Agenda and minutes
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Note: The public part of this meeting will be recorded and uploaded to the Council's YouTube channel 'TamworthCouncil' as soon as possible
Media
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Minutes of the Previous Meeting Minutes: The minutes of the meeting held on 10th February 2022 were approved and signed as a correct record.
(Moved by Councillor Dr S Peaple and seconded by Councillor P Thurgood)
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Apologies for Absence Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Andrew Cooper.
The Chair welcomed Councillor M Cook as a new member of the Committee. |
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Declarations of Interest To receive any declarations of Members’ interests (pecuniary and non-pecuniary) in any matters which are to be considered at this meeting.
When Members are declaring a pecuniary or non-pecuniary interest in respect of which they have dispensation, they should specify the nature of such interest. Members should leave the room if they have a pecuniary or non-pecuniary interest in respect of which they do not have a dispensation.
Minutes: There were no declarations of Interest. |
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Auditors' Annual Report (Report of the External Auditors) Minutes: Mr Mark Stocks from Grant Thornton, the Council’s external auditors, summarised the report.
The Committee sought clarification and commented on the following areas: 1. What work was underway to address those service plans which had not been fully maintained and kept up to date, and whether there was any correlation between those service areas where plans were not up to date and either areas where internal audit recommendations remained outstanding or where there were areas high spend in the local authority compared to other similar authorities. It was reported that there was a process underway to review service plans and, whilst there was not a correlation with outstanding internal audit recommendations, there was some correlation between some areas of high spend and areas without up to date service plans. 2. How the Council’s procurement processes differed from other councils’, where it was reported that the council had significant capital projects underway and needed to ensure that the monitoring of contracts / suppliers was adequate.
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Informing the Audit Risk Assessment (Report of the External Auditors) Minutes: Ms Laurelin Griffiths of Grant Thornton presented the report.
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Final Accounts Plan 2021/22 - Accounting Policies and Action Plan (Report of the Executive Director, Finance) Minutes: The report of the Executive Director, Finance, presented by the Assistant Director, Finance advised Members of the proposed Accounting Policies for 2021/22, and provided an outline of the corporate requirements that will need to be achieved in order to produce the Council’s Annual Statement of Accounts for 2021/22.
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Reset & recovery update (To receive an update from the Reset & Recovery Programme Director on project risks and quality assurance) Minutes: The Assistant Director, Finance provided an update to the Committee on the Recovery & Reset programme and in particular the risk management and quality assurance processes in place.
In the absence of the Recovery & Reset Programme Director, it was agreed that a more detailed written update would be circulated to members, particularly in terms of the budget impacts and the importance of ensuring that the savings envisaged by the project would be delivered in years 2 and 3.
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Internal Audit Plan and Charter 2022/2023 (Report of the Audit Manager) Additional documents:
Minutes: The Audit Manager presented the Internal Audit Plan and Charter 2022/2023.
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Appointment of Independent Member to Audit & Governance Committee - next steps (Report of the Audit Manager) Minutes: The Audit Manager provided an update to the Committee in relation to the potential appointment of an Independent Member(s) to Committee.
The Committee commented on and sought clarifications in the following areas: 1. A request had been made to consider whether it was possible to reduce the period within which a candidate had been a Councillor or Officer from 5 years. The Monitoring Officer had advised on this and it was considered most appropriate to remain at 5 years. It was agreed that the Monitoring Officer’s advice would be shared with the Committee. 2. Whether there could be a requirement on any applicants to disclose any relationships / affiliations with members / officers / groups and the nature of that relationship which would enable an informed decision to be taken of any recruitment, as opposed to any affiliation or relationship being an automatic bar to being an applicant. 3. Whether it would be appropriate for councillors (members of the Audit & Governance Committee) to be members of any interview panel or not. 4. The duration of the position, and whether a longer term that 3 years were possible.
Councillor Michelle Cook left the meeting at 7.52pm.
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Annual Report of the Audit & Governance Committee 2021/22 (Report of the Audit Manager) Minutes: The report of the Audit Manager presented the proposed Annual Report of the Audit & Governance Committee 2021/22.
The Committee thanked the Audit Manager for his work during the year.
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Audit and Governance Committee Timetable (Discussion Item) Minutes: The Committee reviewed the Timetable, and agreed to include an additional item to provide an Independent Member update be added to the Timetable for the June meeting, and agreed to explore whether the item on the Timetable for June regarding an updated Code of Conduct could be deferred to a later meeting.
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Exclusion of the Press and Public To consider excluding the Press and Public from the meeting by passing the following resolution:-
“That in accordance with the provisions of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meeting and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012, and Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the following business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act and the public interest in withholding the information outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information to the public”
At the time this agenda is published no representations have been received that this part of the meeting should be open to the public. Minutes:
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Update from the Audit & Governance Sub-Committee meeting (To receive an update and any minutes of the Audit & Governance Sub-Committee meeting and where relevant approve any recommendations contained therein) Minutes: The Committee was updated by Councillors Ford and Peaple, who were both members of the Audit & Governance sub-committee, on the discussions at its meeting on 27th January 2022, and the recommendations it had made to this Committee.
It was agreed that Councillor T Clements should become a member of the sub-committee as Councillor M Summers was no longer a member.
Following consideration of the recommendations which the Sub-Committee had made to this Committee, and the further update from members of the Sub-Committee following a visit to key sites associated with the project, the Committee:
The Committee thanked the Assistant Director, Finance for her support to the Committee and wished her the best for the future.
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