Items
No. |
Item |
1. |
Apologies for Absence
Minutes:
1.1
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Apologies for absence were
received from Councillors Tony Damms and Sioned-Mair
Richards.
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2. |
Exclusion of Public and Press
To identify
items where resolutions may be moved to exclude the press and
public.
Minutes:
2.1
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No items were identified where resolutions may
be moved to exclude the press and public from the meeting.
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3. |
Declarations of Interest PDF 65 KB
Members to declare any
interests they have in the business to be considered at the
meeting.
Minutes:
3.1
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There were no declarations of interest.
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4. |
Minutes of Previous Meeting PDF 86 KB
To approve the minutes of the
meeting of the Committee held on 21 July 2015.
Minutes:
4.1
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The minutes of the meeting of the Committee
held on 21 July 2015 were approved as a correct record.
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5. |
Information Commissioner's Office Consensual Audit PDF 75 KB
Report of the Interim Executive Director,
Resources.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
5.1
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John Curtis (Head of Information and Knowledge
Management) introduced a report of the Interim Executive Director,
Resources that outlined the recommendations following a consensual
audit of the Council’s processing of personal data undertaken
by the Information Commissioner’s Office in March 2015. The
audit focused on Freedom of Information, Subject Access Requests
and Information Sharing mainly within Communities and Children
& Young People Services. An Executive Summary of the audit was
appended to the report that provided an outline of the good
practice that had been identified, assessment scores and areas for
improvement. An action plan was in
place to ensure that the areas of improvement were addressed and
the plan was overseen by the Information Governance Board.
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5.2
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In response to a question from a member of the
Committee, the Head of Service indicated that all recommendations
had been either fully accepted or partially accepted. Where an
action had only been partially accepted, for example due to the
resources available to meet that recommendation, an approach had
been agreed with the Information Commissioner’s
Office.
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5.3
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The Head of Service responded to a further
question regarding information sharing and indicated that the
process would be more consistent and standard templates would be
used where there was information sharing with partners.
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5.4
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Resolved: That the Committee
notes the contents of the report and the Executive Summary of the
Information Commissioner’s Office Consensual Audit.
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6. |
Internal Audit Annual Report 2014/15 PDF 66 KB
Report of the Senior Finance Manager (Internal
Audit).
Additional documents:
Minutes:
6.1
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Kayleigh Inman (Senior Audit Manager, Internal
Audit) submitted the Internal Audit Annual Report 2014/15 that
highlighted the work that had been undertaken by Internal Audit
during the year and which supported the Council’s Annual
Governance Statement (AGS). Appended to the report were the
Internal Audit Charter, Internal Audit structure and post audit
questionnaire. In particular, the Senior Audit Manager referred to
(a) the six audits that were assigned an audit opinion of high risk
of failing to deliver objectives, compared to 13 in 2013/14, (b)
the positive response from management on routine audit work and
that the majority of recommendations had been accepted and (c) no
significant control weaknesses having been included in the AGS,
although there were six governance issues where further work was
required to improve compliance with governance controls.
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6.2
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The Senior Audit Manager responded to
questions from members of the Committee and indicated that:-
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A report could be submitted to the Committee on the headlines from
the audit reports assigned a medium high opinion and also include
information on the rationale for the revised audit delivery plan
and how the work had been prioritised.
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On the issue raised on the adequacy of the resources available to
Internal Audit, there were 12.11 (whole time equivalent) posts and,
although there had been a loss of some staff during the year,
recruitment had been undertaken in August. This will have an impact
however on delivery of the 2015/16 work programme. The Interim
Director of Finance referred to the Council budget pressures and
that Internal Audit was not a frontline service.
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There were no significant changes to the Internal Audit Charter. In
respect of the section in the Charter on Independence and
Objectivity and that ‘reports can also be made to the Chair
of the Committee if required’, that arrangement could be
extended to include other members of the Committee. There were also
briefings held with the Chair. Councillor Steve Jones (Chair)
stated that he would be inviting Councillor Joe Otten (Deputy
Chair) to those briefing meetings.
