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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Room 1

Contact: Democratic Services Tel: 01684 272021  Email:  Democraticservices@tewkesbury.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

16.

Announcements

When the continuous alarm sounds you must evacuate the building by the nearest available fire exit. Members and visitors should proceed to the visitors’ car park at the front of the building and await further instructions (staff should proceed to their usual assembly point). Please do not re-enter the building unless instructed to do so.

 

In the event of a fire any person with a disability should be assisted in leaving the building.

Minutes:

16.1           The evacuation procedure, as noted on the Agenda, was advised to those present.

16.2           The Chair welcomed the representatives from Grant Thornton - David Johnson, Audit Manager for Tewkesbury Borough Council, and Julie Masci, Engagement Lead - to the meeting.

17.

Apologies for Absence and Substitutions

To receive apologies for absence and advise of any substitutions. 

Minutes:

17.1           An apology for absence was received from Councillor S E Hillier-Richardson. There were no substitutions for the meeting. 

18.

Declarations of Interest

Pursuant to the adoption by the Council on 26 June 2012 of the Tewkesbury Borough Council Code of Conduct, effective from 1 July 2012, as set out in Minute No. CL.34, Members are invited to declare any interest they may have in the business set out on the Agenda to which the approved Code applies.

Minutes:

18.1           The Committee’s attention was drawn to the Tewkesbury Borough Council Code of Conduct which was adopted by the Council on 26 June 2012 and took effect from 1 July 2012.

18.2           There were no declarations of interest made on this occasion.

19.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 117 KB

To approve the Minutes of the meeting held on 19 July 2017.

Minutes:

19.1           The Minutes of the meeting held on 19 July 2017, copies of which had been circulated, were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.  

20.

Audit Committee Work Programme pdf icon PDF 97 KB

To consider the Audit Committee Work Programme.  

Minutes:

20.1           Attention was drawn to the Audit Committee Work Programme, circulated at Pages No. 13-20, which Members were asked to consider.  

20.2           The Head of Corporate Services indicated that the next meeting of the Committee would consider the monitoring of Gloucestershire Safeguarding Children Board Section 11 Audit and this would include where the Council was with the audit recommendations. In addition, he felt it would be interesting to see the first report from the Counter Fraud Unit in December; Members had received an informative presentation from the Unit prior to the recent Council meeting and he looked forward to the six monthly update report.

20.3           Accordingly, it was

                  RESOLVED          That the Audit Committee Work Programme be NOTED.

21.

Letter of Representation 2016/17 pdf icon PDF 60 KB

To approve the Letter of Representation 2016/17.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

21.1           Attention was drawn to the Section 151 Officer’s Letter of Representation on the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2017, which had been circulated at Pages No. 21-26.  Members were asked to consider the letter.

21.2           The Head of Finance and Asset Management indicated that, as the Council’s Section 151 Officer, he was required to write a Letter of Representation to the external auditors which outlined the principles on which the accounts were based and confirmed compliance with the law and the level of information provided to Grant Thornton to complete the audit, as well as disclosing any fraudulent activity that may have taken place.  The content of the letter had been agreed with Grant Thornton and formal approval was now sought from the Committee.

21.3           A Member noted that the letter, as attached to the report at Appendix A, referred to Rachel North being the Council’s Deputy Chief Executive which was no longer the case. The Head of Finance and Asset Management apologised for the oversight and confirmed that this would be amended prior to it being submitted. 

21.4           Accordingly, it was

RESOLVED          That, subject to an amendment to the letterhead to refer to the current Deputy Chief Executive, the Letter of Representation be APPROVED and signed by the Section 151 Officer. 

22.

External Auditors' Audit Findings pdf icon PDF 823 KB

To consider the external auditors’ Audit Findings 2016/17. 

Minutes:

 22.1          Attention was drawn to Grant Thornton’s report, circulated at Pages No. 27-63, which set out the audit findings for the Council for 2016/17.  Members were asked to consider the report.

22.2           The Engagement Lead from Grant Thornton explained that the report highlighted the key findings from its audit of the Council’s financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2017.  Under the National Audit Office Code of Audit Practice, Grant Thornton was required to report whether, in its opinion, the Council’s financial statements represented a true and fair view of the financial position, and its income and expenditure for the year, and whether they had been properly prepared in accordance with the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) Code of Practice on Local Authority Accounting.

