Items
No. |
Item |
1. |
Appointment of Chair
Minutes:
1.1
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In the absence of the Chair (Councillor Steve
Jones) at the start of the meeting, the Deputy Chair (Councillor
Joe Otten) Chaired the meeting for items 1 to 9.
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2. |
Apologies for Absence
Minutes:
2.1
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Apologies for absence were
received from Councillors Dianne Hurst and Rob Frost.
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3. |
Exclusion of Public and Press
To identify
items where resolutions may be moved to exclude the press and
public.
Minutes:
3.1
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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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4. |
Declarations of Interest PDF 65 KB
Members to declare any
interests they have in the business to be considered at the
meeting.
Minutes:
4.1
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There were no declarations of interest.
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5. |
Minutes of Previous Meeting PDF 72 KB
To approve the minutes of the
meeting of the Committee held on 12 November 2015
Minutes:
5.1
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The minutes of the meeting of the Committee
held on 12 November 2015 were approved as a correct record.
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Matter Arising
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5.2
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In response to a question from a member of the
Committee, it was noted that the Committee’s Terms of
Reference had last been reviewed in 2010.
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5.3
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Resolved: That the Director of
Legal and Governance be requested to review the Terms of Reference
for consideration at the meeting of the Committee on 14 April
2016.
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6. |
Update on the Adult Social Care Programme PDF 60 KB
Report of the Director of Business Strategy,
Communities
Additional documents:
Minutes:
6.1
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The Interim Executive Director, Resources,
introduced a progress report of the Director of Business Strategy,
Communities that provided an overview of the completed and ongoing
management improvement actions in Adult Social Care. The report
gave details of a management update regarding the interventions and
change processes that had been undertaken throughout the
Communities and Resources Portfolios and further actions that were
planned. This included the actions taken in respect of Strategic
Planning, Leadership and Direction, Financial Control and
Responsibility, Partnership and Change Management, Management and
Performance Management Information and general cultural issues.
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6.2
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The Interim Executive Director explained that
the Committee had received a number of update reports previously
and that there had been a significant number of changes since the
original report to the Committee in July 2014 in terms of the
landscape and context. It was therefore proposed to return to
reporting through the normal audit reporting cycle.
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6.3
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Officers responded to questions from members
of the Committee:-
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6.3.1
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In respect of actions where
there had been no progress and a request for an indication of the
type of controls that were in place, the Senior Audit Manager
commented that, for example, on the Short Term Intervention Team, a
number of the original recommendations had been superseded and the
focus was on the current structure for the Team. The Interim
Director of Finance indicated that there were 28 audits in the
Internal Audit Plan and this demonstrated the amount of Internal
Audit efforts in these areas. It was proposed to circulate a
summary for members of the Committee on audits being carried out in
the 2015/16 Plan in the Communities Portfolio.
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6.3.2
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The Assistant Director of
Finance agreed to inform members of the Committee if all the
reassessments had been undertaken. This
was in response to a question on the model of Self Directed Support
and personalisation that had been undertaken and reference in the
subsequent report on the agenda indicating that whilst the new
Resource Allocation System tables to support the setting of
personalised budgets was underway, they had not been implemented,
pending a full financial assessment.
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6.3.3
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On the issue raised on how was performance of
the service in the delivery of care affected by this process and
what had been the impact, the Interim Executive Director indicated
that the key point was to improve the balance of the quality of the
service as well as the financial position. A significant amount of
performance monitoring information had been submitted to various
meetings, including the Executive Management Team, to improve how
quickly people were assessed. There had been improvements to the
way the service was delivered and managed and in the monitoring of
the financial position. It was agreed that information would be
circulated to members of the Committee on the impact of that
process.
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6.3.4
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On the general cultural issues and whether
morale was moving in a positive direction, the Interim Executive
Director commented that the employee opinion scores had previously
been the lowest in ...
view the full minutes text for item 6.
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7. |
Update on Finance Service Actions Arising from the KPMG Report on Adult Social Care PDF 55 KB
Report of the Assistant Director of
Finance.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
7.1
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The Assistant Director of Finance introduced
the report that intended to provide the Committee with assurance
that the issues raised in the KPMG review report were being
appropriately addressed within the Finance Service. He had been in
post since January 2015 and had drawn up a list of actions linked
to the recommendations in the KPMG report and these were designed
to link to the ongoing work within Finance to address the financial
management issues within Communities as well as wider work across
the Communities Portfolio. The report provided a brief update on
the actions to date from July 2015 and January 2016 relating
to:
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·
Improvements to monthly monitoring and reporting
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Detailed review of forecasting process
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·
Review of finance business partnering activity across
Communities
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·
Communications around Communities’ financial performance
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·
Review of financial governance
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7.2
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Officers responded to questions from members
of the Committee:-
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7.2.1
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In terms of KPMG’s view on the report,
Tim Cutler, Partner, KPMG indicated that this was outside of the
scope of the audit and it was not an area that they would routinely
examine.
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7.2.2
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In respect of further improvements, the
Assistant Director of Finance referred to the new Resource
Allocation Tables that were to be implemented, pending an
assessment of the full financial impact that would be addressed as
a priority. There would be checks on whether people went over or
under their personal budgets.
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7.3
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Resolved: That the Committee
notes the report and that progress will be dealt with through the
business as usual Internal Audit monitoring processes.
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8. |
Progress Against High Opinion Audit Reports PDF 76 KB
Report of the Senior Finance Manager, Internal
Audit
Additional documents:
Minutes:
8.1
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The Senior Audit Manager introduced a report
providing an update on progress made against recommendations in
audit reports that had been given a high opinion and proposing that
six audits were removed from the action tracker.
