WESTERN EDUCATION AND LIBRARY BOARD
A meeting of the Finance Committee was held in the Headquarters Office, Omagh at
12.30pm on Wednesday, 25 April 2007.
PRESENT:
Mr E McCaffrey (Chairman)
Mr R Irvine (Vice Chairman)
Mrs S Hogg
Mr A Orr
Mr A Smyth
IN ATTENDANCE:
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Mr O Harkin (Chief Finance Officer)
Mr P Hughes (Assistant Finance Officer)
Mrs M McGuigan (Financial Accountant)
Mr J Ringland (C2K Contracts Manager)
Mr P Garrity (C2K Finance Manager)
Miss A Quinn (Finance)
APOLOGIES
Apologies for non-attendance were received from Mrs Brunt, Miss Doherty,
Mr Duffy, Rev Herron, Mr McElholm, Mr McKelvey, Councillor Miller and
Mr Reilly.
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MINUTES OF MEETING HELD ON 28 MARCH 2007
The minutes were adopted on the proposal of Councillor Irvine, seconded by
Mr Smyth.
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MATTERS ARISING
F/07/02/5(i) Holy Trinity Primary School & Nursery School
The Chief Finance Officer informed members that the meeting between the
Finance sub-committee and Holy Trinity Primary School & Nursery School had
been rescheduled to 1 May 2007 at the school’s request and will be held in
Board Headquarters.
F/07/02/10 Resourcelink HR/Payroll System Progress Report
In response to Mr Smyth’s comment that he expected more detail to be
recorded in the minute for this item the Chief Finance Officer indicated that a
progress report on the Resourcelink HR/Payroll Project will be brought to the
May Finance Committee and more detail will be recorded in the minutes for that
meeting.
F/07/03/5 Consultation on Guiding Principles for the location of Public Sector
jobs in Northern Ireland
Councillor Irvine indicated that he attended the meeting in Templepatrick at
which representatives from the west registered their dismay that the meeting in
Limavady had been cancelled and that no venue had been selected in the
west.
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In response to Mrs Hogg the Chief Finance Officer indicated that he was not
aware of any response relating to a request to have a similar meeting in either
Omagh or Enniskillen.
F/07/03/7 Revenue Report to the end of February 2007
The Chief Finance Officer indicated that a letter to Gavin Boyd had been
drafted and was due to be sent in the next few days. He continued by informing
members that at the Chief Executives’ meeting the previous week Gavin Boyd
indicated that he was intending to recruit for Project Manager posts. He
continued by indicating that the Assistant Finance Officer (Mr McIvor) was
representing the Board at an ESA Implementation Team meeting about
financial systems at Forestview and so was unable to be at the committee
meeting.
Councillor Irvine expressed the need for the correct governance to be in place
for the ESA Implementation Team.
In response to Mr Orr the Chief Finance Officer provided clarification on the
ESA Implementation Team
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CHAIRMAN’S BUSINESS
The Chairman welcomed the Financial Accountant to the meeting who was
standing in for the Assistant Finance Officer (Mr McIvor).
The Chairman suggested that the date of the next Finance Committee be
changed from 23 May 2007 to 30 May 2007 to facilitate the closing and
approval of the 2006/2007 Annual Accounts. This was proposed by
Councillor Irvine and seconded by Mr Orr.
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CORRESPONDENCE
There was no correspondence.
The Chairman indicated that Item 9 C2K Reports would be taken next and
welcomed the C2K Contracts Manager and C2K Finance Manager to the
meeting.
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C2K REPORTS
(i)
C2K Report for year ended 31 March 2007
The C2K Contracts Manager presented the report, highlighting the main
areas and explained that the budget was in a reasonably healthy position.
The report was adopted on the proposal of Mrs Hogg, seconded by
Mr Orr.
(ii)
C2K Recurrent Budget 2007/2008
The C2K Contracts Manager presented the report and explained that the
budget scheme was presented and approved by the C2K Project Board
the previous Friday. He continued by indicating that C2K would have liked
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to increase the ratio of computers to pupils from 1:10 to 1:8 but this was
not approved by DE.
In response to Mr Smyth the C2K Contracts Manager indicated that the
price for computers under the lot 6 contract were cheaper than in previous
contracts.
Responding to Mr Orr the C2K Contract Manager indicated the fact that
computers which were originally to be used for class work were now to be
used for assessments was taken into consideration in the lot 6 contract.
The report was adopted on the proposal of Councillor Irvine, seconded by
Mr Orr.
The Chairman thanked the C2K Contracts Manager and C2K Finance
Manager for attending the meeting.
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UPDATE ON 2006/2007 FINANCE BUSINESS PLAN TO END OF
MARCH 2007
The Chief Finance Officer introduced the Business Plan by highlighting the
following areas:
Excellence and Raising Standards
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Contributed to the Board’s response to the Bain Review;
DE Initial, Interim and Final RAPs were completed on schedule. Section 2
is currently being collated; and
Support of RPA has been ongoing.
