To present the minutes of the previous meeting of the Audit and Governance Committee held on 3 December, 2019.

The minutes of the previous meeting of the Audit and Governance Committee held on 3^rd December, 2019, were presented and were confirmed as correct.

Arising thereon –

•           Item 2 – IoACC Annual Audit Letter 2018/19 - The Committee sought an update on the position with regard to the finalisation and receipt of the Wales Audit Office’s report on the financial sustainability of the Council the draft findings of which were expected to be made known to the Council by the end of the previous calendar year. The Committee was advised by the Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer that the Wales Audit Office has undertaken work to assess the financial sustainability of all 22 local authorities in Wales; it was understood that each authority would be provided with initial verbal feedback and that subsequently local reports for the individual authorities would be issued. A draft national summary report of the findings is also expected to be issued around April, 2020. The Officer confirmed that hitherto the Council in Anglesey has not received feedback from the exercise.

•           Item 6 - Internal Audit Update (resources available to the Internal Audit Service) - The Committee sought an update on the staff position of the Internal Audit Service. The Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer confirmed that the Internal Audit Service’s permanent staff structure includes 5 full-time members of staff (Head of Audit and Risk, Principal Auditor and 3 Senior Auditors) and has been supplemented recently by a temporary secondment from the Accountancy Service. Currently there are two Senior Auditor vacancies – one due to a secondment to the Accountancy Service and the other due to a permanent appointment to the Accountancy Service – meaning the Service’s staff level at present stands at 3.6 against an establishment level of 5 full time staff. The Officer in confirming that an advertisement for one full time permanent Senior Auditor post and one full time temporary Senior Auditor post had been issued, said that due largely to enforced cutbacks Internal Audit teams across local authorities have reduced in size and  the nature of the Internal Auditor post has also changed with fewer entrants at the lower assistant level. Recruitment is therefore focused on attracting fully qualified and experienced internal audit staff and notwithstanding this Authority has lately been successful in this respect, the process can be challenging. The alternative would be to reconsider the Internal Auditor posts with a view to appointing at a lower level and provide on the job training; and although the “grow your own” model is one that is favoured by the Authority the drawback of this approach would likely be felt in reduced output by the Internal Audit team in the short-term.

•           Item 7 – Review of the Audit and Governance’s Terms of Reference – The Committee sought an update on the position with the provision of training on governance matters which has been identified by a session of the 22 chairs and heads of audit in Wales as an area where Welsh local authority audit committees could benefit from additional support. The Principal Auditor said that although she was not in a position to confirm whether progress had been made with those training arrangements she would report the matter back to the Head of Audit and Risk for her to clarify at the next meeting.  As a matter of information, the Vice-Chair said that he and his fellow Lay Member had attended a CIPFA course where they had exchanged views on the challenges of ensuring that audit committees properly fulfil all the functions variously delegated to them. It had been agreed that following their attendance on the course he and Mr Dilwyn Evans (Lay Member) would meet with the Head of Audit and Risk to identify any areas of responsibility which the Audit Committee may not be sufficiently addressing at present and to consider how this can be overcome. 

NO ADDITIONAL ACTIONS WERE PROPOSED