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6.3
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Resolved: That the
Committee:-
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(i)
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notes the contents of the
report and the opinion of the Chief Audit Executive (Senior Finance
Manager) that she is satisfied that the core systems included
control arrangements which were adequate to allow the Council to
conduct its business appropriately;
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(ii)
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notes the positive performance
figures in the report;
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(iii)
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approves the Internal Audit
Charter at Appendix A of the report; and
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(iv)
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requests the Senior
Audit Manager (Internal Audit) to submit a report to a meeting of
the Committee on the headlines from the audit reports assigned a
medium high opinion and provide information on the rationale for
the revised audit delivery plan and how the work had been
prioritised.
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7. |
Markets High Opinion Audit Report Follow Up PDF 82 KB
Report of the Executive Director, Place.
Minutes:
7.1
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Nalin Seneviratne (Director of Capital and
Major Projects) introduced a report of the Executive Director,
Place that updated the Committee on progress with the six
outstanding recommendations from the Internal Audit report on the
Markets Service issued in January 2015. Also attending for this
item were Andy Ward (Markets Manager) and Richard Eyre (Head of
City Centre Management and Major Events).
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7.2
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Officers responded to questions from members
of the Committee on the issue of debt recovery and write off. The
Markets Manager indicated that the outstanding debt for the former
Castle Market was reducing and £300k was outstanding for the
Moor Market. All debts were pursued until uneconomic to do so. The
Head of City Centre Management and Major Events added that the aim
was full recovery.
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7.3
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In terms of the effect of the outstanding debt
on the viability of the market, the Markets Manager indicated that
the debt was chased constantly but that for some traders forfeiture
of the stall would be the only option.
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7.4
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In response to a question on whether any
studies had been undertaken on the viability of the market, the
Head of City Centre Management and Major Events stated that he had
been working with the Markets Manager on a new 10 year Business
Plan. The Director of Capital and Major Projects commented that the
review of the Business Plan had been instigated before the Internal
Audit report on the Markets Service had been issued.
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7.5
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The Interim Director of Finance commented that
there was a need to ensure that the systems relating to rent build
up were sound. Traders had been allowed to move into the Moor
Market with outstanding debt and the key emphasis was to reduce the
level of arrears so it did not affect the viability of the
market.
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7.6
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Resolved: That the Committee
notes the progress detailed in the report.
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8. |
2014/15 Statement of Accounts and the External Auditor's Report to Those Charged with Governance (ISA 260) PDF 60 KB
Report of the Interim Executive Director,
Resources.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
8.1
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The Committee considered a report of the
Interim Executive Director, Resources that communicated any
relevant matters arising from the external audit of the 2014/15
Statement of Accounts. Appended to the report were the Statement of
Accounts and the External Auditor’s Report to those Charged
with Governance (ISA 260).
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8.2
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Clair Sharratt (Acting Senior Finance Manager,
Strategic Finance) presented the report and highlighted that the
External Auditors intended to issue an unqualified audit opinion on
the accounts and an unqualified value for money conclusion. A
number of minor misstatements and presentational errors had been
identified by officers and, as a result of the external audit of
the accounts, the necessary amendments had been made to the
Statement of Accounts and agreed with the External Auditors. There
was also one uncorrected error relating to a transaction that had
been applied contrary to the new guidance in accounting for
schools’ assets. As the amendment of the previous
year’s figures would have involved a significant number of
amendments having to be made and was below the threshold to be
considered trivial by the External Auditors, the figures would be
amended for the 2015/16 accounts.
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8.3
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Sue Sunderland (Director, KPMG) presented the
external audit of the accounts and thanked Clair Sharratt and the
Finance Team for their hard work and the quality of the accounts
and indicated that the amendments had been fairly minor. The only
outstanding issue related to the Whole Government Accounts and this
was expected to be completed by 28 September and an unqualified
opinion issued on the accounts. She confirmed that the accounts
would not be amended for the issue relating to the transaction
relating to schools’ assets due to the amount involved. She
was satisfied that the Council had arrangements in place to address
the remaining risks relating to Adult Social Care and the need for
saving plans for future years and would give an unqualified value
for money conclusion. The continuing issue relating to pension data
flows would be revisited in 2015/16 when the new pension system was
able to monitor performance of data flows from other bodies.
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8.4
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Officers responded to questions from members
of the Committee relating to non-audit work, reserves and the bad
debt provision for short term debtors, as follows:-.
