MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE AUDIT AND PERFORMANCE COMMITTEE HELD AT COUNTY HALL, NEWPORT, ISLE OF WIGHT ON THURSDAY, 21 SEPTEMBER 2006 COMMENCING AT 6.00 PM

Present:

Cllrs Anne Bishop (Chairman), Ivan Bulwer, Mike Cunningham, Jonathan Fitzgerald-Bond, Barbara Foster, Susan Scoccia

Also in attendance:

Cllrs Vanessa Churchman, Andy Sutton, David Whittaker, Jilly Wood

Officers Present:

Joe Duckworth, Stuart Fraser, John Lawson, Ged Richardson, Bob Streets, Paul Thistlewood, April West

Others Present:

Alastair Rankine (Audit Manager from the Audit Commission), Stephen Taylor (District Auditor)

The Chairman announced that item 6 on the agenda would be brought forward to be discussed directly after item 4.

17. MINUTES

RESOLVED :

THAT the minutes of the meeting held on 29 June 2006 be confirmed.

18. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

There were no declarations of interest.

19. PUBLIC QUESTION TIME

There were no public questions.

20. THE NEW STATUS OF THE AUDIT AND PERFORMANCE COMMITTEE

At the Chairman’s invitation the Leader advised Members that the new responsibilities of the committee involved ensuring that the right services were delivered to the right people whilst maximising resources. The new role would incorporate monitoring the Council’s performance through the performance indicators. The performance data would be collated using qualitative local performance information.

Members were further advised that the Internal Auditing Service now had extra resources to support the detailed work required to support the Audit and Performance Committee with their new monitoring responsibilities. It was anticipated that robust monitoring would have an impact across the whole Council.

The Committee discussed the challenge ahead and agreed that CorVu was a good tool, but required quality data from services in order to deliver the standard of performance information that the Committee required. This would be the subject of further discussion and investigation. Members raised concerns about the level of support available for the extra work involved.

The Cabinet would be advised of any potential problems and the committee would also report directly to Full Council as an independent body as and when required.

RESOLVED

(i) THAT the Audit and Performance Committee would embrace their new responsibilities to monitor the Council’s performance and use of resources.

(ii) THAT the Audit and Performance Committee would report to Cabinet, or directly to Full Council regarding potential problems

21. AUDIT COMMISSION REPORT

The District Auditor addressed the Committee and tabled the Annual Governance Report for 2005-06. An up to date more user friendly version of the report would be produced for March 2007 and it was suggested that this would be in a more appropriate format to be made available to the public on the Council’s website. Members were advised that the two main objectives of the report were to establish statements, and also to establish whether the Council had made proper arrangements for securing economy, efficiency and effectiveness in its use of resources.

Key messages to the Committee were that the opinion on the accounts would be unqualified, but that with regard to the value for money criteria, two indicators required further investigation which may result in a qualified use of resources conclusion on the final letter.

The Committee was further advised that the Statement of Internal Control had been signed off and the Council’s overall accounting service was satisfactory. Members were reminded of the importance of continuing to review the level of reserves and balances to ensure they are consistent with future funding requirements and corporate priorities.

The accounts would be signed off the following week by the District Auditor, who had recognised that 2005-06 had been a year of many changes for the Council. The District Auditor thanked all the staff for their support.

RESOLVED:

THAT the report be noted.

22. INTERNAL AUDIT OUTCOMES REPORT

The report was introduced by the Chief Internal Auditor and Members were advised that a number of internal audits had been completed since May. Audits undertaken included the services for car parks, best value performance indicators, bank reconciliation, creditor payments, disabled facilities grants and electrical services/street lighting, street cleansing and litter management.

Members raised concerns regarding resources and basic financial control issues in the car parks support service. The Committee also discussed the accuracy of the Council’s performance indicators and were advised that this responsibility lay within the individual departments. There were also concerns about decisions being made on the basis of incorrect data and Members advised that senior management should prioritise the accuracy and integrity of the Council’s performance indicators.

Further concerns were raised about time spent in obtaining VAT invoices from suppliers, and whether some Council contracts were inappropriately long.

RESOLVED:

(i) THAT the Chief Internal Auditor would provide an update on progress for the audit on the car parks service.

(ii) THAT the remainder of the report be noted.

23. CPA INSPECTION REPORT ACTION PLAN – RISK MANAGEMENT

The report was introduced by the Programme Lead for Compliance and Risk Management and Members were advised that current arrangements required improvement. This responsibility was included within the Council’s use of resources arrangements and therefore part of the remit for the Audit and Performance Committee. Currently the authority was rated at level 2 for use of resources, but the Council’s objective was to achieve level 3 for next year.

RESOLVED:

(i) THAT the actions to improve the Council’s risk management performance were approved.

(ii) THAT the committee receives regular reports (not less than quarterly) to ensure sufficient progress.

24. MEMBERS QUESTION TIME

There were no Member questions.

CHAIRMAN