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Agenda and minutes

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Meeting Room G.01, Ground Floor, City Hall, 115 Charles Street, Leicester, LE1 1FZ

Contact: Angie Smith, Democratic Support Officer 

Items
No. Item

1.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Pantling.

 

Introductions were made.

2.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Members are asked to declare any interests they may have in the business to be discussed.

Minutes:

Members were asked to declare any interests they might have in the business to be discussed.

 

Councillor Dr. Moore declared that her son worked for Leicester City Council. She further declared that she received a pension from Leicestershire.

 

Councillor Whittle declared that he received a Council pension.

 

Councillor Bajaj declared that he was a  member of the Local Pension Board for the City and County, representing Leicester City Council as a scheme employer.

 

In accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct, the interests were not considered so significant that they were likely to prejudice the Councillors’ judgement of the public interest. The Members were not, therefore, required to withdraw from the meeting.

3.

MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING pdf icon PDF 197 KB

The minutes of the meeting of the Audit and Risk Committee held on 16 March 2022 are attached and the Committee is asked to confirm them as a correct record.

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 16 March 2022 be confirmed as a correct record.

 

Councillor Dr. Moore asked, as a matter arising under Minute 47. Corporate Complaints (Non-Statutory) 2020/21, when a report on complaints figures would be brought to a future meeting to establish if complaints figures had improved.

 

ACTION:   The Deputy Director of Finance to add to the work programme for the Audit and Risk Committee.

4.

MEMBERSHIP OF THE AUDIT AND RISK COMMITTEE 2022/23

Members are asked to note the membership of the Committee for 2022/23 as:

 

Councillor Kaur Saini (Chair)

Councillor Dr. Moore (Vice-Chair)

Councillor Bajaj

Councillor Cassidy

Councillor Pantling

Councillor Valand

Councillor Whittle

 

1 unfilled non-Group vacancy

Minutes:

Members were asked to note the membership of the Committee for 2022/23 as:

 

Councillor Kaur Saini (Chair)

Councillor Dr. Moore (Vice-Chair)

Councillor Bajaj

Councillor Cassidy

Councillor Pantling

Councillor Valand

Councillor Whittle

 

One unfilled non-Group vacancy

One unfilled Independent Member vacancy

 

RESOLVED:

That the membership of the Committee for 2022/23 be noted.

5.

DATES OF MEETINGS OF THE AUDIT AND RISK COMMITTEE 2022/23

Members are asked to note the meeting dates of the Committee for the 2022/23 municipal year as:

 

20 July 2022

28 September 2022

22 November 2022

18 January 2023

15 March 2023

 

Scheduled training will take place at 5.00pm before the main meeting.

Meetings are scheduled to take place at 5.30pm.

Minutes:

Members were asked to note the meeting dates of the Committee for the 2022/23 municipal year as:

 

20 July 2022

28 September 2022

22 November 2022

18 January 2023

15 March 2023

 

RESOLVED:

That the meeting dates of the Committee for 2022/23 be noted.

6.

TERMS OF REFERENCE pdf icon PDF 163 KB

Members are asked to note the Terms of Reference for the Committee as attached.

Minutes:

Members were asked to note the Terms of Reference for the Committee, a copy of which was circulated with the agenda.

 

RESOLVED:

That the Terms of Reference of the Committee as circulated be noted.

7.

DRAFT STATUTORY STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS & ANNUAL GOVERNANCE STATEMENT 2021/22 / EXTERNAL AUDIT PLAN 2022-23 pdf icon PDF 272 KB

The Chief Operating Officer (S151), Deputy Director of Finance, and External Auditor submit a report to the Audit and Risk Committee which provide an opportunity for the Committee to consider the Council’s Draft Annual Statement of Accounts and Annual Governance Statemen for 2021/22 before they are brought back to Committee for formal approval.

 

The Committee is recommended to consider the Draft Annual Statement of Accounts for 2021/22 at Appendix A, the Draft Annual Governance Statement at Appendix A, the update on the independent member recruitment, and the External Audit Plan at Appendix C.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chief Operating Officer (S151), Deputy Director of Finance, and External Auditor submitted a report to the Audit and Risk Committee which provided an opportunity for the Committee to consider the Council’s Draft Annual Statement of Accounts and Annual Governance Statement for 2021/22 before being brought back to Committee for formal approval.