People Development
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Restructuring of Cashiers/Accounts has been fully implemented;
Job evaluation for Payroll staff is expected to be completed in June 2007;
Restructuring of Computer Development is to be progressed by June 2007;
Developed a five Board approach to procurement;
Provided financial training sessions to school governors; and
IiP suspended in light of RPA.
Quality Services
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Business Plan for 2007/08 was presented to March 2007 committee;
SOPHOS anti-virus software has been installed;
UNITAS software has been installed in 18 kitchens with more installations
planned for 2007/08;
Video conferencing has been promoted; and
Board’s Intranet facility is due to be operational next month.
Effective Partnerships
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Contributed to RPA work streams; and
Monthly Payroll is going live this month. Will then look at plans to
implement the lunar payrolls.
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In response to Mr Smyth the Chief Finance Officer indicated that he would refer
his query in relation to Drumachose PS to the CASS section.
Responding to Mrs Hogg’s query relating to working with the integrated sector
the Chief Finance Officer indicated that the Board does have discussions with
NICIE.
The Assistant Finance Officer continued by highlighting:
Resourcing and Internal Control
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Kept within budget and met financial targets set by 3 government
departments;
Prepared annual accounts for 2005/06 by the required deadline;
Achieved unqualified opinion for 2005/06 annual accounts;
Kept budget holders fully informed of allocations and provided advice
where necessary;
LMS notified schools of their budgets;
C2K expenditure was recorded properly in the annual accounts;
Met targets for cash draw down from the 3 government departments;
Payments and remittances advices were processed and despatched on a
timely basis;
67% of invoices were paid within 30 days;
Provided monthly reports to capital budget holders;
Maintained records of allocations from departments;
Developed Anti-Fraud, Hospitality and Gifts, and Whistleblowing policies;
Completed risk registers;
Completed departmental risk register and statement of internal control; and
Management letter was actioned as appropriate.
In response to Councillor Irvine the Chief Finance Officer highlighted the risks
associated with the implementation of RPA.
Responding to Mr Smyth the Chief Finance Officer indicated that he would
send out another reminder to schools stressing the importance of keeping a
proper record of accounts within schools.
The Business Plan was adopted on the proposal of Mr Orr, seconded by
Mrs Hogg.
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REVENUE REPORT TO END OF MARCH 2007
The Assistant Finance Officer introduced the report explaining that at the end of
March 2007 the Board had overall funding across the three departments of
£302.265m which included a net decrease in funding of £336k due to some
allocations being returned to the departments during March. Expenditure
amounted to £288.862m against a budget profile of £302.265m, leaving an
overall estimated surplus of £13.402m. He indicated that this position was likely
to change when the annual accounts have been produced. He continued by
explaining the positions of the main budgets.
Referring to the projected year end position the Assistant Finance Officer
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indicated that the Schools’ Delegated budget could end the year at £11.21m,
Centre Contingency at £6.35m, Schools Deficit Fund at £0.8m, Earmarked
Services at £4m and DEL at £0.52m to give total reserves of £22.89m. He
continued by saying that the Board had met its financial targets but indicated
that part of the Centre Contingency of £6.35m had been committed in 2007/08
by reinstating planned maintenance and schools library book stock and a
further £2m was being held for potential job evaluation costs.
In response to Mrs Hogg the Assistant Finance Officer indicated that Nutritional
Standards funding contributed to the Catering budget being in a healthy
position and a reduced uptake in bus passes and savings in private hire had
helped the Home to School Transport budget to remain within budget.
Councillor Irvine commended the Finance Department on the good work they
had done to ensure that the Board stayed within budget while at the same time
ensuring that an adequate level of services was provided.
The Chief Finance Officer thanked Councillor Irvine and indicated that the
Finance Department’s role was greatly helped by the budget holders in the
Board taking their budgetary responsibilities very seriously.
Mrs Hogg indicated that the support which the LMS Section provides to schools
was very valuable and she hoped this support would not be taken away from
schools in the future.
The report was adopted on the proposal of Mr Smyth, seconded by Mrs Hogg.
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CAPITAL REPORT TO END OF MARCH 2007
The Financial Accountant introduced the report indicating that at year end the
total DE capital allocation was £19.483m and total expenditure was £18.276m
leaving a balance of £1.2m. She indicated that this balance was expected to be
reduced due to an increase in accruals expenditure when certificates for
construction works and retention monies are taken into consideration as part of
the final accounts process. She explained what works had been associated
with the accrued expenditure of £1.731m.
Referring to the DCAL report the Financial Accountant indicated that total
capital allocation was £183k and accrued expenditure was £178k leaving a
surplus of £5k. Accrued expenditure included monies relating to the purchase
of two library vans.
In response to Mr Smyth the Chief Finance Officer indicated that the possibility
of transferring maintenance costs from revenue to capital has been discussed
but would necessitate a change in accounting policy which was unlikely to
happen until after the establishment of the ESA.
The report was adopted on the proposal of Councillor Irvine, seconded by
Mr Smyth.
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ANY OTHER BUSINESS
There was no other business.
The meeting ended at 1.53pm.
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