Agenda, decisions and minutes

The agenda and reports associated with this minute can be found here. 

Please note that if any changes are made to this minute at the point of approval, these will be outlined in the subsequent minute and this document will not be retrospectively altered. 

The Chair welcomed everyone, and members also welcomed back Michael Wilkie from External Auditors KPMG and Stuart Lamberton, Transformation Programme Manager – AHSCP, to his first meeting of the Committee.

Members were requested to intimate any declarations of interest in respect of the items on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest intimated.

There was no exempt business.

The Committee had before it the minute of its previous meeting of 1 March 2022, for approval.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)             with regard to Article 11 of the Minute (Leadership Team Objectives - Update - HSCP.22.012), to note that Quarter 3 Carers’ Support figures were still awaited and that the Strategy and Transformation Lead would circulate them along with Quarter 4 figures once they were available; and

(ii)            to otherwise approve the minute as a correct record.

The Committee had before it the Committee Business Planner.

Members heard from the Chief Finance Officer who provided context around future reporting.  He apologised for the late circulation of reports at Items 5.1 and 6.1 of the agenda.

Michael Wilkie explained that the timetable for presenting the unaudited accounts had been altered during 2022 to take account of local government elections but would now revert to the traditional audit timing and therefore the Audited Accounts would be presented to the RAPC on 9 August 2022 and not June 2022 as stated in the Planner.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)             to agree that Item 19 (Annual / Biennial Report on Adult Social Care) had been presented to the IJB and CCG and could therefore be removed for the RAPC Planner;

(ii)            to agree that Items 31 (Primary Care and Social Care Vacancies) and 32 (Workforce Plan) could be combined into one item on the Planner;

(iii)          to note that the timescale for the Audited Accounts would be August 2022 and the Planner would be updated accordingly;

(iv)          to note the at the Directions Tracker would include a traffic light system; and

(v)           to otherwise note the content of the Planner.

The Committee heard from the Business Manager who stated that there had been no whistleblowing incidents raised during the last quarter either through the IJB Policy or by NHS standards.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)             to agree that a report on Whistleblowing policy and reporting would be added to the Planner and submitted to a future Committee; and

(ii)            to note that there had been no Whistleblowing incidents raised during the last quarter.

Appendix A – pages 19-27

The Committee had before it a report on the Local Code of Corporate Governance which was a review of the governance for the Integration Joint Board (IJB) previously agreed by Audit & Performance Systems Committee (APS).  The purpose of the report was to allow the Risk, Audit and Performance Committee (RAPC) to comment on the sources of assurances used to measure the effectiveness of the governance principles contained in the CIPFA/SOLACE ‘Delivering Good Governance in Local Government: Framework’ document.

The Chief Finance Officer spoke to the report and responded to questions from Members.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee approve the sources of assurance, as highlighted in Appendix A of the report.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)             to agree that reference to the IJB’s development work on Culture would be added to the final version of the document;

(ii)            to instruct the Chief Finance Officer to review climate change duties and take recommendations on the implications back to Committee; and

(iii)          to otherwise approve the recommendation.

Appendix A – pages 33-44

The Committee had before it the Review of Financial Governance Arrangements, the purpose of which was to provide the results of the review undertaken by the Aberdeen City Health and Social Care Partnership (ACHSCP) Leadership Team against financial governance requirements contained in the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA)’s statement on the ‘Role of the Chief Financial Officer in Local Government’ (2016).

The Chief Finance Officer spoke in furtherance of the report and explained that this review was an annual requirement.

The report recommended:-

That the Committee note the content of the report and the accompanying results of the Executive team review contained at Appendix A.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)             to agree that the Chief Finance Officer would add further narrative in respect of effective tendering with regard to the Procurement Regulations; and

(ii)            to otherwise note the content of the report.

Appendix A – pages 49-61

Appendix B – page 62

The Committee had before it the Annual Governance Statement.

The Chief Finance Officer spoke to the report and responded to questions from members.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee -

(a)           comment on and approve in principle the annual governance statement; and

(b)           agree that assurances on the governance framework can be provided to Aberdeen City Council and NHS Grampian.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)             to agree that reference to the IJB development work on Culture would be added to Principle 1 – Behaving with integrity, demonstrating strong commitment to ethical values and representing the rule of law;

(ii)            to agree that the assurance statement would be expanded to include more explanation on procurement;

(iii)          to agree to add a seminar topic on Ethical Approach to Commissioning to the Planner; and

(iv)          to otherwise approve the recommendations.

