Agenda and minutes

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RESOLVED:  Councillor C Morley be appointed Vice-Chair for the forthcoming year.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Mrs J Collingham and M Storey.

To approve the minutes from the previous meeting.

RESOLVED:  The minutes of the Audit Committee held on 15 March 2021 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

Please indicate if there are any interests which should be declared.  A declaration of an interest should indicate the nature of the interest (if not already declared on the Register of Interests) and the agenda item to which it relates.  If a disclosable pecuniary interest is declared, the Member should withdraw from the room whilst the matter is discussed.

These declarations apply to all Members present, whether the Member is part of the meeting, attending to speak as a local Member on any item or simply observing the meeting from the public seating area.

There were no declarations of interest.

To consider any business which, by reason of special circumstances, the Chairman proposed to accept as urgent under Section 100(b)(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972.

There was no urgent business.

Members wishing to speak pursuant to Standing Order 34 should inform the Chairman of their intention to do so and on what items they wish to be heard before the meeting commences.  Any Member attending the meeting under Standing Order 34 will only be permitted to speak on those items which have been previously notified to the Chairman

There were no Members present under Standing Order 34.

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The Chair commented that he wished to ensure a balanced and open discussion and asked Members to wait their turn to speak and not speak over the Chair. 

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The Senior Policy and Performance Officer commented that he was aware that there were a number of new Members appointed to the Audit Committee and provide context and background information prior to presenting the report.

The Senior Policy and Performance Officer presented the report which set out the changes to the Corporate Risk Register since the last monitoring report to the 27 July 2020 committee meeting.  It was explained that the report gave details of the risk falling into the ‘Very High’ category and the associated work being progressed to mitigate the effects.

The Senior Policy and Performance Officer outlined the key changes as detailed in section 2 of the report.

Members’ attention was drawn to the following risks:

·         3.1 Flood Management and coastal erosion.  It was explained that a key number of plans and policies had progressed over recent months and a  high level review of both Shoreline Management Plans had been completed and were awaiting publication .  The Wash Trends  Report  had been completed and was awaiting publication.  Full Council July 2021 will consider the Local Plan Review which will include an important element of planning policy relating to coastal change.

·         5.3 Improvements to Heritage Buildings.  It was explained that the Town Deal funding included scope for repurposing activities in the town centre.

The Committee was invited to comment/ask questions, a summary of which is set out below.

In response to questions from Councillor Rust on targets and risk scores, the Senior Policy and Performance Officer explained that the target risk was the judgement of Management Team and Assistant Directors and added that it was difficult to compare each individual risk to another risk on the Risk Register as there were different factors

In response to a comment from  Councillor Rust regarding aiming for the best targets, the Senior Policy and Performance Officer explained that there were challenges around where the tolerance/risk appetite was set as an organisation.  It was noted that some organisations were very risk adverse and therefore anticipated that scores were a lot lower.  Other more risk minded organisations might have a greater tolerance/appetite and the level of risk could be higher.  The level of risk of the Borough Council was set out in policy and was open to a certain level or risk, subject to the correct safeguarding and due diligence procedures in place.

Councillor Ryves commented that it appeared that there were certain items which were not on the list, as set out below:

Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH)

How did the current situation QEH affect the workings of the Council and had it been considered.

In response the Senior Policy and Performance Officer explained that there was an emerging risk that the Borough Council would be looking at namely, the NHS and Integrated Care Systems and how they may impact on the Borough Council and if identified as a risk would be added to the Risk Register.

Planning

How the changes  ...  view the full minutes text for item A8

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The Internal Audit Manager presented the report which provided Members with an update on progress against the revised Internal Audit Strategic Plan 2020-21 that was endorsed by the Audit Committee at the meeting on 27 July 2020.  It was highlighted that the report also provided an update on the fraud work for the year.

The Committee’s attention was drawn to the key issues/sections set out in the report:

·         2.7 – completed audits during 2020-21.

·         2.8 – current audits ongoing.

·         2.10 – audits transferred to 2020/21.

·         2.11 – CIPFA guidance and additional work to undertake work for the annual audit opinion.

·         3  - Fraud protection and Investigations work April 2020 and March 2021

In response to questions from Councillor Morley on 100% owned subsidiary companies, Housing and Alive and the linkages to the Financial Plan, the Audit Manager explained that the audits would be picked in 2021/22 Audit Plan. It was noted that throughout last year no specific work in those two areas was undertaken due to the Pandemic and that predominantly the Alive facilities were closed for most of year, so operational audits would have been a challenge to undertake during that period

Following further questions from Councillor Morley on the Eastern Internal Audit Service and the handover arrangements, the Assistant Director – Resources provided an update and advised that the council was currently completing the final elements of the Agreement.  The officer from the Eastern Internal Audit Service, together with the Internal Audit team would be introduced to the Committee prior to the next meeting.

The Chair thanked the Internal Audit Manager for presenting the half-yearly progress report.

RESOLVED: The Committee reviewed the progress against the audit plan and noted the update of the fraud work.

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The Internal Audit Manager presented the report which provided the Committee with an overview of the work undertaken by Internal Audit during 2020-21 and provided the Audit Manager’s annual opinion on the system of internal control.

The Committee’s attention was drawn to the following sections of the report:

·         2.5 - Annual Audit Opinion.

·         3 - Effectiveness of Internal Audit Team.

·         4 – Basis of Assurance.

·         5 – Anti-Fraud and Anti-Corruption Procedures.

The Committee was reminded that the report was available to view on the Audit Committee area on InSite.

In response to questions from Councillor Rust on adequate assurance, the Internal Audit Manager explained that adequate was an Auditor’s favourite word, adequate was good enough and the council was where it needed to be .  The Internal Audit Manager advised that she had never issued a substantial assurance .  It was highlighted that the council would aim to be adequate.

The Chair thanked the Internal Audit Manager for presenting the annual report and opinion.

RESOLVED: The Committee received the annual audit opinion and noted the work of Internal Audit for 2020-2021.

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The Assistant Director, Resources presented the report which updated Members on various audit workstreams, timetable and progress which impacted on timescales for the Audit Committee workplan.

The Assistant Director, Resources responded to questions and comments in relation to:

·         Amended Regulations - Publication of draft Statement of Accounts 2020/2021 by 1st working day in August 2021.

·         Adequate resources in the Finance Team to undertake required work within the timescales set out in the report.

·         Reduction of 313 hours in negotiation with Ernst Young.

·         The Corporate Risk Register would be updated to reflect any changes in risk due to staff levels.

The Chair thanked the Assistant Director for presenting the report.

RESOLVED:  The Audit Committee noted the contents of the report.

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RESOLVED:  The Committee noted work programme and forward decision list.

To note that the date of the next meeting of the Audit Committee will take place on 26^th July 2021 at 4.30pm in the Assembly Room at the Town Hall.

The next meeting of the Audit Committee will take place on 26 July 2021 at 4.30 pm in the Assembly Room at the Town Hall.

To consider passing the following resolution:

“That under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act”.

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RESOLVED:  That under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act.

The Revenues and Benefit Manager presented the report and responded to comments and questions from the Committee.

RESOLVED:  The Committee noted the content of the Ernst and Young report.