Apologies were received from Councillors Mary Clarkson, Roy Darke (Councillor Antonia Bance attended as a substitute) and James Fry (Councillor Scott Seamons attended as a substitute).

None declared.

Mr Vim Rodrigo attended the meeting and with the permission of the Committee addressed in on the issue of the special expenses levied on those parts of the City that fell outside of a Parish Council area, which he felt was an imposition on those who were least able to afford it.

A copy of the text to Vim Rodrigo’s address is appended to these minutes.

The Committee agreed:

(a)       To thank Vim Rodrigo for his address to the Committee.

(b)       To request the Head of Finance provide a written response to the points raised in the address from Vim Rodgrigo and that this response be submitted to the next meeting of the Audit and Governance Committee for information.

This report was not available when the main agenda was printed and will be circulated separately prior to the meeting.

The Head of Finance submitted a report (previously circulated, now appended) which detailed the Council’s Statement of Accounts for the year ending 31^st Marsh 2012.

Nigel Kennedy, Head of Finance, introduced the report and thanked Anna Winship and the Finance Team for their work in producing this year’s statement of accounts.  He highlighted that the statement of accounts where unqualified for the third year running which was very good as this continued to show the continued improvements made by the Council in the preparation of its accounts.

Councillor Simmons asked with regard to the joint venture and the transfer of land, how this was treated in the accounts.  In response Nigel Kennedy said that the valuation of the land was undertaken through the Councils Corporate Property Services using external valuers.  Jackie Yates further added that the accounts dealt with income/expenditure concerning 2011/12 and that the enhanced value of the land would come through in future years via the profit share mechanism agreed in the contract and as the value was realised.

Councillor Rundle felt that the explanatory forward was very useful.  However he felt that the tense of the text required further work as people reading it might become confused, especially as the document is a public document.

Councillor Simmons asked questions concerning the position of the pension fund.  In response Nigel Kennedy said that there had been a significant shift, mostly due to the current market position.  Jackie Yates added that the valuation of the fund was done on a particular day and time and that it was important to understand that this was a long term investment.  She further added that the triennial valuation of the fund assessed its underlying deficit and that contribution rates were then reviewed to address the deficit over the long term.

The Committee agreed:

(a)       To approve the audited 2011/12 Statement of Accounts and to authorise the Executive Director, Organisational Development and Corporate Services and the Chair of the Committee to sign the Statement of Accounts;

(b)       To approve the Letter of Representation to enable the opinion to be issued.

This report was not available when the main agenda was printed and will be circulated separately prior to the meeting.

The Head of Finance submitted a report (previously circulated, now appended) on behalf of the Audit Commission, which detailed the Annual Governance Report prepared by the Audit Commission.

Maria Grindley from the Audit Commission introduced the report and highlighted once again the improvement made by the Council on what would always be a complex set of accounts and thanked Officers for their work.  She added that there was some additional work undertaken at a cost of £10k, however the overall fees had reduced by £23k from the previous year.

In response to questions concerning the recommendations, Jackie Yates said that management responses to all of the recommendations had been drafted.  Regarding recommendations 1 and 5, these related to training and quality assurance which would be built into the work plan for 2013.  on the recommendations covering leases, work had commenced, but additional agreements were required.  Recommendation 4, concerned three, now former members of Council and a procedure was being put in place to ensure that this information was collected earlier, especially in election years.  A copy of managements response to the recommendations is appended to these minutes.

The Committee agreed to note the report.

The Head of Finance has submitted a report on behalf of the Council’s Internal Auditors, Pricewaterhousecoopers (PWC) which provides an update of the work undertaken as part of the 2012/13 Audit Plan.

The Committee is asked to comment on and note the report.

The Head of Finance submitted a report (previously circulated, now appended) on behalf of the Council’s Internal Auditors, Pricewaterhousecoopers (PWC) which provided an update of the work undertaken as part of the 2012/13 Audit Plan.