 

The Committee was recommended to consider the Draft Annual Statement of Accounts for 2021/22 at Appendix A, the Draft Annual Governance Statement at Appendix A, the update on the independent member recruitment, and the External Audit Plan at Appendix C.

 

Ben Matthews, Chief Accountant, presented the report and drew Members’ attention to the following:

 

·         The report touched briefly on the appointment of an independent audit and risk committee member, the post of which had been advertised in consultation with the Chair.

·         The Draft Annual Statement of Accounts and Draft Annual Governance Statement had been brought to the Committee for consideration prior to being brought back to Committee in their final form in November 2022 for Audit & Risk Committee approval.

·         The Annual Governance Statement as presented set out the framework in which the Council was operated, highlighting any significant governance issues, and provided an update on those previously identified.

·         For the Annual Governance Statement, the Council follows CIPFAs ‘Delivering Good Governance in Local Government’ framework.

·         The narrative report provided a background to the council and highlighted work it was doing including key pledges going forward and outcomes. It also provided a summary of the financial position of the Council and future outlook.

·         The following items were highlighted from the Statement of Accounts 2021/22:

o   The change in how income was generated since the pandemic;

o   The valuation of an asset held in a Council museum had significantly increased.

o   COVID was continuing to have a significant impact on the unusable and usable reserves, largely due to government grants being paid ahead of need.

o   The pensions deficit of £596m.  Members were reminded that this figure can fluctuate between years.   It was noted this figures is based on the benefits an employee earns and their post-retirement benefits. However, due to statutory arrangements the Council’s deficit would be made good due to increased contributions of an employee and employer over their remaining working life before payments became due.

o   Members Allowances and Officers’

·         Members were informed of issues around the accounting of infrastructure assets, and subsequent CIPFA consultation on the resolution of issues. The Council would work through the CIPFA proposal once released to identify if this will impact the accounts.  It was noted this is a national issue. 

 

Members were then asked if they had any questions, and the following responses were made:

 

·         Included in the narrative statement to the report, the in-year deficit in LLEP was noted. Members were informed that this was a planned deficit to enable additonal investment in supporting businesses, which would be funded from LLEP reserves.

ACTION: The Deputy Director of Finance would provide information to Members following the meeting.

·         Noted was the extension  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

8.

PROGRESS AGAINST INTERNAL AUDIT PLANS AND THE INTERNAL AUDIT ANNUAL REPORT 2021-22 pdf icon PDF 461 KB

The Head if Internal Audit and Assurance Service submits a report to the Audit and Risk Committee, which provide a summary of progress against the 2021-22 & 2022-23 Internal Audit Plans, and an annual report on internal audit work conducted during 2021-22.

 

The Committee is recommended to note the contents of the routine update report.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Head of Internal Audit and Assurance Service submitted a report to the Audit and Risk Committee, which provided a summary of progress against the 2021-22 & 2022-23 Internal Audit Plans, and an annual report on internal audit work conducted during 2021-22. The Committee was recommended to note the contents of the routine update report.

 

Neil Jones, Head of Internal Audit and Assurance Service (HoIAS), Leicestershire County Council presented the report, during which it was noted that:

 

·         Part 1 of the report provided a summary of progress against the 2021-22 and 2022-23 Internal Audit Plans, and a summary of resources used to close off and progress audits.

·         Part 2 of the report was the annual report on internal audit work conducted 2021-22.

·         Members were informed that the City Council had delegated its internal audit function to the County Council in November 2017, and the HoIAS was the head of internal audit for both Council’s.

·         Appendix 1 to the report listed individual audits that were closed off and those that were work in progress. It was noted that anything in bold font reflected a change since the previous Committee Meeting in March 2022. It was reported that good progress was being made into the current year of audits.

·         Commentary on resources used reported there had been a period with the team carrying vacancies, but the team had pushed forward and was a lot more stable, producing a number of audits. It was noted a number of recruitment exercises had been undertaken, and another team member was planned to start in October.

 

Councillor Cassidy left the meeting at 6:29pm

 

·         A key part of the report was progress with implementing high importance recommendations. Appendix 2 to the report provided a short summary of the issues. It was noted that high importance recommendations would continue to come to the Committee until the HoIAS was satisfied that it had been implemented properly.

·         The report pointed towards recommendations that continued to be extended. Pressure would be put on those areas with support from the Deputy Director of Finance and Head of Finance to implement recommendations to close those audits down.

·         Part 2 was HoIAS requirement to present an annual report and completed the cycle of internal audit work undertaken in 2021-22.

