• Agenda

Minutes of Meeting of the Highland and Western Isles Valuation Joint Board held in the Council offices, Sandwick Road, Stornoway on Tuesday, 15 August 2006 at 10.45 a.m.

 

 

Mr J H Green in the Chair

 

Preliminaries

 

1.           Apologies for Absence

 

Apologies for absence were intimated on behalf of Mr H Fraser of the Highland Council and Mr G Lonie of the Western Isles Council.

 

2.           Minutes of Previous Meeting Held on 3 May 2006

 

The Minutes of the Meeting of the Board held on 3 May 2006 had been circulated and were APPROVED.

 

3.           Membership of the Board

 

The Board NOTED that, following the death of Mrs M A MacLennan, Highland Council had appointed Mr A Milne, previously a substitute Member, as a substantive Member of the Board.  Replacing Mr Milne as a substitute was Mr D M Henderson.

 

The Chairman paid tribute to Mrs MacLennan who had taken a keen interest in the Valuation Joint Board.  Her friendly manner had made her a well liked and popular Board Member.

 

4.           Draft Annual Report 2005/06 and Statement of Unaudited Accounts 2005/06

 

There had been circulated Report No. VAL9/06, comprising the draft Annual Report for 2005/06 prepared by the Assessor and the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) and incorporating the Performance Report and the Statement of Unaudited Accounts VAL9A/06 for financial year 2005/06.

 

Summing up the report, the Depute Assessor and ERO commented that the department’s performance had been satisfactory despite an increase in the volume of work.  Particular mention was made of the Council Tax list which had remained largely concerned with routine maintenance pending the review of local government finance.

 

In relation to the age profile of technical staff Members were informed that a number of retirements were anticipated in a relatively short period of time.  Action was being taken to limit the impact of this but that the situation was compounded by a difficulty in recruiting suitably trained staff.  The department was therefore recruiting graduate valuers and had provided opportunities for technicians to train as chartered surveyors.

 

Turning to the Statement of Unaudited Accounts, the Treasurer confirmed that the accounts had been submitted to the external auditor.  An underspend of £144,000 was shown, the composition of which was detailed in the report.  She informed the Board that any underspend would be returned to the Constituent Authorities.

 

The Board AGREED that:-

 

(i)  subject to the inclusion of the 2005/06 Accounts, the Report be published;

(ii)  on receipt of an unqualified report from the Auditor on the
     2005/06 Accounts, the Accounts be incorporated into the Annual Report; and

(iii)  should any changes be necessary to the Departmental Report or any qualification to the
      Auditor’s report, it be remitted to the Assessor and Electoral Registration Officer, in
      consultation with the Convener and Vice-Convener, to determine whether to proceed with
      publication of the Annual Report or to delay until after the next meeting of the Board.

 

5.           Audit Scotland Briefing Note

 

There had been circulated Report No. VAL10/06 dated 20 June 2006 by Audit Scotland outlining the Audit Briefing Note for 2005/06.  Ms M Bruce, Audit Scotland, summarised the content of the Briefing Note and pointed out that the main focus of the audit was the review of financial statements and supporting working papers.  Work was already underway in meeting the Controller of Audit’s target date of 30 September.  Reviews would also be undertaken of Internal Audit’s work on Budgetary Control, to enable her to place formal reliance on their work in that area, and progress made in implementing the recommendation included the Report of the 2004/05 Audit. 

 

The Board NOTED the report.

 

6.           Audit Scotland – Financial Statements Strategy 2005/06

 

There had been circulated Report No. VAL11/06 dated 20 June 2006 by Audit Scotland outlining the Financial Statements Strategy for 2005/06.  Ms Bruce explained that the purpose of the report was to inform the Board of the scope of the audit, the approach to be adopted and the materiality of information.  The audit issues for 2005/06 included the developments in international accounting standards, accounting for payroll accruals, disclosures in relation to FRS17 (Retirement benefits) and disclosures in the Statement on the System of Internal Financial Control.  The aim was to meet the audit completion date of 15 September 2006. 

 

During discussion, clarification was sought on what appeared to be a deficit in terms of pensions liability.  However, Members were assured that any deficit would be funded by a requisition from constituent authorities but this would only arise in the unlikely event that the Board ceased to exist.

 

The Board otherwise NOTED the report.

