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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