Agenda item - General Purposes Committee Annual Report

Agenda item

General Purposes Committee Annual Report

To receive the Annual Report of the General Purposes Committee 20/21.

 

Minutes:

Councillor Bedekova moved, and Councillor Leaver seconded the General Purposes Annual Report.

 

NOTED:

1.    During her opening Statement Councillor Bedekova spoke of the wide range of topics considered by the Committee throughout the year. It was noted that the Statement of Accounts 19/20 publishing date had been postponed to September due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Officers were thanked for their support and contributions to the work of the Committee.

 

2.    The comments of the majority groups included:

·         The report is a record of all the work conducted by the General Purposes Committee.

·         The external auditors (BDO) did not complete their work on time and have not fulfilled their duty so that is the reason the accounts were delayed. Enfield Council supplied additional resources to ensure the work was complete.

·         The timeline set up by the Government for the financial accounts was unachievable from the beginning.

·         Officers were thanked for managing the Council’s finances during a difficult year.

·         Everyone raised concerns on the various topics covered and the report reflects that.

·         The Annual report was agreed by the General Purposes Committee with a majority vote.

 

3.    The comments of the majority opposition included:

·         That the report does not reflect correctly the views or the frustrations of the opposition members on the Committee.

·         Concerns were raised about the lack of audit trail and the oversight of the procurement for Meridian Water.

·         Opposition members of the General Purposes Committee felt a lack of confidence in the administration and the Council’s finance department.

·         It was felt the administration were not good at managing the affairs of the borough properly.

·         The report lays clear of issues of the Council with departments receiving “no assurance”.

·         It was accepted that the Council had provided additional resources and the auditor had not done their job. The issue was that this would be the fourth day that the finances had not been published on time.

·         The report should highlight better the failings of the Council in order to improve it.

·         The lateness of the statement of accounts and BDO should be punished.

 

4.    The comments of the minority opposition included:

·         The annual report does not accurately reflect the issues put before the General Purposes Committee.

·         Representations were made to the external auditors outside of the Committee and no response was received.

·         Councillor Lemonides requested his name be removed from the report.

·         Felt the report shows a lack of integrity.

·         Would like to have the opportunity to meet with auditors privately.

 

 

Following the discussion eleven members of the Conservative Group stood indicating the requirement for a roll call vote on the recommendations.

 

The General Purposes Committee Annual Report was AGREED.

 

FOR: 26

Councillor Mahmut Aksanoglu

Councillor Chinelo Anyanwu

Councillor Kate Anolue

Councillor Tolga Aramaz

Councillor Guner Aydin

Councillor Ian Barnes

Councillor Mahym Bedekova

Councillor Sinan Boztas

Councillor Yasemin Brett

Councillor Nesil Caliskan

Councillor Alev Cazimoglu

Councillor Mustafa Cetinkaya

Councillor Birsen Demirel

Councillor Guney Dogan

Councillor Susan Erbil

Councillor Erbil Ergin

Councillor Achilleas Georgiou

Councillor Ayten Guzel

Councillor Christine Hamilton

Councillor Rick Jewell

Councillor Tim Leaver

Councillor Mary Maguire

Councillor Sabri Ozaydin

Councillor George Savva

Councillor Claire Stewart

Councillor Mahtab Uddin

Councillor Hass Yusuf

 

AGAINST:20

Councillor Maria Alexandrou

Councillor Daniel Anderson

Councillor Anne Brown

Councillor Chris Dey

Councillor Peter Fallart

Councillor Alessandro Georgiou

Councillor Charith Gunawardena

Councillor Elaine Hayward

Councillor Joanne Laban

Councillor Dino Lemonides

Councillor Derek Levy

Councillor Andy Milne

Councillor Terry Neville

Councillor Ayfer Orhan

Councillor Lindsay Rawlings

Councillor Michael Rye

Councillor Edward Smith

Councillor Jim Stevens

Councillor Andrew Thorp

Councillor Glynis Vince

 

ABSTAIN: 0

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