Agenda and draft minutes
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Apologies for Absence To receive any apologies for absence. The quorum for the Audit and Governance Committee is 4 Members.
Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Edward James and Sandra Simpson.
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Declarations of Interest To receive any declarations from Members of the Committee on any items to be considered at the meeting. Minutes: Councillor Elizabeth Poskitt declared a non pecuniary interest in Item 3, Minutes of Previous Meetings; she stated that she was a Member of the Standards Sub-Committee. |
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Minutes of Previous Meeting and Actions Arising To approve the minutes of the meetings held on 19 March 2024 and 22 May 2024.
To note previous actions.
To approve the minutes of the meeting of Standards Sub-Committee held on 15 March 2024.
Additional documents:
Minutes: The minutes of the meeting held on 19 March 2024 and 22 May 2024 were approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record. The Committee also noted the previous actions. An update was provided on the Independent Members and it was confirmed that Independent Members would be classified and were required to be non-voting Members as they were not elected or co-opted in that way. The recruitment was ongoing and was advertised on the website and through LinkedIn; there had also been some targeted recruitment. The minutes of the meeting of the Standards Sub-Committee held on 15 March 2024 were signed by the Chairman as a correct record.
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Participation of the Public To receive any submissions from members of the public, in accordance with the Council’s Rules of Procedure. Minutes: There was no public participation. |
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Audit Plan for 2023/2024 – Bishop Fleming Purpose: To present Members with the draft Audit Plan for the year ended 31 March 2024.
Recommendation: That the Audit and Governance Committee resolves to: 1. Note the content of the repot and the annex.
Invited: Bishop Fleming Madhu Richards, Director of Finance
Additional documents: Minutes: Madhu Richards, the Director of Finance introduced the report that would present Members with the draft Audit Plan for the year ended 31st March 2024.
It was explained that there was a delay in the last year accounts that were prepared from a different auditor and had nothing to do with the year end 31 March 2024 accounts.
Due to a technical failure Charlie Martin, Bishop Fleming was unable to join the meeting and therefore this report would come to the next Audit and Governance meeting.
RESOLVED that the External Audit report would come to the September meeting.
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2023/24 Statement of Accounts Update and Accounting Policies Purpose: This report presents the accounting policies to be included in the 2023/24 Statement of Accounts. This provides Members with the opportunity to review and approve the policies in advance of the preparation of the Statement of Accounts 2023/24. Approving the accounting policies in advance of the preparation of the accounts represents best practice.
Recommendation: That the Audit and Governance Committee resolves to:
Invited: Madhu Richards, Director of Finance Georgina Dyer, Chief Accountant Additional documents: Minutes: Madhu Richards, Director of Finance, introduced the report that presented the accounting policies to be included in the 2023/24 Statement of Accounts. This report provided Members with the opportunity to review and approve the policies in advance of the preparation of the Statement of Accounts 2023/24. Approving the accounting policies in advance of the preparation of the accounts represented best practice.
It was explained that the report would be on the website by 31 July and they tend be done in the same format unless CIPFA suggested any changes.
RESOLVED that the Audit and Governance Committee AGREED to 1. Consider and approve the draft accounting policies for 2023/24 included at Annex A.
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Internal Audit Annual Opinion 2023/24 Purpose: To present a summary of the work undertaken by Internal Audit during 2023/24 and to give an overall opinion on levels of assurance resulting from this work.
Recommendation: That the Audit and Governance Committee resolves to: 1. Consider the report and comments as necessary.
Invited: Madhu Richards, Chief Finance Officer Lucy Cater, Assistant Director, SWAP Internal Audit Services Additional documents:
Minutes: Jaina Mistry, Principal Auditor introduced the report that presented a summary of the work undertaken by Internal Audit during 2023/24 and to give an overall opinion on levels of assurance resulting from this work. It was to be noted that due to the information contained in the Internal Audit Annual Opinion, it was deemed unnecessary to submit a separate quarterly monitoring report. Instead, a condensed version of the usual report was produced which contained a summary of the work concluded since the last meeting of this Committee.
Based on various questions and queries from Members the following points were explained:
· All outstanding actions were being dealt with and/or a work in progress. · Risk management training would be raised with the relevant team and would be answered at the next meeting. · In terms of taxi licensing procedure the Chair of the Miscellaneous Licensing Committee could approach Licensing Officers if they felt it was necessary. · It was suggested that a robust timeframe should be in the cover report in future.
