Audit Committee, Minutes, 2 June 2003

Windows 2000 User

Informations

• Publié par: Nuching
• Nombre de lectures: 23
• Langue: English

Extrait

Audit Committee

Minutes

of a meeting of the

Audit Committee

held in the

Warren Room, Lewes House, 32 High

Street, Lewes

on

Monday, 2 June 2003

at

2.30pm

Present:

Councillor J E A Best (Chairman)

Councillors E N Collict, J F Daly, R D Fricker, H B Livings and A L Small

Apologies received:

None

Action

Minutes

1.

Minutes

The Minutes of the meeting held on 3 March 2003 were approved as a

correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Progress Report on Decisions Taken by the Audit Committee

The Committee considered Report No 130/03 which updated councillors on

progress made in relation to the decisions of the Audit Committee.

With regard to Minute No 31.2, the Chief Internal Auditor reported that the

Principal Architect was investigating the feasibility of development of the

Council’s allotment sites, as detailed in Minute No 31.2 of the meeting held

on 3 March 2003, and would present an update report to the Audit

Committee at its meeting on 1 December 2003.

Members noted that, due to restrictive covenants, Peacehaven Town

Council had been unable to undertake ownership of the allotment sites

transferred to them but had agreed to let them on behalf of Lewes District

Council.

As the Great-Crested Newt, which was a protected species, had been

identified at the Newhaven Town Council site, it was agreed that the District

Council would retain responsibility for the allotments. The Chief Internal

Auditor added that there was a proposal to construct a small newt holding

pond. The Director of Finance and Community Services explained that this

was to be funded by a local developer.

With regard to Minute No 33.2, councillors were invited to suggest possible

future areas for review as part of the Value For Money (VFM) audits, two of

which were undertaken each year.

It was suggested that a VFM review of the Council’s printing work that was

currently put out to tender could be carried out in 2003/2004. Most external

printing jobs were tendered out separately and the total value of this work

had not been identified. Potential savings may be made in tendering all of

this work together or considering whether it could be undertaken by the

Council’s Print Unit. In addition, members wished to identify whether the

paper used was environmentally friendly.

Members also suggested that street cleansing and litter collection may be a

potential area for a VFM review in 2004/2005.

Resolved :

1. That Report No 130/03 relating to progress made on the decisions

of the Audit Committee be received and noted;

2. That the Principal Architect be requested to report progress on the

development potential of the allotment sites, as detailed in Minute

Principal

Architect

Chief Internal

Auditor

No 31.2 (3 March 2003) to the December 2003 meeting of the

Committee; and

3. That the Chief Internal Auditor be requested to prepare a scoping

report on a Value For Money review of the Council’s printing work

which is currently put out to tender, to be considered at the next

meeting of the Committee.

2.

The Role of Internal Audit

The Chief Internal Auditor gave a presentation on the role of Internal Audit

at Lewes District Council.

He explained that Internal Audit was an independent appraisal function to

review internal controls and aid management. It ensured that systems and

procedures within the Council were operating effectively and safeguarded

against risks.

Guided by the Strategic Audit Plan, which set the work programme for audit

over a three year period, Internal Audit reviewed the Council’s main

functional systems using the following key processes:

•

Monitoring progress of the Annual Plan

•

Assessing annual performance

•

Audit reporting

•

Following-up recommendations and their progress

The District Audit for 2001/2002 had noted that Lewes District Council’s

Internal Audit had performed well and was strongly supported by the Audit

Committee.

The Chairman thanked the Chief Internal Auditor for his interesting and

informative presentation.

2.

Exclusion of the Public

Resolved :

1. That, in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act

1972, the public be excluded from the meeting during the discussion of

Appendix B to Item 8 on the Agenda, as there is likely to be a disclosure of

exempt information as defined in paragraph 14 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of

the Act.

Internal Audit Performance 2002/2003

The Committee considered Report No 131/03 which set out information relating to

the work which had been undertaken by Internal Audit for 2002/2003.

The Chief Internal Auditor highlighted that 2002/2003 had been a successful year

for Internal Audit and had included the continuation of many key developments, as

detailed in Appendix A to the Report.

He explained that the variance between the total planned audit days and the actual

audit days was mainly due to some staff absences and extra time spent on

essential corporate tasks. However, this had been reduced by less time being spent

on general management and administration.

Paragraph 4 of the Report summarised the main functional areas that had been

reviewed during the year and the key audits undertaken. Details of the individual

audits within the functional areas were set out in the Outturn Report at Appendix B.

It was also reported that monthly follow-up routines on audit recommendations had

enabled Internal Audit to track the progress of recommendations more closely and

meet with managers to resolve outstanding issues where necessary. The Chief

Internal Auditor offered to update members on progress of the implementation of

outstanding recommendations at the next meeting of the Committee.

Chief Internal

Auditor

Councillors were advised that the overall standards of internal control in the areas

reviewed by Internal Audit in 2002/2003 had been satisfactory with

recommendations in some areas to improve management controls, but that there

were no instances in which control problems created sufficient risks for Council

activities or services. It was suggested that a benchmarking summary that

compared the auditing performance and standards of other local authorities with

that of the Council be presented to a future meeting of the Committee.

Chief Internal

Auditor

Resolved :

1. That the Internal Audit Performance 2002/2003 Report be received and

noted.

The meeting ended at 3.45pm

J E A Best

Chairman