Agenda and minutes

Councillor Kaur Saini as the Chair led on introductions.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Dave.

The Chair took the opportunity to thank The Chief Accountant for his support to the Committee and wished him the best on his new role.

Members will be asked to declare any pecuniary or other interests they may have in the business to be discussed.

Councillor Whittle declared that he was a beneficiary of the Local Government Pension scheme, should the topic come up for discussion at the Committee.

Councillor Kitterick declared that he was employed by HMRC.

The minutes of the meeting held on 15^th March 2023 are attached and Members will be asked to confirm that the minutes are a correct record.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the previous meeting be confirmed as a correct record.

Members will be asked to note the membership of the Committee for 2023-24 as follows:

Councillor Kaur Saini (Chair)

Councillor Yasmin Surti (Vice-Chair)

3 Labour places to be notified

3 opposition places to be notified

Mr Bipon Bhakri Independent Member

The Membership of the Committee was noted.

Councillor Kitterick for the record stated it was bad practice for the effective Chief Executive of the organisation to appoint the Chair and Vice Chair of the Audit and Governance Committee and should be discontinued as soon as possible.

Members will be asked to note the Terms of Reference for the Committee as attached and approved at Full Council on 6^th July 2023.

The Terms of Reference were noted.

Members will be asked to note the meeting dates of the Committee for the 2023-24 municipal year:

·       Wednesday 27^th September 2023

·       Wednesday 22^nd November 2023

·       Wednesday 17^th January 2024

·       Wednesday 13^th March 2024

All meetings to commence at 5.30pm and to be held at City Hall.

Please note Members of the Committee will be required to undertake regular training and/or briefing sessions which will be scheduled to take place prior to the main meetings from 4.45pm.

The schedule of meetings and the workplan for the municipal year were noted.

Councillor Kitterick requested the Chair if appropriate, to consider adding the item on Commercial Loans and the Haymarket Loan to the Work Plan focussed on the financial management. The Director of Finance informed the Committee that this could be requested to be added to the work programme for the year and this would be based on the governance of the decision making processes.

The Director of Finance submits a report providing an opportunity for the committee to consider the Council’s Draft Annual Statement of Accounts and Annual Governance Statement for 2022-23 before they are brought back to committee for formal approval.

The report also provides an update on the progress of the external audits for 2020-21 and 2021-22.

The committee will be invited to note the contents and make any comments on the report.

The Chief Accountant introduced the report and provided an overview of the report on the Draft Statutory Statement of Accounts and the Annual Governance Statement 2022/23 and provided a brief update on the External Audit of the 2021/22 accounts.

As part of the discussions, it was noted that:

·         The Local Enterprise Partnership was effectively a separate body and did not impact any direct funding to the authority. Although the future was uncertain currently, there was guidance anticipated to plan the transition arrangements and options going forward, this could be updated on in the future.

·         The two voluntary controlled schools referenced that were not owned by the council have to be included in the accounts as the authority controls the assets.

·         Surplus assets such as potential development sites were capital assets and if sold could only fund capital expenditure and could not be used to solve any revenue budget issues.

·         Reports to the Pension Committee for which the Council had representation on, would address any liability to pensions from any divestment from fossil fuels, these impacts were currently unknown.

·         The fall in government grants was related to the Covid support grants and a report on this went to Council figures in the accounts were best estimates and should remain the same.

·         The position with the claim by Biffa and the impacts on the accounts was currently unknown and was a contingent liability in the accounts currently.

·         Investment limits were approved by Council in the Treasury Strategy, which sets out all limits in line with risk factors. The controls of treasury investments is something that could be considered by the Committee.

·         The increase in the value of the museum asset was not able to be disclosed in the meeting due to insurance purposes, but Members of the Committee could request this information outside of the meeting.

Members of the Commission raised concerns on the pension deficit which was 0 and could not be quantified and requested Officers to further elaborate on this matter. It was noted that these varied year on year but in simplistic terms assets had stayed flat, but the liability for future pensions provisions had changed, as it was effectively discounted using interest rates in terms of liability and as those interest rates have increased, it is estimated that the future liability had dropped and these estimates would be challenged by auditors.

The External Auditor introduced the report and noted that the full audit plan was not yet being issued and this was primarily down to an updated auditing standard which included a lot more documentation to be completed. Most of what was presented to the Committee would be included as part of the audit plan and was a good reflection overall. The document Informing an Audit Risk Assessment underpins the plan.

Members of the Committee noted that they were happy with what was being reported in the accounts which were consistent with their what they have previously been presented with in their roles in the Council.

Members of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

The Head of Internal Audit and Assurance Service submits a report providing a summary of progress against the 2022-23 and prior year Internal Audit Plans together with an Annual Report on internal audit work conducted during 2022-23.

The Committee will be invited to note the contents and make any comments on the report.

The Internal Auditor from Leicestershire County Council presented an overview of the report on Progress against Internal Audit Plans 2022-23 and 2022-23 and 2023-24 and the Internal Audit Annual Report 2022-23 which was a two-part report. Part one provided a routine progress against the plans report and part two was the Head of Internal Audit’s Annual Report.

As part of the discussions, it was noted that:

·         Members of the Committee were pleased that overall, the report was positive.

·         Members queried the high importance recommendations and requested an update on CCTV to be provided in January 2024 which had a target date of December 2023 and in response Members were reassured that a progress report would be provided as soon as it was available.

·         Resiliency testing of the ICT Controls were ongoing after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as there was a clear danger and Anti-Virus approaches had changed.

RESOLVED:

That the contents of the report be noted, and the comments raised by the Committee be considered.

The Corporate Investigations Manager submits a report providing an update on the National Fraud Initiative (NFI) exercises currently underway.

The Committee will be asked to note the contents of the report and make any comments.

The Investigations Officer provided a report which updated the Committee on the National Fraud Initiative currently underway.

As part of the discussions, the Chair queried the £189,000 overpayment which had been highlighted in the report. In response to the Chair, it was noted that this overpayment had been received in full and had been identified by the NFI and this would be added to the internal audit plan.

RESOLVED:

            That the Committee note the report.

The Director of Delivery, Communication and Political Governance submits a report providing an overview of the outcomes of the Equality Pay Audit conducted in May 2022 by an independent specialist.

The Committee will be asked to note the contents of the report and make any comments.

The Head of Human HR introduced the report and provided an overview of the Equal Pay report.  It was noted that:

·         This report provided an overview of the outcomes of the recent Equality Pay Audit conducted in May 2022 by an independent specialist.

·         The findings of the audit pay credit to a well-constructed pay and grading structure and effective management of the Council’s pay policies. The Audit report overall concluded that the authority had robust provisions, criteria and practices within the organisation that prevent unequal pay.

·         A small number of recommendations were made to further investigate potential differences to ensure equality in pay remained.  

As part of the discussions, it was noted that Members of the Committee were satisfied that the pay grading was fair and robust measures were in place to maintain these standards.

RESOLVED:

            That the report be noted.

There being no other items of urgent business, the meeting closed at 7:12pm.