·         There were specific requirements within the report, the most important was for the HoIAS to look at all the audit work undertaken, experiences and evaluations, and to give a formed opinion on the control environment.

·         Despite some vacancies and some absences, the team had managed to conduct a programme of work that was sufficient for the HoIAS to give a positive opinion, which was explained at Paragraph 17 in the report.

·         Annex 1 to the report explained the types of audits undertaken and things evaluated, including reviewing other committees and looking at key documents, which all helped the HoIAS to form an opinion.

·         The remainder of the report covered Internal Audit performance over the year, and how the performance of the team conformed against  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

9.

INTERNAL AUDIT PLAN 2022/23 pdf icon PDF 322 KB

The Head of Internal Audit and Assurance Service (HoIAS) submits a report to the Audit and Risk Committee, which provides an indication of internal audit work planned to be conducted during 2022-23, and information about a recently issued report ‘Internal Audit: Untapped Potential’, following extensive research by CIPFA.

 

The Committee is recommended to receive the plan, note its contents, and seek clarification on any areas as they and then approve the plan, make any recommendation or comments it sees fit, and note the CIPFA report and support the HoIAS and Deputy Director of Finance working together to make improvements to the service and arrangements.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Head of Internal Audit and Assurance Service (HoIAS) submitted a report to the Audit and Risk Committee, which provided an indication of internal audit work planned to be conducted during 2022-23, and information about a recently issued report ‘Internal Audit: Untapped Potential’, following extensive research by CIPFA. The Committee was recommended to receive the plan, note its contents, and seek clarification on any areas and then approve the plan, make any recommendation or comments it saw fit; and note the CIPFA report and support the HoIAS and Deputy Director of Finance by working together to make improvements to the service and arrangements.

 

The HoIAS presented the report, and it was noted that:

 

·         A risk-based plan had been developed, with a reasonable span of audits across the three components of the control environment.

·         Nothing had changed in the methodology, and there had been very good engagement with Directors on emerging risks.

·         There was still some uncertainty with Covid moving forwards, and the plan would be fluid in case it needed to be changed, and conversations to be had with colleagues at the City Council on where to divert resources.

·         The plan at Appendix 1 was split into components of Governance, Risk Management and Internal Control, but there were areas that would overlap. The grant audits were included, but the time spent on those was being reduced, and there was a contingency for anything additional that required attention during the year.

·         Paragraph 22 in the report was highlighted for Members of the Committee for its importance and provided the HoIAS with an opportunity to remind Members of their help and support to the internal audit function to push through the plan. Any major changes to the plan would be brought back to the Committee.

·         CIPFA undertook a major research project around internal audit in the public sector and subsequent report ‘Internal Audit: Untapped Potential’ was summarised at Appendix 2. Appendix 3 was an article written by CIPFA’s governance advisor. The Chair of Audit and Risk Committee and Deputy Director of Finance had both contributed to the research. It was planned that the HoIAS would meet with the Deputy Director of Finance to go through the report and look at areas of potential improvement and would bring an action plan back to a future Committee meeting.

 

Members were given the opportunity to ask questions and the following responses were provided:

 

·         It was asked if the remit of Internal Audit included to look at the operation of HR in dealing with employment issues. It was reported that Internal Audit would look at the process but not necessarily individual cases but would ensure good governance was monitored and followed. It was further noted it was not included as a key risk by HR representatives, but a note was made to speak with managers to see if there were any underlying problems they might want assurance on.

ACTION: It was reported that a report had been taken to Overview Select Committee on workforce  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

10.

REGULATION OF INVESTIGATORY POWERS ACT 2000 - BI-ANNUAL PERFORMANCE REPORT JANUARY 2022 - JUNE 2022 pdf icon PDF 123 KB

The City Barrister and Head of Standards submits a report to the Audit and Risk Committee which advises on the performance of the Council in authorising Regulatory Investigation Powers Act (RIPA) applications from 1st January 2022 to 30th June 2022.

 

The Committee is recommended to receive the report and note its contents, and make any recommendations or comments it sees fit either to the Executive or to the City Barrister and Head of Standards.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The City Barrister and Head of Standards submitted a report to the Audit and Risk Committee which advised on the performance of the Council in authorising Regulatory Investigation Powers Act (RIPA) applications from 1st January 2022 to 30th June 2022.The Committee was recommended to receive the report and note its contents and make any recommendations or comments it saw fit either to the Executive or to the City Barrister and Head of Standards.

