Agenda and minutes

A number of council meetings are live-streamed.

All meetings are also uploaded after the event onto the our webcasting site.

Venue: Committee Room 1, Council Offices, Llangefni. View directions

Contact: Ann Holmes 01248 752518 

Items
No. Item

1.

Declaration of interest

To receive any declaration of interest by any member or officer in respect of any item of business.

Minutes:

No declaration of interest was received.

2.

Minutes of the Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 395 KB

To present the minutes of the previous meeting of the Audit and Governance Committee held on 12 February, 2019.

Minutes:

The minutes of the previous meeting of the Audit and Governance Committee held on 12th February, 2019, were presented and were confirmed as correct.

 

Arising thereon –

 

           The Head of Audit and Risk reported with regard to school dinner money debt that she had been in contact with Cardiff City Council and Rhondda Cynon Taf Council [as the councils with some of the lowest level of school dinner money debt among those councils that had responded to a BBC survey on school dinner money debt in Welsh Councils in 2017/18] in order to gain insight into their practices for keeping the school dinner money debt level down. The Officer said that she had been able to establish that Cardiff City Council’s total school dinner money arrears were in fact higher than the figure published in the BBC article which did not include all non-cash debt. Rhondda Cynon Taf Council made available its protocol for dealing with school dinner money debt which has been forwarded to the Project Manager within the Learning Service who is reviewing the school dinner money payment system.

 

The Head of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer said that having collated the data at the end of the Easter term, he was now able to report on the Isle of Anglesey Council’s school dinner money debt position. The Council is owed a total of £48,084 in school dinner money of which £38,046 is on the schools’ registers meaning these arrears are still being dealt with by the schools. The average balance per school is £906 with the highest balance being £6,978. A total of 89 invoices to the value of £10,037 remain outstanding - this is where the debt has been transferred from the schools to the Council’s Income Team for recovery. The average balance is £113 and the highest is £410.  In terms of Anglesey’s comparative position, it is not dissimilar to that of the authorities listed in the BBC survey. The Learning Service is looking at the school dinner money policy and the treatment of social services debt in conjunction with schools and the Finance Service. An influencing factor is the roll-out of Universal Credit in that under the previous system of benefits, applications for free school meals would have been determined quickly, now families’ application for free school meals is not determined until their Universal Credit application has been confirmed which can take up to several weeks. The Authority is considering how best to deal with those children in the period pending the determination of their families’ Universal Credit application in terms of charging or not charging for school meals during this time and the repercussions of one or the other course. This along with other issues will form part of the policy review.

 

Given that in terms of size, Anglesey is a relatively small authority, the Committee queried whether in the region of £50k of school dinner money debt is considered acceptable. The Committee also sought to establish whether it was possible to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.

3.

Matters Arising - Follow-Up to Corporate Health and Safety Annual Report 2017/18 pdf icon PDF 315 KB

To present the report of the Corporate Health and Safety Advisor.

Minutes:

A follow-up report to the 2017/18 Corporate Health and Safety Annual Report was presented by the Corporate Health and Safety Advisor. The report provided further analysis in connection with the issues raised by the Audit and Governance Committee on the 2017/18 Corporate Health and Safety Annual Report when it was presented to the Committee’s February, 2019 meeting in relation to the following –

 

           The differentiation between the two categories of Physical Assaults by Person in the types of Incident table at page 6 of the Annual Report for 2017/18

 

The Corporate Health and Safety Advisor reported that the accident reporting system has two categories for Physical Assault, the one for Physical Assault and the other for Physical Assault Challenging Behaviour. The figure of 56 incidents for 2016/17 and the figure of 103 incidents for 2017/18 relate to the Physical Assault Challenging Behaviour category and are incidents where mental health issues could apply or where mental capacity could be questioned and where there may have been no intention to cause physical harm. The Physical Assault category includes incidents where one person has been struck by another but where mental capacity is not in question. The figures for this category were 37 incidents in 2016/17 and 45 incidents in 2017/18. In 2017/18, 9 incidents recorded as minor were against staff.

 

           Whether there were any specific reasons for the increase in the number of physical assaults and whether the upturn reflected an emerging trend.

 

The Corporate Health and Safety Advisor reported that during a review of the incidents between 2016/17 and 2017/18 it was found that incidents had been reported from an additional 11 sites across all services which it is considered is largely attributable to improved awareness of Health and Safety requirements following work undertaken in 2016/2017 to raise the profile of Health and Safety within the Council particularly with regard to reporting violence and aggression type incidents. The Physical Assault Incident chart in the report shows a decline in the number of incidents from 2013 to 2017 which is reversed in the period from 2016/17 to 2017/18. As the chart shows, the number of incidents under the Physical Assault Challenging Behaviour category has always been higher than for the Physical Assault category and includes incidents where there may have been no intention to cause harm. Therefore improved awareness may be the reason for the increase in the figure recorded. The figure for the Physical Assault category dipped to a low of 20 in 2015/16 but has risen since. This figure needs to be monitored more closely as the incidents may reflect an intention to cause harm.

