Agenda item - Chair's Communications

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Agenda item

Chair's Communications

Minutes:

45.1      The Chair provided the following Communications:

 

As Members may recall, we had a member question presented at the last meeting of the Committee in January raising issues about reports in the media regarding Councillors’ expenses. I did receive confirmation from Officers that the matter was dealt with and processed in accordance with Council procedures.

Subsequent to the meeting I received further communication from a Member of the Public with detailed assertions purporting to suggest that there were some discrepancies between the expenses claimed and what happened in practice.

Although I was not in a position to form a view on the allegation, I felt it was important that the issues were looked at properly and objectively and this was communicated to Officers. As a result, the Internal Audit Service in Audit was asked to undertake the investigation. Its terms of reference include undertaking the investigation to seek confirmation whether:

·         Claims were made in line with BHCC Policy

·         Claims were supported by appropriate evidence, where necessary

·         Claims were made for an appropriate duration in respect of approved duties.

The work has already started, and we hope that it will be concluded in the next couple of weeks. Depending on the conclusions, we may be able to share them with Members at the next meeting of the Committee or earlier. But we obviously need to make sure that any communication needs to respect the law on protection of personal data and also does not compromise any steps the Council may take.

I confirm that the Council received some late public engagement items and a Member letter, but given that the investigation is already underway, it would not have served any purpose and may actually compromised the process.

As I said, we will share the findings of the investigation with Members as soon as reasonably practicable and subject to the safeguards I mentioned.

 


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