Meeting Name	Policy Review Committee
Date	30 August 2023	Time 5:31pm
Venue	Level 12 Boardroom + MS Teams
Attendees	John Angilley (Chair) Clr Darley Clr Prociv Clr Valjak Clr Wearne Clr Bradley (ex-officio) Clr Humphries (ex-officio) Gwen Hughes Melissa McIsaac Walter Tattersall Bruce Ferguson Roxanne Thornton Angela Jones-Blayney John Crawford
Apologies / Leave of Absence	Lord Mayor, Clr Pandey Clr Garrard Gail Connolly
Secretariat	Melissa McIsaac
HPRM Reference	F2022/01409

No.	Item
1	Acknowledgement of Country The City of Parramatta Council acknowledges the Burramattagal Clan of The Dharug, the traditional owners of land of Parramatta and pays its respects to the elders past, present and emerging.
2	Apologies The Committee noted apologies from the Lord Mayor, Councillor Pandey, Councillor Garrard, and the Chief Executive Officer, Gail Connolly. Councillor Darley was requested to join the meeting as an alternate member.
3	Disclosure of Interests There were no disclosures of interest for this Advisory Committee meeting.
4	Confirmation of Minutes The Minutes of the previous Policy Review Committee meeting, held on 26 July 2023, were moved by Prociv and CARRIED.
5	Draft Council Policies for Consultation
5.1	350 – Dividing Fence Pensioner Rebate Policy
Description	The Committee reviewed the draft Dividing Fence Pensioner Rebate Policy and provided feedback on the proposed updates. Walter Tattersall, Asset Planning Manager, attended the meeting to address any Committee questions. Councillor Valjak joined the meeting at 5:38pm during discussion of Item 5.1.
Outcome	· The Committee requested to reinstate information to procedural clauses 5.1 and 5.1.1 regarding the option to receive assistance from Council via phone or in-person to complete a rebate application. · The Committee supported the draft Dividing Fence Pensioner Rebate Policy to be put to the next available Council Meeting to endorse public exhibition.
5.2	326 – Enterprise Risk Management Policy
Description	The Committee reviewed the draft Enterprise Risk Management Policy and provided feedback on the proposed updates. Bruce Ferguson, Risk & Audit Manager, attended the meeting to address any Committee questions.
Outcome	· The Committee recommended that the following further considerations be undertaken: (a) Clause 3.9 – table headings: For consistency, update “acceptable” to be “within appetite”, and add corresponding A, B, C to relevant column heading. (b) Clause 3.9 – Operational: Add an appropriate reference to asset management to example indicators. (c) Clause 3.9: Review indicators to ensure that risk management considerations for ICT/cyber security are sufficiently addressed. (d) Clause 5.8.1: Requested to specify reporting frequency to the Executive Team (e.g. quarterly), as deemed appropriate by Staff. · The Committee supported the draft Enterprise Risk Management Policy to be put to the next available Council Meeting to endorse public exhibition. · Council officers agreed to circulate a reference copy of the updated Risk Management Procedure to the Committee. The Committee noted that this is an internal Procedure, and is not subject to Council endorsement. · Council officers took a question on notice to research a new policy at Cumberland Council regarding managing climate risks and heat exposure. Bruce Ferguson, Walter Tattersall, and Angela Jones-Blayney retired from the meeting at 6:17pm at the conclusion of Item 5.2.
5.3	New – Ward Initiatives Policy (pre-final draft consultation)
Description	The Committee received a presentation from John Angilley regarding the development of a Ward Initiatives Policy for Council. The Committee were invited to provide feedback on the policy direction, to help inform a final draft of this proposed Council Policy.
Outcome	· The Committee provided the following feedback regarding the policy direction: o The Committee were generally not in favour of including in the program the example Scheme 1 Community Grants stream, and preferred the example Scheme 2 Projects to be Delivered by Council. o The Committee recommended for the policy provisions to ensure that delivered projects will be of benefit to the wider community. The Committee requested to further consider the feasibility of projects on private land that still provide this wider community benefit are publicly accessible. o The Committee recommended for the policy to set out a flexible approach for managing the funds allocated to each Ward, with options to select majority decision making or equal funds per Councillor. o The Committee recommended to ensure that the policy will support efficient project delivery by Council staff. o The Committee recommended to further investigate including provisions for reducing the amount of funds rolled over each financial year, such as by changing the approach for accounting or tracking unspent funds where projects have already been agreed on by Ward Councillors. o The Committee recommended to reconsider the process for proposing new Ward Initiatives Program projects, to help ensure that projects will be feasible to complete within staff resources. o In addition to developing a policy, the Committee recommended to review the processes for Ward Briefings and delivery of Ward Initiatives projects, to identify potential business improvements for expediting project completion. · The Committee requested for the completed draft to be brought back to an upcoming meeting for comment, and be subsequently consulted with all Councillors at a Workshop.
6	Questions Taken on Notice
Description	The meeting time concluded before discussion of Item 6. Staff responses to the questions taken on notice at the 26 July meeting will be provided via email.
7	Next Meeting Date - 27 September 2023

Meeting Closed:  7:29pm