 

The Officer said that figures in the 2018/19 Annual Report when compiled will provide greater clarity as to any emerging trends and, if there is a continued increase in the figures for these categories, may warrant further investigation especially if incidents recorded apply to services other than Education and Social Services for which the number of incidents of Physical Assault Challenging Behaviour recorded  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

4.

Internal Audit Update pdf icon PDF 1009 KB

To present the report of the Head of Audit and Risk.

Minutes:

The report of the Head of Audit and Risk which provided an update on Internal Audit’s latest progress with regard to service delivery, assurance provision and reviews completed was presented for the Committee’s consideration.

 

The Head of Audit and Risk highlighted the main points as follows –

 

           That four audit reports were finalised in the period relating to the Direct Payments Scheme which resulted in a Limited Assurance opinion; Recruitment and Retention; Gypsies and Travellers (Requirements of the Housing Act 2014) and Leisure Function – Governance and Control all three of which were considered to provide Reasonable Assurance. For all three reviews, Internal Audit identified scope for improving controls in future in the areas audited which is reflected in action plans agreed with Management. Internal Audit raised 2 Moderate Risk/Issues on the Recruitment and Retention review; 2 Major and 1 Moderate Risks/Issues on the Gypsies and Traveller review and 2 Major and 9 Moderate Risks/Issues on the Leisure Function review.

           That with regard to the Direct Payments Scheme Limited Assurance Review 5 Moderate Risks/Issues were raised, and whilst the audit review confirmed compliance with legislation in implementing policies and procedures and the accuracy and timeliness  of the payments made, it identified shortcomings in relation to reviewing the care plans that support direct payments; obtaining confirmation of Panel approval, risk assessments not undertaken and evidence of service users’ involvement in care and support plans decisions not consistently obtained. A formal project team is addressing the risks and issues raised; the team meets on a monthly basis and has access to external support. Of the five Risks/Issues raised two that were due to be implemented by this time have been implemented, and work is in progress on the remaining three. Internal Audit will conduct a follow-up review in September, 2019.

           That although the review of Direct Payments raised 5 Moderate Risks/Issues resulting in a Limited Assurance opinion compared with the 2 Major and 9 Moderate Risks/Issues raised on the Leisure Function review which resulted in a Reasonable Assurance opinion, the latter constituted a much greater area and the issues raised are primarily of a housekeeping nature. The Direct Payments is a much smaller system and whilst the numbers and volume involved mean that the 5 Risk/Issues raised are at a Moderate level in terms of their corporate impact on the Council, Internal Audit was only able to provide Limited Assurance with regard to the Direct Payments system itself.

           That one Follow-up review has been finalised in the period relating to Child Care Court Orders under the Public Law Outline. This has resulted in the original Limited Assurance rating being upgraded to a Reasonable Assurance opinion. A Follow-up review of Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards Compliance is currently in progress and a further four Follow-ups are scheduled to be undertaken in the first six months of the year – these are in relation to Income Collection in Primary Schools (First Follow-up); Sundry Debtors (Second Follow-up); System Control -  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

5.

External Audit: 2019 Audit Plan - Isle of Anglesey County Council pdf icon PDF 355 KB

To present the report of External Audit.

Minutes:

The External Audit report incorporating the proposed Audit Plan the 2018/19 audit year was presented for the Committee’s consideration. The Plan set out the work proposed to be undertaken in relation to the financial audit and matters related thereto along with an outline of the performance audit programme and a timetable for the completion and reporting of the external audit work at the Authority.

 

Mr Alan Hughes, Performance Audit Lead outlined the scope of the external audit work to be carried out at the Council during 2019/20 along with the approach to be taken with regard to the financial audit and the financial audit risks identified at the audit planning stage including how these would be treated. The Officer provided the Committee with an update on the Performance Audit Programme confirming that the 2019/20 Local Government Studies will include a review of Public Service Boards and the effectiveness of partnership working; the effects of austerity on discretionary services, and commercialisation in local authorities.

 

The Committee in considering the Audit Plan made the following points –

 

           That in the interests of governance it would be helpful if the Audit Plan clarified that the financial audit is delivered by Deloitte on behalf of the Auditor General and that the performance audit programme is delivered by the Wales Audit Office. Although the fee table at paragraph 29 of the report differentiates between the areas of audit work in terms of the fee charged, the Plan does not make clear who is responsible for delivering on those areas of work.