22.3           The Engagement Lead reported that the audit had gone well and she took the opportunity to thank the Council’s finance team for its support over the course of it. In the conduct of the audit, Grant Thornton had not had to alter or change its approach which had been advised to Members in the Audit Plan dated 13 March 2017. In terms of the financial statements opinion, no adjustments had been identified which affected the Council’s reported financial position and the audited financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2017 had remained unchanged from the draft version which had been submitted for audit. In terms of the timetable for the approval of the accounts, this had not gone well from Grant Thornton’s side and it was understood that it would need to improve to meet the statutory deadline in 2018. This was not a reflection on the Council’s finance team which was well placed to meet those requirements. Whilst the audit was substantially complete, Grant Thornton was still finalising its procedures in a number of areas including: receipt of independent confirmation of investment balances with three institutions – although Grant Thornton was comfortable that they were accurately reflected in the accounts; review of the final version of the financial statements; review of the management letter of representation; review of the revised version of the Annual Governance Statement; and update of the post balance sheet events to the date of signing the opinion. In terms of the outstanding work it was confirmed that this was standard for all Councils as there were always matters that were not completed at this point.

22.4           Referring to Page No. 32 of the report, the Engagement Lead confirmed that she anticipated an unqualified audit opinion on the financial statements with the key messages being that they were free from material error and supported by good quality working papers; that issues identified in prior years had been fully addressed and no further issues in those areas had been noted; and that Grant Thornton had always received timely responses to queries. In addition, the audit had found that the financial statements were consistent with the Council’s Annual Governance Statement and Narrative Report and that there were no  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.

23.

Statement of Accounts 2016/17 pdf icon PDF 95 KB

To approve the Statement of Accounts 2016/17. 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

23.1           The report of the Head of Finance and Asset Management, circulated at Pages No. 64-165, attached the Statement of Accounts for 2016/17 which Members were asked to approve.  

23.2           The Finance Manager explained that the Statement of Accounts for 2016/17 showed the financial position of the Council as at 31 March 2017 as well as the performance during the year. It was a statutory requirement to publish the accounts, with the audit certificate and opinion, no later than 30 September 2017. From next year those deadlines would be brought forward and the Council’s finance team had used this year as a practice run so the accounts had been ready by 31 May 2017. The audit findings report showed no material misstatements and only a few minor misclassifications and disclosure statements. The Committee was asked to review the content of the Statement of Accounts, in line with the information contained in the report, and approve them for publication in accordance with the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2011.

23.3           The Finance Manager explained that the Council had overspent against its net budget by £87,000 in the year which was broken down at Page No. 66. The employees’ full year budget was overspent largely as a result of the requirement to bring in interim staff to cover vacancies and sickness along with the provision for termination payments which had been made as part of the management restructure. In terms of supplies and services, the overspend was in relation to the expenditure associated with running elections and referendum on behalf of central government. The expenditure was unbudgeted at the start of the year but corresponding additional income had been received to finance it. Payments to third parties was significantly overspent due to disbursements incurred by One Legal which accounted for £194,000 - all amounts had been recovered from the client Councils and was shown in the income figure - planning appeal costs, and expenditure on Tewkesbury Town Centre and the new leisure centre, had been funded from other sources e.g. planning obligations. Transfer payments related to the Council’s activities in respect of the administration of housing benefit on behalf of central government but income targets had far exceeded expectations during the year with external income boosting the overall position. This had also been helped by solid income streams in a number of areas and improved recovery of housing benefit subsidy.

23.4           The total net worth of the Council had increased from £8.9 million to £9.9 million and that was summarised in the ‘Movement in Reserves Statement’, the things that had contributed to that included: an increase in long term assets which was largely due to the use of monies to fund investment property purchases; an increase in current liabilities of £20 million; an increase in total provisions due to an rise in the business rate appeals provision; other adjustments including a reduction in the Capital Receipts Reserve; and a growth in the pension deficit due to a decrease in the net discount rate  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23.

24.

Ubico Follow-Up Audit Report pdf icon PDF 74 KB

To consider the progress made in respect of the recommendations arising from the Ubico audit.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

24.1           The report of the Head of Community Services, circulated at Pages No. 166-186, provided an update on actions that had been taken as a result of an Internal Audit report which sought to improve the client monitoring of the Ubico contract. It also provided an update on the actions that were currently underway and ongoing. Members were asked to consider the progress made in respect of the recommendations which had arisen from the Ubico audit.  

