation to the membership of the Corporate Governance Committee as set out in Part 3 – Responsibility for Council Functions – of the Council’s Constitution as outlined in paragraph 5.6 of the report now submitted;

(d)  to recommend to Council the making of necessary amendments to the Council’s Constitution; and

(e)  to delegate authority to the Chair and Vice-Chair, in conjunction with the Corporate Governance Committee, to finalise details including the level of remuneration, term of office, length of appointment and start date of commencement for the appointment of Independent Member(s) to the Corporate Governance Committee.