Councillor Dempsey (East Dunbartonshire Council); McCaskill (East Renfrewshire Council); Scanlon (Glasgow City Council); Wilson (Inverclyde Council); and Dunsmuir (South Lanarkshire Council).

Councillor Scanlon, Convener, presided.

There was submitted the Minute of the meeting of the Joint Committee held on 18 April 2016.

There was submitted a joint report by the Treasurer and Strategic Development Plan Manager relative to the Annual Accounts for 2015/16.

The report noted that the Accounts in respect of the year ended 31 March 2016 had been completed and forwarded to Audit Scotland for audit. The Accounts highlighted a deficit for the year of £99,926 against a budgeted deficit of £120,000. Further comments in relation to the Accounts were detailed in pages 3 to 5 of the Annual Financial Statements 2015/16 document, a copy of which was appended to the report.

In accordance with the Local Authority Accounts (Scotland) Regulations, the Unaudited Accounts had only been signed by the Treasurer as proper officer. In accordance with the guidelines, the Audited Accounts would be signed by the Convener, the Strategic Development Plan Manager and the Treasurer.

DECIDED:

(a) That the Accounts be noted; and

(b) That it be noted that upon completion of the audit, the Audited Accounts would be presented to a future meeting of the Joint Committee.

There was submitted a joint report by the Treasurer and Strategic Development Plan Manager relative to the Annual Audit Plan 2015/16 for the Joint Committee and which outlined Audit Scotland’s planned activities in their audit of the 2015/16 financial year.

The report highlighted that the Annual Audit Plan 2015/16 included a section on Audit Issues and Risks. Within this section, Audit Scotland had identified a risk of ‘management override of controls’. This risk was included in the audit plans of all bodies which Audit Scotland worked with, in light of international standards on auditing. The inclusion of this risk was not a reflection of increased risk within the Glasgow and the Clyde Valley Strategic Development Planning Authority and Audit Scotland had confirmed that they had not found any issues on this in previous years. 

There was submitted a report by the Chief Auditor relative to the internal audit annual report 2015/16. 

The report intimated that the internal audit annual report 2015/16 for the Glasgow and the Clyde Strategic Development Planning Authority outlined the role of Internal Audit, the performance of the Internal Audit Team, the main findings from the internal audit work undertaken in 2015/16 and contained an audit assurance statement. A copy of the annual report was appended to the report. 

In relation to the section of the annual report that dealt with procurement & creditors (corporate purchase cards), Councillor Wilson proposed that a list of expenses incurred through corporate procurement card payment be submitted to the Joint Committee on a quarterly basis.  This was agreed.

DECIDED:

(a) That a list of expenses incurred through corporate procurement card payment be submitted to the Joint Committee on a quarterly basis; and

(b) That the content of the Annual Report be noted.

The Strategic Development Plan Manager referred to the appointment by Scottish Ministers in September 2015, of an independent panel to review the Scottish planning system. The panel had been tasked with bringing together ideas to achieve a quicker, more accessible and efficient planning process.

The review focused on 6 key themes - development planning; housing delivery; planning for infrastructure; development management; leadership, resourcing and skills; and community engagement.  The report of the panel, ‘Empowering Planning to Deliver Great Places’, contained a total of 48 recommendations and the Scottish Government was now considering the recommendations put forward by the panel and would publish its response in due course.

DECIDED:         That the position be noted.