 

7.           Monitoring of Retirements 2005/06

 

The Payroll and Pension Manager, Highland Council had reported that in financial year 2005/06 there were no early retirements either through redundancy, efficiency or ill health of Highland and Western Isles Valuation Joint Board members of the Local Government Pension Scheme.

 

The Board NOTED the position.

 

8.           Revenue Budget Monitoring Statement

 

There had been circulated Report No. VAL12/06 comprising a statement on Revenue Expenditure and Income for the period to 30 June 2006, together with a statement by the Treasurer.  The report showed actual net expenditure of £475,000 as against anticipated expenditure for the period of £564,000 with an expectation that at the end of the financial year the outturn would be on budget.

 

Having been advised that the monitoring statement for the period to 31 July would provide a clearer indication of trends, the Board otherwise NOTED the position.

 

9.           External Audit Report

 

There had been circulated Report No. VAL13/06 dated 31 July 2006 by the Assessor and Electoral Registration Officer informing Members of progress made in implementing the recommendations included within recent External Audit Reports.

 

Ms Bruce welcomed the report as it demonstrated the Board’s ownership of the issues raised in the External Audit Report and the action taken to address matters.  Members were also reminded that it was hoped that, in the near future, they would be briefed on the principles of Risk Management.

 

The Board NOTED the action taken and AGREED the proposals for twice yearly updates of audit action information.

 

10.       Departmental Report

 

There had been circulated Report No. VAL14/06 by the Assessor and Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) advising on the current position of the main activities of the Department.  Since the previous meeting of the Board, the Department had been concerned with monitoring legislative changes in electoral registration and preparation for the annual canvass, disposal of rating appeals and maintenance of the valuation roll and council tax list.  In speaking to the report, the Depute Assessor and ERO made the following comments:-

 

Electoral Registration

 

The Depute Assessor and ERO pointed out that, given the legislative changes which had taken place, Electoral Registration would have to be given priority if the Department was to implement all the measures proposed.  In particular, where the postal canvas had failed, there would be a requirement to carry out door-to-door canvassing to achieve a “full and proper” return.  Indications were that authorities would be provided with 50p per dwelling for this purpose in 2006/07. 

 

In regard to ensuring the postal voting system was more secure, it would be necessary to gather dates of birth and signatures.  However, the detail as to requirements was not yet known and it was unlikely that the renewal or refreshing of standing postal voting forms would take place before the start of 2007.  Given the tight timescale before the May 2007 Elections, there was the potential for a number of people to lose their right to vote by post by their failure to respond in time although they would still be able to vote in person at a polling station.  Scanning equipment would be required to check postal votes declarations returned at an election against postal vote applications but there was no indication whether this would involve all or a specific proportion of postal votes received.

 

It was recognised that liaison with Returning Officers of the Constituent Authorities would be required regarding the implications of these legislative changes and some discussion had already taken place with the Highland Council.  There was consideration of use being made by the Returning Officers of Strand’s electoral management software which would allow for a degree of compatibility with the Department’s own computer system.  There was also the potential for savings to be achieved as the supplier had indicated that if both Constituent Authorities bought the system it may be viewed as one procurement rather than two.

 

Rating

 

Most of the revaluation appeal cases relating to “bulk” subjects had now been disposed off.  In relation to Dounreay, Members were informed UKAEA had submitted a further appeal to the Land Valuation Appeal Court and this was due to be heard in October.  In response to questions raised, it was also confirmed that Ministry of Defence properties were liable to pay rates but, in relation to specific sites, confirmation could be given as to its standing

 

Dingwall Office Premises

 

Delays had been encountered in progressing the potential move to the new office premises due to further tests requested by Building Control regarding potential ground contamination.  Indications were, however, that this would not jeopardise the project but any office move was now unlikely to take place before the start of next year.  Concerns were expressed that there could be a knock-on effect on any potential lease but, as the property would be leased on open market terms, it was pointed out the landlord would have difficulty expecting any potential tenant to underwrite additional expenses incurred and no such undertaking had been given.

 

Computers

 

Initial trials had now been completed on providing “thin client” working of the Department’s main system, CATS.  The aim of “thin client” was to improve speed of operation particularly at outlying offices.  Work was also progressing in embedding the shops, offices and industrial valuation systems introduced for the 2005 valuation into the mains CATS system.

 

The Board NOTED the position.

 

The meeting concluded at 1.35 p.m.