Agenda and minutes

To confirm the Minutes of the Meeting held on 17 September 2014 (to be laid on the table half an hour before the meeting).

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 17 September be confirmed and signed.

To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Stewart Stennett.

To receive from Members, declarations of interests in relation to any items included on the Agenda for this meeting, in accordance with the Waverley Code of Local Government Conduct.

There were no interests declared under this heading.

The Chairman to respond to any questions received from members of the public of which notice has been duly given in accordance with Procedure Rule 10.

There were none.

To obtain Committee endorsement of the revised policies enabling these to be published on the website and cascaded to all members of staff, members, partners, the Council’s suppliers, thus reinforcing Waverley’s stance of zero tolerance to Fraud, Corruption and Bribery.

Recommendation

It is recommended that the Committee:

1.       recommends to Council the revised policies set out in Annexe 1, 2, 3 and 4; and

2.       agrees that officers cascade and publicise these documents to all staff.

The Committee received updated versions of four governance polices which are set out at Annexes 1-4 to these minutes, as follows:-

·        Annexe 1 Whistleblowing Policy

·        Annexe 2 Corporate Anti-Fraud, Corruption and Bribery Policy

·        Annexe 3 Prosecution Policy

·        Annexe 4 Anti-Money Laundering Policy and Guidance

The Committee noted that the majority of changes were minor, reflecting changes in legislation and the organisational restructure affecting job titles and positions. The whistleblowing policy had also been clarified to ensure that any concerns relating to Member conduct should be reported to the Monitoring Officer.

The policies would continue to be reviewed annually by officers and where necessary be presented to the Audit Committee to be endorsed.

Members were pleased that these policies were in place, and asked officers to ensure they were thoroughly publicised to all staff. Officers reassured the Committee that the updated policies would be disseminated to relevant staff and that all new members of staff were briefed on these policies as part of the induction process.

The Committee

RECOMMENDS that:

1.    The revised policies set out in Annexes 1-4 to these minutes be approved and adopted; and

2.    Officers be instructed to cascade and publicise these documents to all staff.

Background Papers

There are no background papers (as defined by Section 100D(5) of the Local Government Act 1972) relating to this report.

Background Papers

The background papers relating to the following report items in Part II are as specified in the agenda for the Audit Committee.

To receive the Annual Audit Letter, produced by Grant Thornton.

Recommendation

It is recommended that the Audit Committee receives and notes the Annual Audit Letter.

Dominic Bradley from Grant Thornton was present at the meeting and presented the Annual Audit Letter. He reported that it had been a good year for Waverley, and that Grant Thornton had issued an unqualified opinion on the Council’s 2013/14 financial statements and an unqualified value for money conclusion.

The Committee was very pleased with the content of the letter, and asked that their thanks be passed on to officers in the finance team. Members also asked officers to issue a press release explaining that Waverley had received excellent audit findings.

It was noted that Waverley’s external audit team within Grant Thornton, Emily Hill and Dominic Bradley, were being rotated and that the Council would be working with a new team next year. The Committee thanked Emily and Dominic for their work over recent years, and looked forward to working with the new team.

RESOLVED that:

1.    The Annual Audit Letter be noted; and

2.    Officers be asked to issue a press release explaining that Waverley had received excellent audit findings.

To inform the Audit Committee of Senior Management’s progress in implementing the recommendations raised by Internal Audit following a review in their service areas.  This report will enable the Committee to consider what action is required in respect of those that are overdue or appear likely to be implemented later than the target date.

Recommendation

It is recommended that the Committee:

1.      considers the information contained in Annexe 1 and identifies any action it wishes to be taken; and

2.      notes the progress made on the recommendations raised by the External Auditors, Grant Thornton.

The Committee received the report outlining internal audit recommendations overdue or due within the next month. The Internal Audit Client Manager circulated an updated version of Annexe 1 to the report which contained updates from officers since the agenda had been published.

It was noted that most of the internal audit recommendations arose as good practice in areas of risk and did not necessarily mean that there had been any incidents in these areas.

In relation to recommendation IA14/18.004 (sundry debtors) it was noted that the Agresso consultants were now on site and the Head of Finance reassured the Committee that the recommendation would be completed on time. The financial regulations (recommendation IA14/18.005) had been updated to reflect the changes in job titles and would also be updated to include reference to InTend, Waverley’s new e-tendering system. The updated financial regulations would need to be approved by Council and the Head of Finance would ensure that this was done as soon as possible.

Annexe 2 to the report contained a note of progress made by officers in response to recommendations raised by the external auditors. The Head of Finance explained that the administration of Agresso and iTrent is linked to key senior officers within the finance team and therefore it would be difficult for someone in IT to solely hold the administration rights to these systems due to the complexity of the systems, however he assured the Committee that other mitigation measures were in place.

RESOLVED that:

1.    The progress on the implementation of internal audit recommendations be noted; and

2.    The progress made on the recommendations raised by the external auditors, Grant Thornton, be noted.

The Committee’s terms of reference include provision for the Committee to comment on the progress made in the Audit Plan. This report updates the committee on the current position of the Internal Audit reviews detailed in the 2014/15 Audit Plan presented.

Recommendation

It is recommended that the Audit Committee notes the progress for the Internal Audit Plan 2014/15 as attached at Annexe 1.

The Committee received the report setting out the current position of the Internal Audit reviews detailed in the 2014/15 Audit Plan. The format of the report had been amended slightly to include a planned start date for each review, which Members found very useful.

RESOLVED that the progress for the Internal Audit Plan 2014/15 be noted.

This report presents the latest corporate risk registers as updated by heads of service following comments from the Audit Committee at the June meeting.

Recommendation

It is recommended that the Audit Committee considers the revised corporate risks register included at (Exempt) Annexe 1 and passes comments and observations to officers.

[This item contains exempt information by virtue of which the public is likely to be excluded during the item to which the report relates, as specified in Paragraph 3 of the revised Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, namely;-

                        Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).]

The Committee received the report presenting the latest corporate risk registers as updated by heads of service. Members raised a number of questions about the detailed risk scenarios which were answered by officers.

RESOLVED that the revised corporate risk registers be noted.

To consider the following recommendation on the motion of the Chairman:

Recommendation

That pursuant to Procedure Rule 20 and in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item(s) on the grounds that it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the public were present during the item(s), there would be disclosure to them of exempt information (as defined by Section 1001 of the Act) of the description specified in paragraph 7 of the revised Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, namely:

Information relating to any action taken or to be taken in connection with the prevention, investigation or prosecution of crime.

At 6.15pm it was:

RESOLVED that pursuant to Procedure Rule 20 and in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item(s) on the grounds that it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the public were present during the item(s), there would be disclosure to them of exempt information (as defined by Section 1001 of the Act) of the description specified in paragraph 7 of the revised Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, namely:

Information relating to any action taken or to be taken in connection with the prevention, investigation or prosecution of crime.

To receive a verbal update from the Director of Finance and Resources.

The Committee received a verbal update from the Director of Finance and Resources on the latest position on an investigation.