DRAFT MINUTES OF AUDIT COMMITTEE HELD ON

Jo.Maskell

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MINUTES OF AUDIT COMMITTEE HELD ON 10 March 2010 7.30pm –8.28pm PRESENT COUNCILLORS David Carter (Chairman) Manny Doku Tony Durcan Tony Hall Mark Wilknso APOLOGIES Simon Carter Joshua Jolles Muriel Jolles Lorna Spenceley SUBSTITUTES Lesley Rideout substitute for Lorna Spenceley 76. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST None. 77. MINUTES RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 20 January 2010 be agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman, subject to the amendment of Minute 72 by substituting ‘Head of Internal Audit’ with ‘Internal Audit Manager’. 78. MATTERS ARISING None. 79. WRITTEN QUESTIONS AND PETITIONS None. 80. NON-CONTENTIOUS BUSINESS RESOLVED that the Committee Work Plan (agenda item 7) be taken as non-contentious business. 81. COMMITTEE FORWARD WORK PLAN RESOLVED that the Committee Work Plan be noted. 82. PLAYHOUSE BUDGET The Committee received a report on the Playhouse budget, which was a standing item on this agenda. RESOLVED that the report be noted. 83. AUDIT COMMISSION PROGRESS REPORT Martina Lee, Audit Commission, presented a report on the progress made on the audit plans for 2008/09 and 2009/10. It was noted that, since the report had been published, the Audit Commission had received the Council’s Use of Resources self assessment. A meeting between the Council and the Audit Commission to discuss the assessment was ...

Informations

• Publié par: Mothug
• Nombre de lectures: 44
• Langue: English

Extrait

MINUTES OF AUDIT COMMITTEE HELD ON

10 March 2010

7.30pm –8.28pm

PRESENT

COUNCILLORS

David Carter (Chairman)

Manny Doku

Tony Durcan

Tony Hall

M

a

r

k

W

i

l

k

i

n

s

o

n

APOLOGIES

Simon Carter

Joshua Jolles

Muriel Jolles

Lorna Spenceley

SUBSTITUTES

Lesley Rideout substitute for Lorna Spenceley

76.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

None.

77.

MINUTES

RESOLVED

that the minutes of the meeting held on 20 January

2010 be agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman,

subject to the amendment of Minute 72 by substituting ‘Head of

Internal Audit’ with ‘Internal Audit Manager’.

78.

MATTERS ARISING

None.

79.

WRITTEN QUESTIONS AND PETITIONS

None.

80.

NON-CONTENTIOUS BUSINESS

RESOLVED

that the Committee Work Plan (agenda item 7) be

taken as non-contentious business.

81.

COMMITTEE FORWARD WORK PLAN

RESOLVED

that the Committee Work Plan be noted.

82.

PLAYHOUSE BUDGET

The Committee received a report on the Playhouse budget, which was a

standing item on this agenda.

RESOLVED

that the report be noted.

83.

AUDIT COMMISSION PROGRESS REPORT

Martina Lee, Audit Commission, presented a report on the progress made

on the audit plans for 2008/09 and 2009/10.

It was noted that, since the report had been published, the Audit

Commission had received the Council’s Use of Resources self

assessment.

A meeting between the Council and the Audit Commission

to discuss the assessment was being arranged.

RESOLVED

that the report be noted.

84.

ANNUAL INTERNAL AUDIT PLAN 2010/11

The Committee received a report on the proposed audit plan for Internal

Audit for 2010/11.

RESOLVED

that the Annual Internal Audit Plan for 2010/11 be

approved.

85.

INTERNAL AUDIT RECOMMENDATION TRACKER

The Committee received a report which tracked the progress on all the

recommendations arising from internal audit reports.

In future, quarterly summary reports on recommendation tracking would

be submitted to this Committee.

Members were concerned that completion dates for the implementation of

some recommendations had been extended by several months in some

cases.

In particular, they highlighted the timescale for the implementation

of absence monitoring which had been extended from December 2008 to

April 2010.

RESOLVED

that

(a)

the progress being made in implementing the internal audit

recommendations be noted;

(b)

the Human Resources Manager be requested to provide a

written explanation to all members of this Committee on why

a new sickness absence policy had not been finalised.

86.

QUARTER 3 PERFORMANCE REPORT 2009/10

The Committee received a report which provided an analysis of how the

Council performed against national and local performance indicators for

the third quarter of 2009/10, together with action plans to address areas

where performance indicators were likely to fall short of their target.

Improvement Action Plans were produced for those indicators which

underperformed their target by more than a 5% variance.

However,

Members felt that those targets which overperformed should also be

highlighted.

Whilst Members appreciated those services which performed

well by meeting or exceeded their targets, they felt that the reasons why

indicators overperformed should be investigated, as they could pose a risk

to the Council.

For example, they believed that it could be an indication

that some targets were being set too low or that there could be future cost

implications for the Council to maintain these successes.

Members also highlighted the 100% percent variance from the target for

PI NI196 (Improved street and environmental cleanliness – fly tipping) as

an issue for further scrutiny.

They noted that, although the Council had

performed well by increasing its enforcement activity, this had been

counteracted by an increase in fly tipping and the identification of fly tips.

This had produced a poor score due to the way the performance

indicators were measured.

RESOLVED

that

(a)

quarter three performance be noted, as indicated in point 3

(in the report) and detailed with Appendices A and B;

(b)

improvement action plans be noted in relation to the

performance exception report shown in Appendix C;

(c)

an analysis be undertaken on those performance indicator

targets which are regularly being exceeded and a report on

the findings be submitted to a future meeting of this

Committee;

(c)

the Scrutiny Committee be requested to investigate the

issues surrounding the consistent variance from target of

NI196 (improved street and environmental cleanliness – fly

tipping).

87.

REFERENCES FROM OTHER COMMITTEES

None.

88.

MATTERS OF URGENT BUSINESS

(a)

Officer Attendance at Audit Committee Meetings

The Chairman of the Committee raised the issue of Officers’

attendance at Audit Committee meetings.

It was proposed to keep

Officers’ attendance at the meeting to a minimum.

Whilst not wishing to stifle debate and recognising that the audit

function should be seen to be transparent, there was also a cost

implication from Heads of Service attending this meeting

unnecessarily.

RESOLVED

that the following procedure be adopted to

ensure that Officers were available, as required, at this

Committee:-

(a)

once the agenda is published, Members to advise the

Chairman if they wish a particular Officer to attend the

meeting to answer question(s);

(b)

In turn, prior to each meeting, the Chairman to notify

all members of the Committee which Heads of

Service would be in attendance.

CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE