A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Council and councillors

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Catmose

Contact: Governance  01572 720991

Items
No. Item

143.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Minutes:

There were no apologies for absence received.

144.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

In accordance with the Regulations, Members are invited to declare any disclosable interests under the Code of Conduct and the nature of those interests in respect of items on this Agenda and/or indicate if Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 applies to them.

Minutes:

Councillor Razzell declared a personal interest as the Chairman of West Rangers.

 

CouncillorA Brown JP declared a personal interest as a trustee of the Rutland Agricultural Society.

145.

APPOINTMENT OF VICE-CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEE

Minutes:

Councillor K Payne was nominated for the position of Vice–Chairman of the committee.  There were no further nominees.

 

Resolved

 

That Councillor K Payne be appointed Vice-Chairman of the Audit and Risk Committee

146.

TERMS OF REFERENCE pdf icon PDF 60 KB

To note the terms of reference, number of places and voting places,

membership and dates of meetings of the Audit and Risk Committee.

Minutes:

Resolved

 

That the Terms of Reference be noted.

147.

MINUTES

To confirm the minutes of the Audit and Risk Committee held on 26 March 2019.

Minutes:

Resolved

 

That the minutes of the meeting held on 26 March 2019 be confirmed as a correct record.

148.

MATTERS ARISING

Minutes:

Minute no 737v

 

The Chair sought an update from the Portfolio holder on the overdue bond for the Waste Management Contract.  It was was confirmed that specialist legal advice was being sought.  The Chair requested that the committee be kept updated on progress.

 

149.

PETITIONS, DEPUTATIONS AND QUESTIONS

To receive any petitions, deputations and questions received from Members of the Public in accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rule 217.

The total time allowed for this item shall be 30 minutes. Petitions, declarations and questions shall be dealt with in the order in which they are received. Questions may also be submitted at short notice by giving a written copy to the Committee Administrator 15 minutes before the start of the meeting.

The total time allowed for questions at short notice is 15 minutes out of the total time of 30 minutes. Any petitions, deputations and questions that have been 2

 

submitted with prior formal notice will take precedence over questions submitted at short notice. Any questions that are not considered within the time limit shall receive a written response after the meeting and be the subject of a report to the next meeting.

Minutes:

No petitions, deputations or questions from members of the public had been received.

150.

QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS

To consider any questions received from Members of the Council in accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rule 95.

 

Minutes:

No questions from members had been received.

151.

NOTICES OF MOTION

To consider any Notices of Motion from Members submitted under Procedure Rule 97.

 

 

Minutes:

There were no notices of motion from members under procedure rule 97.

152.

STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS 2018/19 pdf icon PDF 96 KB

To Receive Report No. 106/2019 from the Strategic Director for Resources.

 

NOTE: The Accounts and Audit (England) Regulations 2015 require the

approval of the Statement of Accounts by 31 July 2019. This date falls within

the period normally allowed for Members to refer a committee decision to the

Council. In accordance with Procedure Rule 110(7), the Committee will be

asked to decide that the matter is of such urgency that no referral of the

Committee’s decision should be allowed.

 

(Report to follow)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Strategic Director for Resources presented report no 106/2019.  The Statement of Accounts also included the Annual Governance Statement which had been previously circulated to the committee in draft form and then amended in discussion with the Chair.

 

Discussion was held over the financial assumptions on pensions and it was noted that there was a typographical error in relation to significant governance issues on page 99 of the report (109 in the agenda pack) which the Director would correct for the final publication.

 

The Committee noted the changes from the draft Statement of Accounts relating to the Pensions matter.

 

Resolved

 

That the Statement of Accounts and Annual Governance Statement for 2018/19 be approved.

153.

EXTERNAL AUDITORS REPORT (ISA 260 REPORT) pdf icon PDF 58 KB

To receive Report No. 107/2019 from the Strategic Director for Resources.

 

(Report to follow)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The External Auditor, John Gregory, presented report no 107/2019 to the committee.  He reported that, whilst he could sign off his Accounts opinion and the Value for Money conclusions, unfortunately, due to a number of objections in relation to the St George’s Barracks matter he could not formally conclude the Audit.  In response to a question Mr Gregory confirmed that the matter would be concluded within the 9 month recommended deadline.

 

The Strategic Director for Resources also drew members attention to Appendix 2 of the report which was the management representation letter which would require sign off by himself and the Chair.

 

Resolved

 

1.    That the External Auditors Report be received.

2.    That the letter of representation at appendix 2 of the report be approved for signing by the Chair and the s151 Officer.

154.