Charlotte Bisland from Pricewaterhousecoopers introduced the report and informed the Committee that the audit work days were in-line with the Plan with one revision: the five days allocated to the Northgate Review were no longer required and had been reallocated to a Health and Safety Review.  She explained that this was due to Northgate conducting the review instead.

Councillor Rundle asked why the Fraud Risk report had not been submitted to the Audit and Governance Committee.  In response Charlotte Bisland said that it had not been submitted as it was a value enhancement report which looked at value for money, rather than a risk based audit.  She added that if risk had been identified it would have been reported to the Committee.

Councillor Simmons asked how the Insurance Review would be used in the next insurance contract.  In response Nigel Kennedy said that when a preferred supplier was chosen, the Council would work with them to address

The Committee agreed to note the report.

The Head of Finance and submitted a report on behalf of the Councils Internal Auditors, Pricewaterhousecoopers (PWC) which sets out the findings from a review of insurance.

The Committee is asked to comment on and note the report.

The Head of Finance submitted a report (previously circulated, now appended) on behalf of the Council’s Internal Auditors, Pricewaterhousecoopers (PWC) which set out the findings of a review of the Council’s arrangements for managing insurance claims .

Charlotte Bisland from Pricewaterhousecoopers introduced the report.

Councillor Simmons asked if the Council had a self insurance fund, and if so did the review cover this.  In response Nigel Kennedy said that the Council did set funds aside for self insurance.  He confirmed that this review only looked at the arrangements in respect of the Zurich insurance contract.

The Committee agreed to note the report.

The Head of Finance has submitted a report which updates the Committee on the progress made on the implementation of internal and external audit recommendations.

The Committee is asked to comment on and note the report.

The Head of Finance submitted a report (previously circulated, now appended) which updated the Committee on the progress made on the implementation of recommendations following audits.

Nigel Kennedy, Head of Finance introduced the report and highlighted that there were no outstanding external risks.

Councillor Rundle with regard to internal audit recommendation IA339 said that although it was marked as green and 100% complete there were still issues concerning the time take to process benefit claims.  In response Jackie Yates said that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) had brought in changes which had resulted in peaks of work within the Benefits Team.  She added that a resilience contract had been put in place to deal with these peaks and to manage the flow of work.

Councillor Rundle added that in as much as the days have reduced, could this be maintained and felt that the issue should be passed the Communities and Partnerships Scrutiny Committee to monitor and to also retain the recommendation in the Recommendation Tracker.

Councillor Rundle added that in as much as the days have reduced, he was concerned about sustainability and felt that the issue should be passed the Communities and Partnerships Scrutiny Committee to monitor and to also retain the recommendation in the Recommendation Tracker.

The Committee agreed:

(a)       To invite Helen Bishop, Head of customer Services to the next meeting of the Audit and Governance Committee to provide a brief update on Housing Benefits performance;

(b)       To refer internal audit recommendation IA339 concerning housing benefits to the Communities and Partnerships Scrutiny Committee and request that it continues to monitor the days taken to process claims to ensure that the time taken does not increase;

(c)        To retain internal audit recommendation IA339 concerning housing benefits on the Recommendation Tracker.

Minutes from the meeting held on 28^th June 2012.

The Committee agreed to approve the minutes (previously circulated) of the meeting held on 25^th June 2012.

The Committee will meet on the following dates at 6.00pm in the Town Hall:

Thursday 29^th November 2012

Thursday 28^th February 2013

Thursday 18^th April 2013

The Committee agreed to note the dates of future meetings as detailed on the agenda pages and that the next meeting of the Committee would take place on Thursday 29^th November 2012 at 6.00pm at the Town Hall.

If the Committee wishes to exclude the press and the public from the meeting during consideration of any of the items on the exempt from publication part of the agenda, it will be necessary for the Board to pass a resolution in accordance with the provisions of Paragraph 21(1)(b) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2000 of the on the grounds that their presence could involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as described in specific paragraphs of Schedule I2A of the Local Government Act 1972.

None.