Apologies for absence and notification of substitute members.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Shadbolt. Councillor Berry was present as his substitute.

To receive any announcements from the Chairman and any matters of communication.

The Chairman welcomed Councillor Berry, who had been suffering ill health, to the meeting.

The Chairman also clarified the agenda numbers to correlate with the page numbers on the papers.

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meetings of the Audit Committee held on 28 June 2010 and 30 June 2010. 

The Committee approved and the Chairman signed as a correct record the minutes of the meetings held on 28 June and 30 June 2010.

To receive any questions, statements or deputations from members of the public in accordance with the Procedure as set out in Part A4 of the Constitution.

No applications had been received under Procedure Rule No. CM9 to speak during the fifteen minute question and statement period at the beginning of the meeting.  Furthermore there had been no applications to speak under the Public Participation Scheme on any items included on the agenda for this meeting.

To receive petitions in accordance with the scheme of public participation set out in Annex 2 in Part A4 of the Constitution.

No petitions had been received.

To receive the findings of the accounts audit.

The Committee noted that a revised version of the Annual Governance Report had been published since dispatch of the agenda and it was now  tabled at the meeting.

It was also noted that as the audit of the 2009/10 Statement of Accounts had not been completed, a request was before the Committee to delegate authority to the Chairman to sign off the revised Statement of Accounts.

The Committee considered the report in detail and asked a number of questions. There were two particular areas of concern, as set out below.

The position on the valuation of council dwellings and other Property Assets property was noted. Members were advised of the circumstances that had led to the “impairment” (review) report. The Committee noted that setting a precedent for opening and closing balances mid-year was inadvisable and that an increase in value should only be recorded if it was expected to be permanent. Members were aware of the current volatility of the property market. It was noted that trends in property prices would be reviewed at year-end and a decision would be taken then as to whether an upward valuation should be entered for the purposes of the accounts.

Whilst Members noted the technical nature of the valuation issue, greater concern was expressed about the disaggregation of balances for creditors, debtors, cash and temporary investments. The question was raised of whether resolving these would impact adversely on the Revenue Account.

A response was given which indicated that considerable work had been and continued to be undertaken to achieve clarity in this area. This specific part of the accounts had been stripped back to basics with detailed spreadsheets and working papers produced. The checking had now concluded and draft papers indicated that there was nothing amiss.

The Committee noted that the Value for Money conclusion was likely to be subject to a Qualified opinion by the Audit Commission. The Audit Commission representative pointed out however that other councils which had become unitaries in 2009 at the same time as Central Bedfordshire had experienced problems with timescales, leading to Qualified Opinion.

In response to a question, the Audit Commission representative indicated that the fact that the accounts had not been fully complete by end June 2010 led to some concern.

Members were advised of the position that the Chief Accountant had quite recently left the Council due to ill health and in his absence, the appropriate level of expertise on the SAP system had not been available. Whilst the position had been filled on an interim basis the Council would shortly be recruiting for a permanent replacement. It was anticipated that the problem of not being able to put the opening balances into SAP would not be repeated. With the opening balances in place next year the position would be simplified.

Consideration was given to the proposal that the Committee approve delegated authority to enable the Chairman to sign off the accounts. A suggestion was made that instead, a meeting should be held at  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.

This report presents the Internal Audit Charter 2010/11.

The Committee considered the updated Internal Audit Charter attached at Appendix A to the submitted report, providing a means of Council members, employees and contractors understanding how internal audit interacts with the organisation when carrying out its work.

It was noted that this document contained no significant changes to the 2009/10 Charter presented to Committee in April 2009 although it had been updated to reflect changes in roles and responsibilities arising from the Senior Management Review.

The Committee welcomed the document.

In response to a question as to whether the Committee should meet more frequently it was noted that no additional meetings were required to be programmed in. Meetings should however be held at appropriate times with regard to the work that was being undertaken.

AGREED

that the Committee noted and endorsed the 2010/11 Internal Audit Charter.

The report presents the Council’s Information Governance Framework for approval.

The Committee received and considered a report together with the Council’s Information Governance Framework.

The report set out the steps for ensuring that the information held by the Council is appropriately governed in terms of protecting the interests of all its stakeholders. It also detailed the Council’s fundamental aims with regard to information governance and the role of the Senior Information Risk Officer (SIRO) .

The Committee noted that the Council had recently passed its CoCo audit (Government Connect Code of Connection). As this assessment was increasingly stringent each year this was a significant achievement.

AGREED

to approve the Information Governance Framework subject to a number of minor drafting amendments.

RESOLVED:

that under section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 the Press and Public were excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that consideration of the items were likely to involve the disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3  of Part I of Schedule 12A of the Act.

This report provides a progress update on the status of Internal Audit work for 2010/11.

The Committee received and considered a report setting out the progress and status of Internal Audit work for 2010/11.

In considering the report it was noted that an audit investigation which had been started by one of the Council’s legacy authorities had resulted in a criminal conviction with a 2 years and 9 months jail sentence and the repayment of £160,000.

RESOLVED:-

1.                  to note the progress made to date; and

2.                  to approve the proposed revisions to the 2010/11 Plan.

This report summarises the high risk recommendations arising from Internal Audit reports and outlines how these will be monitored, tracked and reported to the Audit Committee.

The Committee considered a report which summarised the high risk recommendations arising from Internal Audit reports and outlined how these would be monitored, tracked and reported to the Committee.

Members noted the tracking system and that there were currently no red-flagged items. It was noted that progress would continue to be monitored.

It was noted that a progress report would be brought to the Committee’s next meeting. The Committee requested that an interim report be sent to members of the Committee on the position at 31 October 2010.

AGREED:-

1.                  to note and welcome the arrangements;

2.                  that an interim report would be sent to members of the Committee providing an update of the position at 31 October 2010.