           That although the Plan states that there have been small changes to the fee rates for 2019 there is no variation between the proposed audit fees for 2019 and the previous year’s actual fees in the fee table at paragraph 29.

 

Mr Alan Hughes confirmed that he would take into consideration the comment about clarifying the roles and responsibilities for delivering the performance and financial audit elements when editing next year’s Audit Plan, and he confirmed also that the actual fee for last year’s performance audit work in the Fee table at paragraph 29 of the Plan should read £100,261 and not the £100,216 stated in the report. The proposed fee for the performance audit for the 2018/19 audit year is £100,216.

 

It was resolved to accept and to note the Audit Plan for 2019 subject to the amendment to the Fee Table as outlined.

 

NO ADDITIONAL ACTION WAS PROPOSED

6.

Annual Report of the Audit and Governance Committee 2018/19 pdf icon PDF 313 KB

To present the report of the Chair of the Committee.

Minutes:

The Annual Report of the Audit and Governance Committee for 2018/19 was presented for the Committee’s endorsement. The report detailed the activities and performance of the Audit and Governance Committee during the year in discharging its responsibilities and included a synopsis of progress on the actions raised by the Committee during 2018/19 as at Appendix A to the report.

 

The Chair expressed his gratitude both to the Committee’s Members for their attendance and contribution to the work of the Committee during the year and also to the Council employees who have attended and contributed to the meetings, in particular the staff of the Finance and Internal Audit Services. The Chair highlighted the importance of the Committee’s work which takes on a greater relevance in the current economic situation in term of ensuring that the Council is run in a sound manner and that it obtains value for money. The Committee remains committed to continuing to work with Council employees in supporting continuous improvements in the Council’s operations in 2019/20.

 

It was resolved to endorse the Annual Report of the Audit and Governance Committee for 2018/19 prior to its submission to the Full Council on 14 May, 2019.

 

NO ADDITIONAL ACTION WAS PROPOSED

 

7.

Internal Audit Annual Report 2018/19 pdf icon PDF 746 KB

To present the report of the Head of Audit and Risk.

Minutes:

The Annual Report of the Internal Audit Service for 2018/19 was presented for the Committee’s consideration. The report outlined the Internal Audit work carried out during the year ended 31 March, 2019 based on which the Head of Audit and Risk gave her overall opinion on the adequacy and effectiveness of the Council’s framework of governance, risk management and control during the year which will inform the Council’s Annual Governance Statement.

 

The Head of Audit and Risk reported that for the 12 months ended 31 March, 2019, the Isle of Anglesey’s Head of Audit and Risk’s opinion is that the organisation has an adequate and effective framework for risk management, governance and internal control. While the Head of Audit and Risk does not consider there to be any areas of significant concern, some areas require the introduction or improvement of internal controls to ensure the achievement of objectives, and these are the subject of monitoring. There are no qualifications to this opinion.

 

The Officer said that the opinion above has been reached by considering the work and activities undertaken by the Internal Audit Service during the year which is summarised in Appendix A to the report and specifically, the following considerations –

 

           During 2018/19, the Internal Audit Service has found senior management at the Council to be supportive and responsive to the issues raised by Internal Audit.

           Where Internal Audit has identified issues/risks, Management has accepted them all

           Management has addressed all the outstanding “Red” issues/risks, which confirms that Management is responsive to Internal Audit’s work

           No “Red” issues/risks were raised during the year

           There are no issues which are of a significantly high risk or impact that warrant inclusion in the Annual Governance Statement

 

With regard to the performance of the Internal Audit Service, the Service has performed well against its targets during the year with 4 out of 7 indicators meeting or surpassing their targets. An external assessment of the Council’s Internal Audit Service in March 2017 provided assurance that the Service “generally conforms” with the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards which is the top assessment available to the assessor. Although the Internal Audit Team is in a good position to deliver its Strategy for 2019/20, having gained experience from implementing the new audit methodology; the addition of two new members of staff; new risk management software and upgraded action tracking software, there remain challenges going forwards specifically resource pressures due to absence which has affected the Service’s overall level of productivity in 2018/19.

 

The Committee in considering the report and in noting that the Head of Audit and Risk is satisfied as to the adequacy and effectiveness of governance, risk management and control at the Council, raised the issue of the Committee’s own effectiveness and whether it could be regarded as being sufficiently proactive in its practices to ensure effective oversight of all the areas for which it has responsibility. One view expressed was that the Committee’s approach is overly reactive in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

8.

Forward Work Programme pdf icon PDF 290 KB

To present the report of the Head of Audit and Risk.

Minutes:

The Committee’s Forward Work programme was presented and was accepted and noted without amendment.