Issue - meetings

(To receive a report which provides the Committee with insight on the assurances across all of the Councils critical services, key risk, partnerships and projects.  The Corporate Management Team will be in attendance to update on their combined assurance reports for each directorate)

Consideration was given to a report which provided the Audit Committee with an insight on the assurances across all the Council's critical services, key risks and projects.

The Chief Executive and the Executive Directors were in attendance to present their Combined Assurance report and answer any questions from members of the Committee.

Update by the Chief Executive

The Chief Executive thanked the Committee for the opportunity to come and talk about where the authority was and its future direction.  Services continued to perform substantially above the national average.  However, there were no established measures to determine whether the council as a whole was good or bad, other than those from inspectorates or benchmarking information.  The three main areas which had been identified as continuing to operate at a better standard than other authorities were Children's Services, Adult Social Care and Highways and Transport.  It was noted that the authority was delivering above average services for below average costs.

In terms of finances, the Council remained in a sound position for the current day and age.  It was reported there were some local authorities on the point of insolvency.  Lincolnshire was not one of them.  County councils such as Lincolnshire were at a significant disadvantage in the way that they were financed when compared to some other authorities.

The Council was further behind in its IT infrastructure than was expected by this point.  When the authority entered into the support services contract it was the intention to be ahead of the game in IT services.  The current position was a very disappointing place to be.  However, there was a glimmer of hope in that as the authority was so far behind, and as IT developments moved so fast, there may be the possibility of 'leapfrogging' some of the difficulties with current technology and begin again from a more advanced position in terms of business operations, equipment and software systems.

There were general difficulties faced by local government as a whole, and it was commented that it was not thought that there was a vision in government of what role local government played, and it would remain a troubled sector.

In terms of planning for tomorrow, there were specific difficulties, such as the NHS in this County which was in a desperate state as standards and quality of care had deteriorated in large parts of the county as financial difficulties escalated.  It was highlighted that the authority was very good at providing assistance to health colleagues, for example with delayed transfers of care (DToC), but there was a troubled interface with the NHS, which could affect things for a while.  From a management point of view, there had been regular engagement with the NHS.

How the Council worked with the private sector was changing, and work with the private sector would continue but it would not be on the same scale in the future.  The capability of large private sector companies to carry out public service contracts was reducing.  The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41