To receive apologies for absence (to include reasons, where appropriate) from Members / Officers.

Apologies for absence were received from the following Members for the reasons so given:-

Councillor D Hardacre – Holiday

Councillor B Jones - Unwell

To receive declarations of personal and prejudicial interest (if any) from Members/Officers in accordance with the provisions of the Members’ Code of Conduct adopted by Council from1st September 2008.

Though there were no declarations of interest made, certain Members of the Joint Committee once more made it known that they were members of various organisations which they had been appointed to by their local authority, for example, on the governing bodies of schools, and various schools did do they trading with the Joint Supplies Service  

To receive for approval the minutes of the Catalogue Supplies Joint Committee of 11 May 2015. 

RESOLVED:                  That the Minutes of a meeting of the Catalogue Supplies Joint Committee dated 11 May 2015, be approved as a true and accurate record.

The Head of Regulatory Services submitted a report which was intended to appraise Members of the ongoing service trading and operational performance for the 2015 Year to Date. Members have already approved the revenue budget for 2015/16 at the meeting in January.

He confirmed that Service turnover (2014-15) (page 5 of the report) had continued to exceed target and as stated in paragraph 4.1.1.2 of the report, final turnover for the year had seen a favourable increase against targets, and in the case of stock turnover, against the previous financial year, due to a combination of increase in stores trading (mainly thorough expansion in Cardiff and Vale Schools), whilst catalogue directs (projects) with expansion into the third sector, via housing associations and flying start, a Welsh Government grant funding scheme.

The Head of Legal and Regulatory Services referred members to Table 1 on page 6 of the report which showed a comparison of actual v target and when compared with the previous year, this reflect a positive picture.

Table 2 on this page entitled Turnover, was broken down into the customer areas. The increase in trade derived from Cardiff and the Vale was shown in the turnover breakdown by customer.

As was reported at the last meeting, Members would note that turnover for the 4 joint authorities had fallen by between 10 and 24%, though this had been offset by a 123% increase with Cardiff, 60% with the Vale and a similar level with housing associations and the Police. Although relatively nominal in value, the service had also seen an 8% increase from Swansea, despite similar budgetary pressures.

The Head of Legal and Regulatory Services confirmed that Table 3 on page 7 of the report, showed the turnover to 31 May 2015 Actual and Target between catalogue stores and catalogue direct supplies, both of which were pleasingly ahead of target.

Table 4 on page 7 of the report reflected the Order Book up to this point in the year, though there were still 44 weeks left to to make up the difference, and see an improvement on this.

He explained that expenditure during the first two months was generally as projected, but there had been a reduction in the use of agency staff and therefore staffing costs. Projected spend was shown in Table 7 on page 8. This gave a projected surplus for the 2015/16 financial year of £39,000.

In summary therefore advised the Head of Legal and Regulatory Services, the last financial year was the highest ever annual surplus recorded, showing a 70% on the previous year.

Cash balance as of 31^st March was £618K, though further details in respect of this would be included in a later agenda item on the Statement of Accounts, where the Finance Manager – Technical and Corporate would expand further on this year’s figures.

From the figures at present the turnover from non-joint authorities is up in all areas compared to the previous financial year, and this was offsetting the potential  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

The Treasurer submitted a report, the purpose of which, was to present the unaudited Statement of Accounts for the financial year 31^st March 2015.

The Finance Manager – Technical and Corporate advised that the Accounts & Audit Regulations required that the Joint Committee sign and date the accounts by the 30^th June 2015, certifying that they present a true and fair view of the status of the Accounts. The Joint Committee were then required to re-approve the accounts as soon as reasonably practical after the receipt of the auditor’s final findings.

The unaudited accounts were attached at Appendix 1 to the report, and have been produced in line with the Code of Practice on Local Authority Accounting in the UK for 2014, which was in line with International Financial Reporting Standards.

She confirmed that the Accounts would be placed on public deposit and be subject to audit. Once audited, then they would be presented to the next Joint Committee meeting on 24^Th September for formal approval.

The Accounts showed that the:

·         Catalogue Supplies Service made a net surplus of £300,000 as shown on page 45 of the Statement of Accounts. This surplus has been added to the accumulated usable reserves increasing the reserve balance at 31 March 2015 to £1,304,000 as shown on page 46 of the Statement of Accounts.

·         The short term debtors and creditors balances shown in the Balance Sheet on page 46 include related party transactions in respect of the relevant member bodies that form the Joint Committee. A breakdown of the related party balances is shown in the table on page 57 of the Statement of Accounts. This information has been provided separately to the Finance sections of each of the member councils.

·         The cash position as shown on page 47 of the Statement of Accounts has increased from £425,000 at 31 March.2014 to £618,000 as at the 31 March 2015. As with all financial statements, the cash flow position is a snapshot in time, with the position changing daily. However it is encouraging to note that Catalogue Supplies Service now sees itself in a healthy cash position compared to the years prior to April 2013 when it was in a net cash overdrawn position. In the future, this cash reserve will be partly used to support the relocation plans of the service; however the impact on useable reserves and estimated surplus remaining will be closely monitored to ensure that any costs associated with the relocation are affordable and won’t have a negative impact on cash balances.

The Finance Manager – Technical and Corporate, added that for reporting consistency, the actual performance for the year was also provided in the format normally reported to the Joint Committee in the table shown on page 18 of the report at paragraph 4.5. This showed a surplus of £295,000, as it excluded any accrual in respect of holiday entitlements earned by employees but not taken at the year end, and supporting explanations of the more significant variances  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

The minutes and report relating to the following items are not for publication as they

contain exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 14 and 16 of Part 4 and Paragraph 21 of Part 5 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information)(Variation) (Wales) Order 2007.

If following the application of the public interest test the Joint Committee resolves pursuant Private Document Pack to the Act to consider these items in private, the public will be excluded from the meeting during such consideration. 

RESOLVED:                         That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation)(Wales) Order 2007,  the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following items as the minutes and report contained exempt information as defined by Paragraph 14 and 16 of Part 4 and Paragraph 21 of Part 5 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

                                              Following the application of the public interest test it was resolved that pursuant to the Act referred to above, to consider these items in private with the public excluded from the meeting, as it was considered that in the circumstances the public interest in maintaining this exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information because of the prejudice disclosure would cause by virtue of Paragraphs 14 and of Part 4 and Paragraph 21 of Part 5 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

To receive for approval the exempt minutes of the catalogue Supplies Joint Committee of 11 May 2015.