RESOLVED that the Audit and Governance Committee AGREED to 1. Consider the report and comments as necessary and to note the report.
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Treasury Management Outturn Quarter 4 Purpose: To advise members of treasury management activity and the performance of internal and external fund managers for 2023/24
Recommendation: That the Audit and Governance Committee resolves to: 1. Note the Treasury Management and performance of internal and external funds for 2023/24.
Invited: Madhu Richards, Chief Finance Officer Georgina Dyer, Chief Accountant
Additional documents:
Minutes: Georgina Dyer, Chief Accountant presented the report that advises members of the treasury management activity and the performance of internal and external fund managers for 2023/24.
It was explained that the overall performance of the investments in 2023/24 was favourable, returning interest of £1,726,274 (4.97%) against a revenue budget of £1,227,228 and achieving an unrealised capital gain of £439,475 (3.27%) in the 12 months to 31st March 2024.
The capital value of the pooled funds had increased by £439,475 but continued to be affected by uncertainty in the financial markets. The effect in 2023/24 was mostly positive due to buoyed global equities, resilient economic data and falling inflation.
Pooled funds were intended to be long term investments where short-term fluctuations in capital value were expected but would provide capital appreciation over the long term. After an initial period of caution due to the likelihood of recession, the UK economy fared better than anticipated with a shallow recession, falling inflation and improved consumer confidence providing support for UK equities, with stocks trading at attractive valuations relative to their global peers.
The council has benefitted from a higher revenue return due to sustained high Base Interest Rate to bring inflation back down to 2.5%. 2023/24 incurred unrealised capital gains of £0.439m, these funds are being monitored closely by Arlingclose and they continue to advise that the capital values will recover over the next 2-3 years as gilts and bond revenue return rates start to decline again.
The Council complied with all but one (see section 9.4) of the Prudential Indicators for 2023/24 as set in the February 2023 budget.
Based on various questions and queries from Members the following points were explained:
· A glossary of terms was requested to be added to enable ease of understanding in future. · The operational level of treasury management was delegated and it was not practical to go back and forth. However, the input from Members for direction on strategy and policy could be discussed during budget time and the strategy papers were updated yearly. Therefore as a Committee, Officers would be directed by Members; however Members would need a high level of understanding and information on all the various aspects. · If looking at capital projects there needed to be a balance and dependent on various factors including interest rates and revenue return. · The next steps would be to investigate funds with a better green credential and a table or chart of the current most ethical funds and over a period. Georgina would bring this information to the next meeting. · Officers have asked Arlingclose to be more proactive in reducing risk. · Pooled funds are completely liquid and will carry on; the super national do have a maturity date.
Members thanked Officers for the report and also for the Audit and Governance training that was undertaken last week.
RESOLVED that the Audit and Governance Committee AGREED to: 1. Note the Treasury Management and performance of internal and external funds for 2023/24. |
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Strategic Risk Register Purpose: The report brings to members the current version of the Strategic Risk Register for information and assurance that risks to the Council are being managed and appropriate actions are being taken to mitigate risk.
Recommendation: That the Audit and Governance Committee resolves to: 1. Note the Strategic Risk Register.
Invited: Cheryl Sloan, Business Manager for Governance, Risk and Business Continuity
Additional documents: Minutes: Andrea McCaskie, the Director of Governance, introduced the report that brought to Members the current version of the Strategic Risk Register for information and to provide assurance that any risks to the Council were being managed and appropriate actions were being taken to mitigate risk.
It was explained that all updates to the commentary since the March Audit and Governance Committee were shown in red, along with a direction of travel column, which shows if the risk had either increased / red (got worse), decreased / green (reduced in risk) or stayed the same since the last time it was reported to Audit Committee.
Two new risks have been added since the last report to Audit and Governance Committee included:
· ER5 General Election. This was added when the general election was announced for 4th July 2024 to ensure this was managed effectively. This risk would now be closed and removed from the Strategic Risk register. · ER6 Diddly Squat. This risk was added in preparation for the release of series 3 and the potential impact this may have on the council and its employees in Publica. A project team was established to monitor and manage any potential impact.