24.2           The Head of Community Services explained that the report before the Committee sought to put into context what had been happening with Ubico in the past six months. Times had been turbulent but improvements had been made which he felt it was important to note. In March 2016, the Council had completed its fleet procurement and the new vehicle fleet was delivered; the procurement of the vehicles had been a major project and was primarily managed by the Joint Waste Team, in close liaison with the Interim Head of Service and Ubico. In addition, significant service changes had been introduced in April 2017 and over 60% of the Borough had a change of day or week to their waste and recycling collection as well as a change to the way that food waste was collected. Any changes to waste collections were expected to cause a degree of disruption to the service but, in this case, the disruption had gone on for a considerable time; an improvement plan was in place and was being monitored carefully. A number of significant personnel changes within the last six months had added to the issues faced and had an impact on the delivery of the actions. The Head of Community Services had been appointed as the lead commissioner of the Ubico contract, the Head of the Joint Waste Team had resigned and a new Managing Director of Ubico had been appointed.

24.3           Attention was drawn to Appendix 2 to the report which set out the Ubico client monitoring audit recommendation and progress report. The Head of Community Services explained that the Joint Waste Team had commenced a review of the street cleansing service to analyse the type of requests that were being received by the Council and to establish if there were better ways of working; there was still concern about the reactive nature of the grounds maintenance and fleet management but there were plans in place to try and address this so the Head of Community Services was in the process of recruiting a dedicated resource to undertake a project which would ensure performance in that regard was better monitored; the garden waste and trade waste schemes were currently being reviewed and it was anticipated that positive information would come forward over the next few months; a whole host of meaningful KPIs were being established and would include things like measuring non-completion of works in relation to cemeteries, management of the vehicle fleet etc. It would then be possible to consistently provide performance information to Members.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.

25.

Health and Safety Report 2016/17 pdf icon PDF 119 KB

To consider the Council’s Health and Safety Report 2016/17.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

25.1           The report of the Head of Community Services, circulated at Pages No. 187-206, attached a summary of the activities carried out to secure health and safety compliance in the financial year 1 April 2016 to 31 March 2017. The Committee was asked to consider the information provided in the Health and Safety Report 2016/17.

25.2           The Head of Community Services explained that Tewkesbury Borough Council had the responsibility to secure the health, safety and welfare of staff and, where relevant, members of the public. It also recognised the importance of good communications in making sure this was effectively carried out. The Health, Safety and Welfare Policy provided the health and safety framework that all parties must follow to ensure health and safety was managed during the course of business and the report before Members aimed to provide a review of the previous year’s activities in that area as well as to provide a work plan for the forthcoming year.

25.3           The report showed that Tewkesbury Borough Council was an extremely safe place to work and had a low number of accidents. The ‘Keep Safe, Stay Healthy’ Working Group worked well and ensured any issues were at the forefront of everyone’s minds. Pages No. 195 and 196 set out the achievements during the last 12 months. A Member questioned whether there were any comparisons which could be made to similar Councils to assess how well Tewkesbury Borough was doing. In response, the Head of Community Services explained that there was a standard format contained in the Health and Safety Executive’s guidance, document HSG65, which could be used for comparisons. The Health and Safety Officer was beginning to look at what other authorities provided to their Councillors and it may be possible to include a chart that showed where the Borough Council was in comparison to others and what it needed to do to improve.

25.4           Accordingly, it was

                  RESOLVED          That the Council’s Health and Safety Report 2016/17 be                                     NOTED.

26.

Internal Audit Plan Monitoring Report pdf icon PDF 63 KB

To consider the Internal Audit work undertaken and the assurance given on the adequacy of internal controls operating in the systems audited.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

26.1           The report of the Head of Corporate Services, circulated at Pages No. 207-223, provided an update report of internal audit activity for 2017/18 which detailed the findings and opinions given by Internal Audit for completed audits within the audit plan. The Committee was asked to consider the internal audit findings and opinions on the work completed in the period and the assurances given on the adequacy of internal controls operating in the systems audited.

