• Agenda

Minutes of Meeting of the Highland and Western Isles Valuation Joint Board held in the Council Offices, Glenurquhart Road, Inverness on Thursday, 23 November 2006 at 10.30 a.m.

 

 

Mr J H Green in the Chair

 

Preliminaries

 

1.              Apologies for Absence

 

Apologies for absence were intimated on behalf of Mr N M Clark and Mrs A L Magee of the Highland Council.

 

2.              Minutes of Previous Meeting held on 15 August 2006

 

The Minutes of the Meeting of the Board held on Minute 15 August 2006  had been circulated and were APPROVED.

 

3.              Annual Internal Audit Report 2005/06

 

There had been circulated Report No. VAL15/06 dated 1 November 2006 by the Head of Internal Audit and Risk Management, The Highland Council, comprising his Annual Report for 2005/06, summarising the operations undertaken by the Internal Audit Section on behalf on the Board.

 

Speaking to his report, the Head of Internal Audit and Risk Management was satisfied that adequate controls were in place.  He also informed the Board that the matters to be reviewed in 2006/07 would be the Centralised Assessor’s Tax System, Risk Management Process and Corporate Governance.  In regards to the Valuation Roll/Council Tax Valuation List it had been pointed out that Consolidated Procedural Notes were required with a twice yearly reconciliation between the Assessors and the Finance Service to ensure consistency.  A pilot reconciliation had been carried out and was ready to be implemented once the Finance Service gave the go ahead.  The need to consolidate the Procedural Notes was recognised but, until such time as the Burt Commission report on local government finance was published indicating whether or not Council Tax would be abolished, there was a reluctance to allocate major resources to such an exercise.  However, meantime, some work had been carried out on a piecemeal basis where there was an identified need. 

 

The Board NOTED the report.

 

4.              Report on the 2005/06 Audit

 

Auditor’s Report

 

There had been circulated and NOTED Report No. VAL16/06 by the Senior Audit Manager, Audit Scotland on the 2005/06 Audit.

 

There had also been circulated and NOTED Report No. VAL17/06 comprising the Statement of Accounts for 2005/06.

 

The Senior Audit Manager reported that the Statement of Accounts presented fairly the Board’s financial position as at 31 March 2006 and in view of this a clean audit certificate had been issued.  The main conclusions and outcomes from the audit were highlighted and, in particular, it was pointed out that there had been a significant improvement in the time taken to produce the audited accounts following the auditor’s report.  An Action Plan had been drawn up highlighting the need for the Board to take the opportunity to review its presentation of its budget and summary financial results together with a target date and responsible officer.  There was an excess of liabilities over assets as a result of the accrual of pension liabilities in accordance with accounting standards but Audit Scotland were satisfied that the Valuation Joint Board was a going concern.  As this was her last meeting of the Board, she thanked officers and Board Members for the assistance and cooperation provided to her during her time as Auditor.  The Convener replied in suitable terms.

 

The Board NOTED the report.

 

Treasurer’s Response

 

There had been circulated and NOTED Report No. VAL18/06 dated 24 October 2006 comprising the Treasurer’s response to the Audit Scotland Report which confirmed that all matters raised had been addressed.

 

The Board NOTED the Treasurer’s response.

 

5.              Revenue Expenditure 2006/07 – Monitoring Statement

 

There had been circulated Report No. VAL19/06 dated 6 November 2006 comprising a statement on Revenue Expenditure and Income for the period to 31 October 2006, together with a statement by the Assessor and Electoral Registration Officer.  The report showed actual net expenditure of £1,337,000 as against anticipated expenditure for the period of £1,374,000 with an expectation that, avoiding any unforeseen events, at the end of the financial year the outturn would be on budget.

 

The Board NOTED the position.

 

6.              Draft Annual Budget 2007/08

 

There had been circulated Report No. VAL20/06 dated 14 November 2006 by the Assessor and Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) containing a set of draft budget proposals for consideration prior to the Board’s budget meeting in January 2007.

 

In speaking to his report, the Assessor and ERO pointed out that there would be considerable changes in electoral activity in the coming year as a consequence of legislation.    There was also a review of Council Tax in progress which could result in either considerable change to the regime or its abolition.  If there was wholesale reform of the system with an early completion date there could be significant activity required with associated budgetary implications. 

 

An initial budget for 2007/08 had been prepared totalling £2,542,155 but an additional £80,000 had been included to meet the requirements arising from the Electoral Administration Bill.  In particular, £10,000 had been allocated, as a one-off cost, to implement personal identifiers for existing postal voters.  Members were informed that this was not now required in advance of the May 2007 elections but was likely to be a cost incurred during the financial year 2007/08.  The remainder of the increased electoral expenditure was in respect of the new statutory canvassing and promotion activity and was recurring expenditure.  In summary, the core budget proposals represented an increase by 2.34% over the previous year.  If the increased costs of the new Dingwall offices were included the increase rose to 4.38% and with the new statutory duties incorporated it increased again to 7.66%. 

 

Disappointment was expressed by Members that tighter controls of Postal Votes would not be in place for the Scottish Parliament and Local Government elections.  Although there had been publicised cases of postal voting fraud in England, the Assessor and ERO indicated that there had been no known instances in Highland.  Postal voting had proved more convenient for the public, as the high number of permanent postal votes showed.  It was thought that the delayed implementation was a reflection on the high level of innovation already planned for the 2007 elections.  However, Members were assured that implementation was merely being delayed and that a full checking regime would be introduced once the election was past although the precise date was not known at this stage.

 

Thereafter, the Board NOTED the draft budget proposals meantime and AGREED that, if required, the Convener meet with the Assessor and ERO and the Treasurer to discuss the detail of the proposed budget, with a revised draft budget being submitted to the Board’s next meeting. 

 

7.              Departmental Report

 

There had been circulated Report No. VAL21/06 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 the conduct of the annual electoral canvass, the maintenance of the valuation roll, the revaluation appeal clearance and the maintenance of the Council Tax list. Speaking to his report, the Assessor and ERO made the following comments:-

 

Electoral Registration

 

Although it had been intended to publish the registers on the new boundaries, major software problems had arisen and this did not now look possible although the attempt had not yet been abandoned.  There was no risk to the statutory position as registers could be published on 1 December 2006 based on the current boundaries.  However, this was less convenient for users as it would involve re-publication at a later date on the new boundaries.

 

Council Tax

 

As discussed earlier in the meeting Burt Commission report on local government finance was recently published and was understood to be under consideration by the Scottish Executive.  The Valuation Appeals Committee was also scheduled to meet at the end of November to resolve accumulated appeals.

 

Dingwall Office Premises

 

Terms and conditions were being finalised and it was hoped that an office move could be achieved before the end of the financial year.  Careful consideration would have to be given as to the exact timing however to ensure that computer system were embedded in time for the May 2007 elections.

 

Thereafter, the Board NOTED the general position and, in relation to the relocation of the Dingwall office, AGREED to delegate to the Assessor and Electoral Registration Officer, in consultation with the Convener and Vice Convener, the authority to conclude negotiations.

 

The meeting concluded at 11.20 a.m.