Appendix A – pages 67-80

The Committee had before it the Review of Duties & Year End Report, the purpose of which was to review the reporting for 2021/22 and the intended schedule of reporting for 2022/23 to ensure that the Committee was fulfilling all the duties as set out in its terms of reference.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee note the contents of the report and Appendix A – Duties and Annual Plan.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)             to thank the Chief Finance Officer and all his Team for their work; and

(ii)            to otherwise note the content of the report.

The Committee had before it the Unaudited Final Accounts for 2021/22.

The Chief Finance Officer spoke to the report and began by thanking the Strategy and Transformation Lead, Business Manager and accountants who had been involved in the preparation work.  He then responded to questions from Members.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee consider and comment on the Unaudited Final Accounts for 2021/22 at Appendix A (Additional Circulation) of the report.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)             to thank all those involved in the preparation of the accounts; and

(ii)            to otherwise note the information provided.

The Committee had before it the Quarter 4 Monitoring Report, which (1) summarised the 2021/2022 revenue budget performance for the services within the remit of the Integration Joint Board (IJB) as at Period 9 (end of March 2022); (2) highlighted the current forecast in relation to the additional costs of COVID-19 reclaimed from the Scottish Government (SG); (3) advised on any areas of risk and management action relating to the revenue budget performance of the IJB services; and (4) sought to approve the budget virements so that budgets were more closely aligned to anticipated income and expenditure.

The Chief Finance Officer spoke to the report and responded to questions from Members.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee-

(a)           note the report in relation to the IJB budget and the information on areas of risk and management action that were contained therein; and

(b)           approve the budget virements indicated in Appendix F of the report.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)             to note that the Chief Finance Officer would circulate further detail regarding Directorate overspend;

(ii)            to instruct the Chief Officer to ask the Moray IJB for an update regarding G-Med and to subsequently report back to Committee in this regard; and

(iii)          to otherwise approve the recommendations.

The Committee had before it the External Audit Plan for 2021-22.

Michael Wilkie, External Auditor (KPMG) spoke to the report.  Mr Wilkie advised that there would be a new auditor appointed from 2023 and that indications were that the Committee should expect a significant rise in the audit fee.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee note the contents of the report.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendation.

The Committee had before it a report which sought to create a protocol to be adopted by Aberdeen City Health and Social Care Partnership (ACHSCP) specifically and deliberately signposting patients, clients, carers and service users to organisations that had not gone through the commissioning or grant funding process.

The Strategy and Transformation Lead introduced the report and responded to questions from Members.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee -

(a)           consider the draft Signposting Protocol attached at Appendix A of the report and provide comment; and

(b)           if agreed present a final version to the RAPC on 23 June 2022.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)             to instruct the Strategy and Transformation Lead to seek further legal advice regarding endorsement and to incorporate this into the final version of the report;

(ii)            to instruct the Strategy and Transformation Lead to share the final draft of the report with Committee members in advance of the agenda papers for RAPC on 23 June 2022 being issued; and

(iii)          to otherwise agree in principle the recommendations.

Appendix A – page 97

Appendix B – page 99

The Committee had before it a report relating to the Leadership Team Objectives - Reporting Framework.

Alison MacLeod - Strategy and Transformation Lead,  explained that, following the approval of the Leadership Team Objectives for 2022/23 at the Integrated Joint Board on 10 March 2022, the report was seeking to inform the Risk, Audit and Performance Committee of the reporting framework surrounding this.  Ms MacLeod introduced colleagues Michelle Grant and Alex Bertram who presented the Health Care Intelligence Dashboard and responded to questions from members.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee note the Leadership Team Objectives Reporting Framework as appended to the report, noting in particular the reporting timetable.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)             to note that the Performance Framework would be circulated to members;

(ii)            to agree that the Health Care Intelligence Dashboard and covering report would be added to the Planner as an action for the August 2022 meeting and thereafter on a quarterly basis;

(iii)          to agree that a seminar topic of Strategic Intent be added to the Planner; and

(iv)          to otherwise agree the recommendations.

The Chair enquired of Members if they were satisfied on matters presented before the Committee or if further examination was required.

The Committee resolved:-

to note they had received Confirmation of Assurance from the reports and associated discussions presented and that further assurance had been evidenced by the activity of all staff in not only producing the necessary information but also by the delivery and modifications of processes and services in a regular and sustained manner.

Tuesday 9 August 2022

Tuesday 1 November 2022

Tuesday 28 February 2023

All at 10.00 a.m.

The Committee had before it the dates for future meetings:

• Thursday 23 June 2022 at 10am;
• Tuesday 9 August 2022 at 10am;
• Tuesday 1 November 2022 at 10am; and
• Tuesday 28 February 2023 at 10am

The Board resolved:-

to note the future meeting dates

- JOHN TOMLINSON, Chair