MINUTES
OF A MEETING OF THE AUDIT COMMITTEE HELD ON THURSDAY, 16 MARCH 2006 AT
COUNTY HALL, NEWPORT, ISLE OF WIGHT COMMENCING AT 6.00 PM
Present:
Cllrs Anne Bishop (Chairman), Ivan Bulwer, Mike
Cunningham, Jonathan Fitzgerald-Bond, Barbara Foster, Susan Scoccia
Also
in attendance:
Cllr Melanie Swan
Officers
Present:
Oliver Dunne, Prue Grimshaw, Ged Richardson, Derek
Rowell, Bob Streets, Paul Thistlewood
Others
Present:
Alastair Rankine (Audit Manager from the Audit
Commission)
The
Committee noted the resignation of Cllr Garry Price from the Committee.
27.
MINUTES
RESOLVED :
THAT
the minutes of the Audit Committee held on 12
January 2006 be confirmed.
28.
DECLARATIONS OF
INTEREST
Cllr Mike Cunningham declared a personal interest in Minute 31, as he was a School Governor at Nineacres.
29.
MANAGEMENT OF THE
DISPOSAL OF PROPERTY
During this item Cllr Mike Cunningham declared a
personal interest as he had previously been the Chairman of a Task Group for property
in the previous Council.
The Committee considered the report of the Audit
Commission regarding a review undertaken of the Council’s arrangements for the
disposal of land and buildings. The findings in the report were based on
evidence collected in March 2005.
The Audit Commission detailed areas
where the Council’s approach to managing property transactions were sound, and
areas where significant improvements could be made. The report contained
several recommendations which were fed into an action plan set out in Appendix
1 of the report. The Committee were advised that some completion dates in the
action plan had been revised which included recommendation R7 now due to be
completed by June 2006, R8 by March 2006, and R12 by June 2006.
The Director of
Environment Services informed the Committee of the role of the Strategic Asset
Management Group and the appointment of Keith Jones as external support for the
group. He reassured the Committee that asset management would underpin
regeneration where appropriate and could also provide support to the planning
department. The Committee were informed that an acting Head of Regeneration
would be sought at the end of the month as a result of staffing changes in the
property services department.
RESOLVED:
THAT the recommendations contained in the Audit
Commissions report, together with the action plan, be endorsed.
30.
ANNUAL PERFORMANCE
ASSESSMENT - EDUCATION AND CHILDREN’S SOCIAL CARE SERVICES 2005
The Committee received a presentation by the Head of
Children and Family Services which provided further explanation on the key
messages from the formal response by OFSTED & CSCI on the Annual
Performance Assessment undertaken in 2005.
The Committee expressed disappointment that the
contribution of the local authority’s education services in maintaining and
improving outcomes for children and young people was scored at a grade 1 level.
This grade indicated that the service did not deliver minimum requirements for
users. The Committee were also disappointed that the Council’s overall capacity
to improve its services for children and young people was awarded a grade 2
which indicated a service that delivered only minimum requirements for users.
Members asked questions regarding the re-referral
rate being too high. They were informed that improving the decision making
process of what is a referral and what constitutes a contact should reduce the
high figure and reflect in the scores next time.
Regarding the availability of placements in fostering
and adoption Members were informed that there was a higher ratio of children in
care to foster parents and that this was a national problem.
RESOLVED:
THAT the findings of the Annual Performance
Assessment for Education and Children’s Social Care Services for 2005 be noted.
31.
STRATEGIC PLAN FOR
INTERNAL AUDIT
The Chief Internal Auditor informed the Committee of
the proposed internal audit activity for the next three years including the
resources required. The Committee were informed that internal audit was a
statutory function for which the Council must make provision under the Accounts
and Audit Regulations 2003.
The Strategic Audit Plan set out the activities to be
audited, the approach to the audit, and the time needed to execute the audit.
Consultation with stakeholders, Heads of Service and the Audit Commission had
taken place and the plan had been risk assessed.
The Committee were informed that an ICT Auditor,
together with two new trainees, would be recruited in the near future and then
the department would be well resourced.
RESOLVED:
THAT the Audit Committee
i.
endorse the methodology
used to construct the audit plan;
ii.
note the relative
priorities, frequencies and amounts of time devoted to areas of council
activity;
iii.
note the priorities of
the audit teams work.
32.
ANNUAL AUDIT AND
INSPECTION LETTER - DISCUSSION POINTS
The Audit Manager from the Audit Commission
summarised the key issues arising from the external auditors wider Code of
Audit Practice responsibilities and set out a summary of the issues for the
attention of the Audit Committee.
Members noted that the capital programme was on the
Scrutiny Committee’s work plan together with the use of Council’s reserves and
balances.
Questions were asked regarding capital slippage,
change management structures, the monitoring of performance management, and
ethical values.
The Committee were informed that benchmarking was
inconsistent throughout the organisation. Although there were pockets of best
practice the effective application of benchmarking should become more
widespread throughout the Council. The Committee was informed that the
Corporate Objective Groups (COGs) would consider this and recommend appropriate
improvements.
RESOLVED:
THAT the contents of the Annual Audit and Inspection
letter report be noted.
33.
AUDIT PROGRESS
REPORT
The Audit Manager from the Audit Commission indicated
how the work programme, agreed as part of the 2005/06 Audit and Inspection
Plan, was progressing. An indication was given of the date that final reports
were expected to be available for presentation to the Audit Committee.
RESOLVED:
THAT the report be noted.