INTERNAL AUDIT ANNUAL REPORT 2018/19 pdf icon PDF 55 KB

To receive Report No. 108/2019 from the Head of Internal Audit.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Head of Internal Audit presented her annual report no 108/2019 to members.  Overall she reported a satisfactory assurance for the year and that there had been no significant areas of weakness affecting her opinion.  She had also attached the current year’s audit plan for information, as this was a new committee, so that they could see what her team were working on presently.

 

Members queried the overall audit opinion and in particular why only a ‘satisfactory’ opinion was given as many audits had received a ‘substantial’ level of assurance. The Head of Internal Audit explained that a balanced view was taken considering the significance of areas audited and the implementation of recommendations. 

 

Members also discussed the status of outstanding recommendations.  The Head of Internal Audit explained that more detailed information was given in the quarterly reports.  It was agreed that these be referred to in future annual reports to aid understanding.

 

The Chair reported that she had requested that a report on Procurement Cards be brought to the next Committee as an example of a non “limited” report to aid members understanding.

 

Resolved

 

1.    That the Annual Internal Audit Report and Assurance Opinion for 2018/19 be approved.

2.    That the Internal Audit Plan for 2019/20 be noted.

 

 

Mr J Gregory, External Auditor left the meeting at 8:10pm.

 

 

155.

EXCLUSION OF THE PUBLIC AND PRESS

The Committee is recommended to determine whether the public and press be excluded from the meeting in accordance with Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended, and in accordance with the Access to Information provisions of Procedure Rule 239, as the following item of business is likely to involve the disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 7 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act

Minutes:

Report no 109/2019 contained a confidential appendix by virtue of paragraph 7 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.  As there were no members of the public present it was determined not to move into confidential session unless members wished to discuss information specifically in the appendix.

156.

ANNUAL FRAUD REPORT 2018/19 pdf icon PDF 101 KB

To receive Report No. 109/2019 from the Strategic Director for Resources.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members considered report number 109/2019 from the Strategic Director of Resources.  At paragraph 4.1 of the report it was noted that there was a typographical error to be corrected to read “The Council’s Fraud Risk Register currently contains over 40 risks…”.

 

Resolved

 

That the content of the Annual Fraud Report be endorsed.

157.

STRATEGIC RISK REGISTER pdf icon PDF 62 KB

To receive Report No. 110/2019 from the Strategic Director for Resources.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members considered report number 110/2019 from the Strategic Director for Resources.  The Strategic Director clarified that this risk register related to the Councils corporate priorities and that the responsibility of this Committee was to look at the overall arrangements for risk management rather than the detail of individual risks.  The detail would be a matter for the Scrutiny Committees.

 

Members discussed the presentation of the document and sought clarity on the length of time the risks had been present on the register.  It was requested that the Director consider a method of ranking the risks so that the highest risks were presented first within the document.

 

In response to a query the Strategic Director confirmed that the risk register was reviewed regularly by Senior Management Team and that individual departments had more detail on their own risk registers.  He further clarified that the purpose of the register was to record the significant risks to the Council and the associated control measures. Where controls were not deemed adequate there would be additional actions listed until they became effective control measures.  Some risks would be perpetual as they could still occur despite the control measures in place and they should be retained on the register for awareness purposes.

 

Resolved

 

1.    That the content of the Risk Register and the actions underway to address the risks be noted.

2.    That the Strategic Director consider the points raised by the Committee.

158.

REGULATION OF INVESTIGATORY POWERS ACT 2000 (RIPA) UPDATE

To receive a verbal update from the Strategic Director for Resources.

Minutes:

The Strategic Director for Resources reported that there had been no requests to use covert surveillance.

159.

COMMITTEE TRAINING

To receive a verbal update from the Strategic Director for Resources.

Minutes:

The Chair informed members that there had been a practice of doing training sessions half an hour prior to every other meeting of the committee.  It had been suggested that this now be done prior to every meeting for this year as the committee had all new members and this would enable them, to get up to speed more quickly.

 

Prior to the start of the next meeting the Head of Internal Audit would give a presentation detailing what her work entails.  At the following meeting the Council’s insurer had offered to do a free presentation on Risk Management.

 

The Chair sought further ideas from members.

 

Resolved

 

That member training be held prior to every meeting of the Audit and Risk Committee for the 2019/20 municipal year, the Strategic Director of Resources to organise the schedule of presentations.

160.

ANY OTHER URGENT BUSINESS

To receive items of urgent business which have previously been notified to the person presiding.

Minutes:

There were no other urgent items to consider.

 

The Chair reminded members of the change of date for the next meeting to 1 October 2019.