Agenda item - Member Involvement

To consider the following matters raised by councillors:

(a)           Petitions: to receive any petitions submitted to the full Council or at the meeting itself;

(b)          Written Questions: to consider any written questions;

(c)           Letters: to consider any letters;

(i)             BAi360 Audit- Councillor Bagaeen

(d)      Notices of Motion: to consider any Notices of Motion referred from Council or submitted directly to the Committee.

(C)     LETTERS

(i)             BAi360 Audit

6.1          The Committee considered a Letter from Councillor Bagaeen that requested an audit, full review and assessment of all professional reports and council documents relating to the business case and business case model for the i360 attraction preceding the granting of planning permission and subsequent construction and operation of the i360 be carried out.

6.2          The Chair provided the following response:

Thank you Councillor Bagaeen. While I absolutely understand the motive for your bringing this matter to us here, in the context of the i360’s failure to make its loan repayments, I’m afraid that it is my opinion, and the opinion of officers, that this is not the appropriate arena for such an investigation. You’ve asked for over 15 years-worth of reports and other documents to be found, studied, and reported back upon. I’m afraid that this is absolutely not a job for the Council’s internal audit service. I’d like to pass over to our Chief Internal Auditor at this point, to give a broader explanation.

6.3          The Chief Internal Auditor highlighted serviced pressures placed on Internal Audit and that under professional standards, the audit function should prioritise work based on risk levels and this issue could not be prioritised above the audit plan activity.

6.4          The Chair added:

“So, as you can see, although this letter may be entirely valid, it doesn’t really belong here. If I may make a suggestion, I propose you represent the letter, or a similar one, to Policy & Resources Committee, since, should they be willing, they may be able to commit to the considerable expenditure which would be involved in hiring external consultants to undertake the task you’ve outlined here”.

6.5          RESOLVED- That the Committee note the Letter.