Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Alexandra Chesterfield and Mike Hurdle.

Councillors David Quelch and David Reeve attended as substitutes for Councillors Chesterfield and Hurdle respectively.

In accordance with the local Code of Conduct, a councillor is required to disclose at the meeting any disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI) that they may have in respect of any matter for consideration on this agenda.  Any councillor with a DPI must notparticipate in any discussion or vote regarding that matter and they must also withdraw from the meeting immediately before consideration of the matter.

If that DPI has not been registered, you must notify the Monitoring Officer of the details of the DPI within 28 days of the date of the meeting.

There were no disclosures of interest.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting of the Corporate Governance and Standards Committee held on 14 June 2018.

The Committee confirmed as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 14 June 2018. The Chairman signed the minutes.

The Committee considered an update report on the monitoring of the Council’s performance in dealing with Freedom of Information (FOI) and Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) requests, and Subject Access Requests. 

The Committee was pleased to note that, for the calendar year up to 27 June 2018, the Council’s overall performance rate for responding to FOI and EIR requests within the 20 working day deadline stood at 93.5%, which compared favourably with the figure of 91.5% recorded for the same period in 2017. The Council was therefore currently meeting both the Information Commissioner’s performance indicator of 85%, and the 90% target agreed by the Corporate Management Team.

During the debate, it was suggested that:

·        future update reports should provide data on those FOI and EIR requests that had closed in the relevant period under review

·        efforts should be made to address the five worst performing services in respect of dealing with FOI and EIR requests

The Committee

RESOLVED: That the Committee notes the officer actions and continues to receive six monthly updates.

Reason:

To ensure that the Council continues to meet and, wherever possible, exceed, the 90% compliance target.  

The Committee received and noted an update report on progress on action taken towards implementation of the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation, which came into force on 25 May 2018.

The staff training and awareness programme launched at the end of March had comprised of face-to-face training followed by an online e-learning module. Asat 13 June 2018, 92% of staff had attended the face-to-face sessions and 84% had completed the online training and passed the associated test.

The Council’s website had been updated to reflect the changes introduced by the GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. New privacy statements had been approved, and a page detailing the roles of the Data Protection team had been added, together with a new page outlining the new personal information rights (e.g. right to be informed, right to rectification, right to erasure, etc.)

Following successful testing, request forms had  been uploaded to the website so that customers had the option of making such requests directly via an online portal.

The Council’s Data Protection Policy had also been updated to take GDPR requirements into account. This included details of the roles performed by the Data Protection Officer (DPO) and Information Assurance Manager (IAM), the revised Data Protection principles and new guidance on the rights of data subjects.

As part of the ongoing staff awareness campaign, posters issued by the ICO had been distributed across the services.  The Privacy and Information Security Liaison Group would now reconvene and meet monthly with ongoing GDPR compliance issues forming a major part of the agenda.

It was noted that since the coming into force of the GDPR in May 2018, there had been a significant increase in the number of Subject Access Requests (SARs) received by the Council.  The Council had received more SARs in one month (May to June 2018) than during the whole of 2017. 

The Council had also received three “right to be forgotten/right to erasure” requests during this time. 

The majority of supplier questionnaires to assess GDPR compliance for the Council’s external data processors across all service areas had now been received and reviewed.  The GDPR Team was involved with ongoing documentation reviews and technical due diligence. 

During the debate, the Committee noted a request that future update reports include the monitoring of any appeals, and information on the quantifiable cost to the Council of meeting its obligations under the legislation.

Having considered the update report, the Committee

RESOLVED: That the Committee notes the officer actions and continues to receive updates on a six monthly basis.

Reason:

To ensure the Council continues to comply with GDPR legislation.

The Committee noted that a complex technical accounting issue had arisen, but had not yet been resolved, in relation to the accounting treatment of the lease for Onslow Park and Ride and its subsequent valuation in the Council’s accounts.

Consequently, it had not been possible to finalise the statement of accounts or amend the audit findings report in time for consideration by the Committee at this meeting.

The Committee therefore

RESOLVED: That consideration of the audit findings report and the statement of accounts for 2017-18 be deferred to a special meeting of the Committee to be held on Tuesday 7 August 2018.

Reason:

In order to ensure the 2017-18 statement of accounts are materially correct.

The Committee considered a report setting out a summary of Internal Audit Reports for the period October 2017 to March 2018.

Questions from the Committee raised the following points and information:

·        In relation to those audit reports which were still in progress by the time they are reported to Committee, a target completion date should be included in the report for information. 

·        In relation to the audit report on asbestos, the Chief Internal Auditor confirmed that the Council was actively seeking to resolve the problem and identify the risks and put in place the proper mechanisms to monitor and manage those risks.  Where the removal of asbestos was required, the Council had taken all appropriate steps to temporarily close the building and had sought the services of specialist contractors to deal with its safe removal.

Having considered the various reports, the Committee,

RESOLVED: That the contents of the summary of audit reports and other associated work for the period 1 October 2017 to 31 March 2018 be noted.

Reason:

To ensure an adequate level of audit coverage.

The Committee, having considered its updated work programme for the 2018-19 municipal year

RESOLVED: That the work programme for the 2018-19 municipal year, as set out in Appendix 1 to the report submitted to the Committee, be approved, subject to the addition of the Review of Public Speaking Procedure Rules to the list of matters to be considered at the 20 September 2018 meeting.

Reason:

To allow the Committee to maintain and update its work programme.