Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor P Turner and S Daniels

The meeting was chaired by Vice Chair Councillor R Ford

The minutes of the meeting held on 8^th June 2022 were approved and signed as a correct record.

(Moved by Councillor A Cooper and seconded by Councillor D Cook)

Committee received an update.  Work is continuing and is on track. 

The Committee thanked the Auditors for the update.

(Moved by Councillor D Cook and seconded by Councillor P Thurgood) 

(Report of the Assistant Director, Finance)

Report of the Assistant Director Finance on the Risk Management process and progress for Quarter 1 of the 2022/23 financial year

The Committee commented on and sought clarifications in the following areas:

Could climate change and the immediate impact of extreme weather events be highlighted as a risk in the Health & Safety part of the risk register? 

Councillors highlighted that at the moment there is not a shortage of HGV drivers but there is a potential to be so in the future. 

Corporate vision no corporate objectives included.  Community Focus, what actions are being put in place to improve this objective?  Officers confirmed that the priorities are included and in the next Quarter these will be aligned next to the risks and will be included in the next Quarterly report.   

(Report of the Audit Manager)

Report of the Audit Manager to provide the Audit & Governance Committee with internal audit’s progress report for period to 30 June 2022.

The Chair thanked Andrew Wood for the work on the report.

The Committee commented on and sought clarifications in the following areas:

Are any of the findings repeat findings?  There were no repeat findings that were identified from previous reviews.  However, some areas are reviewed on a regular basis i.e. Payment Card Industry Standards are reviewed when any changes take place.  Also checked any outstanding recommendations.  Any repeat findings will be included on the report.  The Audit Manager also confirmed that future Quarterly Progress reports would show graphical rather than tabular information relating to outstanding audit recommendations.    

Progress during Q1 2022/3 is detailed in this report the performance against target is low currently 6% completion of the audit plan, what does this mean are the targets correct.   It was clarified that at the end of Q 1 2021/22 it was at a similar percentage and by the end of 31^st March 2022, 80% of the Audit plan had been achieved.  Part of the issue is resource and Q1 is a relatively low completion period as it includes the planned work that rolled forward from 2021/22.  Looking at the raw figures the completion of one audit is approx. 6% of the audit plan so once more audits are completed the percentage goes up significantly. 

Plan will be kept under review to make sure targets are being completed.  There are discussions ongoing regarding the timings of audits.  The Audit Manager agreed to provide information relating to the completion of the profiled audit plan in future Quarterly Progress reports.

Assets and inventory (pg. 40) no ref to asset management plans are these in place as does each asset have its own plan and were they part of the audit?

Asset management plan was reviewed in 2021 and work is ongoing to get a plan for each Asset. 

The report was noted by the Committee. 

(Report of the Audit Manager)

Report of the Audit Manager to provide an update to Committee in relation to the potential appointment of an Independent Member(s) to Committee.

The Committee reviewed the timetable and no changes were made. 

(To receive the minutes of any sub-committee meeting and where relevant approve any recommendations contained therein)

The Committee received the minutes of the 28^th June 2022 Audit & Governance Sub-Committee meeting.