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The Director, KPMG stated that there was a limit on the amount of
non-audit work they could undertake and this could be up to 20% of
the audit fee or £18k whichever was the greater and this year
it would be 20%. This required the approval of the Public Sector
Audit Appointments (PSAA) Ltd and one of the considerations was
whether the work created a perceived threat to KPMG’s
independence. Initially, the PSAA had not allowed KPMG to undertake
the work on the ‘Adult Social Care - Financial Grip’
report but this work had now been approved. There was a rigorous
process in place for consideration of the non-audit work and KPMG
took its independence seriously.
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·
The Interim Director of Finance indicated that a ...
view the full minutes text for item 8.
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9. |
Adult Social Care Progress Update PDF 64 KB
The Interim Director Business Strategy,
Communities to report.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
9.1
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Eugene Walker (Interim Executive Director,
Resources) introduced a report of the Director of Business
Strategy, Communities that provided an overview of the completed
and ongoing management improvement actions in Adult Social Care
relating to Strategic Planning, Leadership and Direction, Financial
Control, Partnership and Change Management and Management and
Performance Information. He explained that there had been regular
reports to the Committee on the improvement areas. There had been a
qualified opinion on the value for money conclusion in last
year’s External Audit of the accounts relating to Adult
Social Care but an unqualified opinion was anticipated this year
which was an indication of the progress that had been made.
Although there was a projected overspend this year it was less
significant and he was confident that it would be balanced by the
year end.
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9.2
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In respect of the request at the last meeting
of the Committee for consideration to be given to publication of
the closed report on Adult Social Care that was submitted to this
Committee in July 2014, the Interim Executive Director stated that
he had discussed this issue with the Director of Legal and
Governance and a number of HR issues remained unresolved. Officers
had tried to be as transparent as possible in the Committee meeting
in July 2014 and there had been further progress reports to the
open part of the Committee since that report was presented.
Consequently, the Committee had received assurance that the
findings of the report were being acted upon by the service. The
Director of Legal and Governance added that there had been further
assessment of the risks relating to HR liabilities and, in
consequence, the report would remain closed for the foreseeable
future, but officers would continue to review that position.
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9.3
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Councillor Joe Otten raised concern at the
delay in publication of the report.
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9.4
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A member of the Committee suggested that the
next progress report to the Committee could also include
information that demonstrated that the figures
accurately reflected what had to be delivered, that management
teams were receiving accurate/reliable information and assurances
that the budget pressures identified were being
actioned.
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9.5
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Resolved: That the
Committee:-
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(a)
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notes the report and the improvement work that
had been undertaken to date with regard to Adult Social Care;
and
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(b)
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requests the Director of
Business Strategy, Communities to submit a further progress report
to the Committee in approximately six months’ time (a) on the
actions identified in the report regarding further work and change
required and (b) to include information that demonstrated
that the figures accurately reflected what had to be
delivered, that management teams were receiving accurate/reliable
information and assurances that the budget pressures identified
were being actioned.
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10. |
Work Programme PDF 91 KB
Report of the Director of Legal and
Governance.
Minutes:
10.1
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The Director of Legal and Governance submitted
a report providing details of the Committee’s draft work
programme to April 2016.
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10.2
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Resolved: That the Committee
approves the work programme with the addition of a report from the
Senior Finance Manager (Internal Audit) on the headlines from audit
reports that have been assigned a medium high opinion and to
include information on the rationale for the revised Audit Delivery
Plan and how the work had been prioritised.
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11. |
Dates of Future Meetings
To note that meetings of the Committee will be held
at 5.00 p.m. on:-
·
12 November 2015
·
10 December 2015 (additional meeting if required)
·
14 January 2016
·
11 February 2016 (additional meeting if required)
·
10 March 2016 (additional meeting if required)
·
14 April 2016
·
14 July 2016
Minutes:
11.1
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It was noted that meetings of
the Committee would be held at 5.00 p.m. on:-
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·
12 November 2015
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10 December 2015 (additional meeting if required)
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14 January 2016
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11 February 2016 (additional meeting if required)
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10 March 2016 (additional meeting if required)
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14 April 2016
·
14 July 2016
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