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8.2
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Officers responded to questions from members
of the Committee:-
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8.2.1
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In respect of Schools using independent
payroll services, it was noted that the Governing Bodies and Head
Teachers had been made aware of the recommendations from the audit
and they were responsible for their implementation. Internal Audit would follow up any recommendations
to be implemented centrally within the Council.
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8.2.2
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Regarding the high number of recommendations
that had been deferred and whether there were any broader issues to
address, the Senior Audit Manager referred to the changes in senior
management at a service level and that an allowance had been made
for that to take effect but implementation was still being
monitored and those audits would remain on the tracker. The Interim
Executive Director referred to significant management changes in
three of the areas (Short Term Intervention Team, Car Parking and
Markets) but this had had a positive impact. With regard to the
External Funding Corporate Review, the changes were being
implemented and were making a difference.
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8.2.3.
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On the Markets Service, the Senior Audit
Manager indicated that the risks would be considered as part of the
2016/17 Internal Audit planning process. The Interim Executive
Director commented that there was new management in the
Service.
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8.3
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Resolved: That the Committee
notes the report and agrees that the following audits are removed
from the action tracker:-
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·
Markets Service
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·
Assisted Cycle Purchase Scheme
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·
Blue Badges Assessment Process
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·
School Attendance Multi Agency Support Teams
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·
Schools Using Independent Payroll Services
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·
Short Term Intervention Team
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9. |
Summary of the Key Recommendations Made in the Medium-High Opinion Audit Reports From 2014/15 PDF 158 KB
Report of the Senior Finance Manager, Internal
Audit.
Minutes:
9.1
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As requested at the meeting of the Committee
held on 12 November 2015, the Senior Audit Manager submitted a
report providing a summary of the key recommendations and executive
summaries for the medium-high opinion audit reports issued by
Internal Audit in 2014/15.
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9.2
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The Senior Audit Manager responded to
questions from members of the Committee. Regarding what was the
trigger for an audit being given a high or medium-high rating, it
was suggested that the methodology that was used could be
circulated to members of the Committee for information. There were
no audits that were not making progress but there may be some with
slippage of the implementation dates.
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9.3
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There was discussion on whether a tracker
report, possibly by exception, could be submitted to the Committee
on the progress of the medium-high audits.
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9.4
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Resolved: That the
Committee:-
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(a)
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notes the report; and
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(b)
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requests the Senior Audit Manager to (i)
circulate to members of the Committee the methodology for assigning
audit opinions based on the residual risk rating and the number and
priority level of the recommendations and (ii) report by exception
to the Committee on medium-high opinion audits where sufficient
progress had not been made.
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(Note: Councillor Steve Jones entered the
meeting at this point in the proceedings and Chaired the remainder
of the meeting).
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10. |
External Auditor Arrangements from 2018/19 PDF 361 KB
Briefing paper from Tim
Cutler, Partner and Alison Ormston, Senior Manager, KPMG on
considerations in appointing the external auditor.
Minutes:
10.1
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Tim Cutler, Partner, KPMG introduced a
briefing paper on considerations for the local government sector in
appointing their external auditor. This resulted from the closure
by the Government of the Audit Commission on 31 March 2015 who were
previously responsible for appointing external auditors to local
government. The existing contract for external audit appointments
has been extended by one year to include the audit of the 2017/18
financial year.
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10.2
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Alison Ormston, Senior Manager, KPMG stated
that the paper set out the issues the Council should consider and
one of these was that the new regulations required the Council to
have an Audit Panel that would be responsible for recommending who
the external auditor should be. The Panel must include a majority
of independent non-elected members, an independent Chair and should
be established by January 2017. The paper also set out procurement
options and other factors to consider in appointing the external
auditor.
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10.3
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Tim Cutler added that he would circulate the
CIPFA guidance that had been issued that week on Audit Panels. If a
sector-led approach was adopted then an Audit Panel was not
required.
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10.4
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The Interim Director of Finance reported that
the process had started and this included discussion with the Core
Cities. The Interim Executive Director of Resources commented that
it would make sense for a joint procurement with the Sheffield City
Region but this would depend on whether there was a joint South
Yorkshire procurement.
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10.5
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In terms of the timescales and deadlines, it
was noted that the new external auditor had to be appointed by 31
December 2017. Tim Cutler suggested not leaving the appointment too
late as some interested firms may have taken up other
contracts.
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10.6
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Members discussed the need to be kept informed
and Tim Cutler indicated that he would provide further information
as it became available.
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10.7
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Resolved: That the
Committee:-
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(a)
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notes the briefing paper;
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(b)
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agrees that there would be further
consideration of the arrangements for the appointment of the
external auditor at the Committee meeting on 14 July 2016; and
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(c)
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requests that the CIPFA guidance on Audit
Panels is circulated to members of the Committee.
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11. |
Work Programme PDF 72 KB
Report of the Director of Legal and
Governance.
Minutes:
11.1
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The Director of Legal and Governance submitted
a report providing details of the Committee’s work programme
to July 2016 and referred to the additional items agreed earlier in
the meeting.
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11.2
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Resolved: That the Committee
approves the work programme with the addition of items on the
Review of the Committee’s Terms of Reference in April and
further consideration of the Arrangements for the Appointment of
the External Auditor in July 2016.
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12. |
Dates of Future Meetings
To note that meetings of the Committee will be held
at 5.00 p.m. on:-
·
11 February 2016 (additional meeting if required)
·
10 March 2016 (additional meeting if required)
·
14 April 2016
·
14 July 2016
Minutes:
12.1
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It was noted that meetings of the Committee will be
held at 5.00 p.m. on:-
·
11 February 2016 (additional meeting if required)
·
10 March 2016 (additional meeting if required)
·
14 April 2016
·
14 July 2016
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