One risk had been increased since the last report:
· SR2 Major Civil Emergency: the transition of services from Publica to the councils was having an immediate impact on the emergency call out arrangements, where critical employees were no longer with the business. It was expected that there will be further impact, and therefore proposals were being reviewed for current and future mitigation.
There were no further changes to the risk register except for updates which were shown in red.
Based on various questions and queries from Members the following points were explained:
· In regard to the ER6, it picked up issues that came to light and ensure that the Council were prepared with messaging on the website and that staff had the support they required. · Emergency planning and business continuity were on the action plan as more testing was required and it was highlighted as an area that it would be worked on. · It was questioned why the five year land supply was not on the risk register. Officers would enquire about this and get this added as requested.
RESOLVED that the Audit and Governance Committee AGREED to: 1. Note the strategic risk register.
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Annual Governance Statement for 2023/24 and Action for 2024/25 Purpose: The report provides the Audit Committee with an updated Annual Governance Statement for 2023/24 and an Annual Governance Action plan for 2024/25.
Recommendation: That the Audit and Governance Committee resolves to: 1. Approve and agree the updated Annual Governance Statement for 2023/24 and Annual Governance Action plan for 2024/25; 2. Receive updates on the progress against the key actions at future meetings.
Invited: Andrea McCaskie, Director of Governance, Monitoring Officer Cheryl Sloan, Business Manager for Governance, Risk and Business Continuity
Additional documents: Minutes: Andrea McCaskie, the Director of Governance, introduced the report that provided the Audit Committee with an updated Annual Governance Statement for 2023/24 and an Annual Governance Action plan for 2024/25 which formed part of the Statement of Accounts.
It was explained that The Annual Governance Statement was backward looking, detailing the governance arrangements which were in place for the previous financial year (2023/24). This also showed the progress which was made against the Annual Governance Action plan for 2023/24. Regulation 4 of The Accounts and Audit Regulations 2011 required the Council to produce an Annual Governance Statement (AGS), setting out the Council’s governance arrangements. The Annual Governance Action plan, was forward looking, setting out the areas of improvement / focus for the current financial year (2024/25).
There were 9 key actions within the 2024/25 Annual Governance action plan, these included: · Freedom of information · Complaints process · New service delivery models · Council constitution · Emergency planning and business continuity · Risk management · Review of Audit and Governance committee · Financial management · Procurement
The plan identified the specific tasks that will be undertaken in the respective areas of focus and set timescales for their completion. The Action Plan would also include a RAG rating to show whether the actions are on target, off target but action being taken to ensure delivery or off target and no action has yet been agreed to resolve the situation. Updates on progress will be presented to future Audit and Governance Committee meetings.
Based on various questions and queries from Members the following points were explained:
· Martin’s law was based around arena security which came into practice after the terrorist incident in Manchester which was part of business continuity and emergency planning. This was to ensure the change in legislation was implemented. · There were three stages of escalation for complaints at West Oxford District Council currently and this was re-examined to ensure good practice. · HR policies mirrored Publica policies to ensure the transition for staff after the Publica split would be less problematic. The policies would be updated as required as and when, once the split was complete. Copies were kept on the intranet that went through Oct 2023 Executive and would be on the intranet as well. Officers would ensure Councillors knew where to find them.
· The bulk of the statement was demonstrating the evidence around good practice and that it was being implemented. The action plan drew attention to the areas that required focus and potential attention. · The record of the meeting were the approved minutes; and regarding regulatory matters it was very important to capture what the decision actually was. However, Officers would find out how long recordings were kept.
RESOLVED that the Audit and Governance Committee AGREED to: 1. Approve and agree the updated Annual Governance Statement for 2023/24 and Annual Governance Action plan for 2024/25; 2. Receive updates on the progress against the key actions at future meetings. |
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Audit and Governance Committee Work Programme 2024/25 Purpose: Committee to note the Work Programme 2024/25.
Recommendation: That the Audit and Governance Committee resolves to: 1. Note and update where necessary the Work Programme 2024/25.
Additional documents: Minutes: The Committee were asked to note the Work Programme 2024/25.
It was requested that dependent on interviews next week, ideas on how to recruit Independent Members to the Committee be discussed at the September meeting.
RESOLVED that the Audit and Governance Committee AGREED to: 1. Note and update where necessary the Work Programme 2024/25.
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