 

Lynn Wyeth, Head of Information Governance and Risk, presented the report, and drew Members’ attention to the following information:

 

·         It was stated that covert surveillance was not undertaken very often and, as is written in the current report, 0 Directed Surveillance Authorisations and 0 Communications Data Authorisations had been sought from the Magistrates Court. Magistrates would only provide sign off for offences where people could go to jail for six months.

·         Covert surveillance used more technology now, such as data matching.

·         Offences for surveillance included fly tipping, blue badge fraud, abuse of benefit claims, etc.

·         The number of covert surveillance undertaken was reported annually. Every three years the Team was inspected by the Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s Office (IPOC) and the latest inspection occurred in February 2022 using a desktop exercise and was included with the report.

·         The report showed the Council was in good order with no serious recommendations made.

·         Advice on amendments to the retention and disposal policy was implemented, by ensuring evidence was not kept for longer than was necessary and was kept secure, and the consideration of safeguarding issued when collecting evidence.

 

The Chair received the report and noted its contents.

 

RESOLVED:

1.    That the report be noted.

11.

REPORT OF THE AUDIT AND RISK COMMITTEE TO COUNCIL COVERING 2021/22 pdf icon PDF 381 KB

The Deputy Director of Finance submits a report to the Audit and Risk Committee setting out the Committee’s achievement over the municipal year 2021/22.

 

The Committee is recommended to approve the report for submission to the Council.

Minutes:

The Deputy Director of Finance submitted a report to the Audit and Risk Committee which set out the Committee’s achievements over the municipal year 2021/22. The Committee was recommended to approve the report for submission to the Council.

 

The Head of Finance presented the report, and the following points were noted:

 

·         The annual report provided information on the activities the Committee completed over the past year, such as the Statement of Accounts approval, the receiving of risk management reports, the fact the Committee had met regularly, and was the standard report usually presented.

 

Members were asked to note the report and the following comments were made:

 

·         A discussion took place which related to the previous agenda item’s comments about the performance of the Committee, and whether the Committee was undertaking its role to the fullest.

·         The potential provision of metrics and data was discussed such as, meetings – how many meetings were held, attendance figures, how long meetings lasted, how many questions were asked, and what actions were reported at the next meeting, etc. Once data was collected, patterns would be seen.

·         The Committee carried a large amount of responsibility as to how the Council conducted its business.

 

Officers stated the report confirmed roles and functions had been completed by the Committee over the year, such as the agreement by Committee to recruit an Independent Member, confirmation the Committee was active in promoting its remit, ensuring it had the knowledge and expertise going forward and was a positive step. Information suggested such as the metrics going forward would be looked at for inclusion at future meetings.

 

The Deputy Director of Finance acknowledged the perspective of Members on where they felt the Committee was operating. He welcomed any suggestions and recommendations that could be made to improve its operation. He added that he felt the evening’s meeting had been good, with a strong level of engagement and questioning at the meeting which had been good to see. He noted that external and internal auditors would have raised concerns on the performance of the Committee when required. It was further noted that the Chair was also involved with the East Midlands Regional Audit Forum as Chair which the Government and LGA had set up in 2022 and would be good for the Council’s Audit and Risk Committee.

 

Grant Patterson, External Auditor, was asked if there was a difference in quality of challenge based on the political structure of an authority, whether balanced, or with one-dominant party. The External Auditor responded that the challenge in a meeting was not to do with politics but more to do with the confidence of individual members, and that the minutes should reflect the level of challenge.

 

He added that the point was covered in an External Auditor’s Annual Report for 2021 which would be followed up again, with one area saying there were things the Audit and Risk Committee could do such as self-assess annually around its confidence in the skill set of the Committee, and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

12.

AUDIT & RISK COMMITTEE WORKPLAN pdf icon PDF 89 KB

The workplan for the Audit and Risk Committee is attached.

Minutes:

The Head of Finance presented the workplan for the Committee.

 

In response to a previous request by the Chair, it was noted that Corporate Complaints would be brought to the meeting in January 2023 with complete data.

 

It was noted that an extra meeting had been included for 2022/23 due to the busy schedule of reports that were due to be brought to the Committee.

 

RESOLVED:

1.    That the workplan of the Audit and Risk Committee be noted.

 

13.

CLOSE OF MEETING

Minutes:

There being no other items of urgent business, the meeting closed at 7.15pm.