26.2           The Head of Corporate Services explained that Appendix 1 to the report summarised the work of Internal Audit for the period and Appendix 2 provided the status of all audits. The audit recommendations due to be followed up in quarter two of 2017/18 had also been included in this monitoring report. He explained that a ‘split’ opinion could be provided – this meant an individual opinion could be given for different parts of the system being audited. This approach enabled internal audit to identify to management any specific areas of control that were operating or not. Assurance opinions were categorised as ‘good’, ‘satisfactory’, ‘limited’ and ‘unsatisfactory’. With regard to the opinions issued for the period, all had a positive audit opinion. The list of audit recommendations, and their status, was attached at Appendix 3 to the report; of the 16 recommendations, seven had been implemented, two had been partially implemented and seven had yet to be implemented. Of those not implemented, the bulk related to the Ubico client monitoring audit.

26.3           In terms of the audits completed, Members were advised that the Freedom of Information management system had gone live in November 2015. In 2016/17, 321 requests had been received with only 14 responses sent late which equated to almost 96% being processed in line with the Freedom of Information Act; that type of information had not been available through the old system so there were no real comparisons that could be made. However, it was felt that the new system, and the introduction of monitoring by the Corporate Services Officer, had meant the responses to Freedom of Information requests were now much more efficient. During the Information Governance Audit, it was noted that handling procedures required updating and that they should be expanded to include reference to the handling of Freedom of Information complaints or “internal reviews”. In addition, it had been recommended that a training programme be established and appended to the Information Governance Policy which included training for dealing with Freedom of Information requests. The assurance level on the audit had been satisfactory. In respect of Disabled Facilities Grants, there was a satisfactory level of assurance that grants were being approved within the legislative timeframe of six months and monitoring was now being supported through the use of reports generated through the ‘Uniform’ system. Testing had confirmed that grant payments were processed promptly and in accordance with the terms of the grant. The current monitoring process gave consideration to approved grants; however, in view of the current funding arrangements with the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26.

27.

Internal Audit Quality Assurance and Improvement Programme pdf icon PDF 63 KB

To consider the Internal Audit Quality Assurance and Improvement Programme. 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

27.1           The report of the Head of Corporate Services, circulated at Pages No. 224-234, set out the Quality Assurance and Improvement Programme which Members were asked to consider.

27.2           In accordance with Standard 1300 of the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards (PSIAS) the Chief Audit Executive - for Tewkesbury this was the Head of Corporate Services - had to develop and maintain a Quality Assurance and Improvement Programme that covered all aspects of internal audit activity. Pages No. 228 onwards provided an overview of how the work was planned and supervised. In terms of the Programme, the team was always improving its processes so they were relevant and proportionate to its size. There were seven actions in the Improvement Programme summary and those were identified at Page No. 234. It was anticipated that the Committee would be provided with six monthly, or possibly annual, updates so the progress of actions could be tracked. In addition, it was suggested that a six monthly newsletter from the Chair of Audit Committee could be introduced, similar to that already provided by the Chair of Overview and Scrutiny Committee. The Chair of the Committee agreed that this would be a good idea. He was of the view that it was important for the Council and members of the public to understand what audit did in terms of looking at policy, governance, internal controls, budgetary procedures etc. as it influenced so much of the Council’s Agenda regarding efficiencies.

27.3           Accordingly, it was

                  RESOLVED          That the Internal Audit quality assurance and improvement                                 programme be NOTED.

28.

Appointment of External Auditors pdf icon PDF 78 KB

To approve the appointment of the Council’s external auditors for five years from 2018/19.

Minutes:

28.1           The report of the Head of Finance and Asset Management, circulated at Pages No. 235-238, asked the Committee to approve the appointment of Grant Thornton (UK) LLP as the Council’s external auditors for five years from 2018/19.

28.2           The Head of Finance and Asset Management advised that, in January 2017, the Council had agreed to opt into the Sector Led Body approach to appointing external auditors from 2018 onwards. The Sector Led Body role had been taken by the Public Sector Audit Appointments Ltd which had carried out a procurement exercise on behalf of all those eligible bodies which had opted into the approach. That exercise had resulted in Grant Thornton (UK) LLP being successful in winning the biggest contract lot and subsequently being proposed as the appointed auditor for Tewkesbury Borough Council. Confirmation, or otherwise, was required from eligible bodies by 22 September.

28.3           Having considered the information provided, it was

                  RESOLVED          That the appointment of Grant Thornton (UK) LLP as the                                    Council’s external auditor for five years from 2018/19 be                                         APPROVED.