Decisions Made

RESOLVED

That the Cabinet:

a)      approves, with effect from 1 April 2022, that Southern Internal Audit Partnership provides the internal audit service for Crawley Borough Council.

b)      authorises the Section 151 Officer to enter into the Joint Working Agreement by way of a deed of accession with Southern Internal Audit Partnership and finalise the arrangements.

c)       approves that the Section 151 Officer or their representative to represent the Council’s interests by becoming a voting member of the Southern Internal Audit Partnership Key Stakeholder Board.

Reasons for the Recommendations

To ensure that a statutory internal audit function is provided for the Council. By joining an existing shared service there will be access to qualified internal audit staff and specialisms not available to a team of two.

RESOLVED

That the Cabinet approves

a)      the publication of the Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Transparency Statement as attached at Appendix A to report FIN/539.

b)      that the Leader of the Council be delegated the approval of minor amendments and subsequent annual statements for publication, in consultation with the Head of Legal, Governance and HR, Head of Community Services and Head of Corporate Finance.

Reasons for the Recommendations

a)         The adoption and publication of a Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Transparency Statement is considered best practice and is likely to become a statutory requirement within the next 12 months.

b)        The approval of the statement shows the commitment of Crawley Borough Council to tackling modern day slavery in the community and in its supply chains. It also supports the principles set out in the Social Value Charter which is used within our procurement processes.

RESOLVED

That the Cabinet:

a)      approves the procurement forward programme January – June 2021 as detailed in report FIN/541

b)      delegates authority to the Leader of the Council in consultation with the relevant Cabinet Member, Head of Service, and Head of Legal, Governance and HR to approve the award of the contract following an appropriate procurement process.

c)       delegates the negotiation, approval and completion of all relevant legal documentation, following the awarding of the contracts, to the relevant head of service, Head of Legal, Governance and HR, and Head of Corporate Finance, in consultation with the appropriate Cabinet member.

(Generic Delegations 2 & 3 will be used to enact this recommendation)

d)      approves Worthing Borough and Adur District Councils to provide the insurance service for Crawley Borough Council.

e)      authorises the Section 151 Officer to enter into the Joint Working Agreement by way of a service level agreement with Worthing Borough and Adur District Councils and finalise the arrangements.

Reasons for the Recommendations

a)         By approving the procurement forward programme there is greater transparency of future procurement processes allowing more scope for internal stakeholders to input into how future contracts are delivered.

b)         The approval of the forward programme provides a key decision that will enable the individual procurement processes to be awarded under delegated authority once the tender process has concluded, giving the Council the ability to reduce the time required to complete a procurement process.

On 31 December 2021 the Council received notification from the Government that there would be a top-up of the Additional Restrictions Discretionary Business Grant (ARG). In allocating the third ARG top-up payment Local Authorities are encouraged to prioritise businesses severely impacted by the rise of the Omicron variant, including businesses in the hospitality and leisure sectors not eligible for the Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grant.

This decision is being dealt with under the Special Urgency Procedures and will also be protected from Call-in.

The Council has been allocated £5,303,160 to reduce business rates bills to businesses that have been affected by the pandemic but have not been eligible for business grants or reliefs. Delegated approval was given to the Leader of the Council and the Chief Executive as part of the budget strategy report FIN/537 to Cabinet on 24 November 2021. Final guidance was given on 15th December 2021. A joint scheme has been written with Arun, Chichester and Mid Sussex Councils. This decision is being dealt with under the Special Urgency Procedures and will also be protected from Call-in