Agenda item

To present the following -

·        The External Audit Plan 2015

·        Certificate of Compliance (Improvement Plan 2015/16)

·        Performance Audit Programme Update

·        Joint LSB Review report.

4.1       The External Audit Plan 2015 was presented for the Committee’s consideration.

Mr Martin George, PwC reported on the matters relating to the financial audit as follows –

•           The phased approach to be taken in carrying out the formal financial statements audit as per Exhibit 1 of the report. 

•           The significant audit risks and the proposed audit response to mitigate those risks as per Exhibit 2.

•           The risk of fraud and the responsibilities of the Auditors; Management and those charged with governance in relation thereto.

•           Certification of grant claims and returns and the more significant and/or recurring issues identified in undertaking grant certification work for 2013/14 as per Exhibit 3.

Mr Huw Lloyd Jones, WAO reported with regard to the performance audit as follows –

•           The components of the performance audit work as per Exhibit 4

•           The contents of the 2015/16 performance audit work programme split into improvement audit and assessment work and local government studies and the specific projects pertaining thereto.

The Committee considered the report and clarification was sought by Mr Richard Barker, Lay Member who noted a personal interest as a trustee of a third sector organisation which delivers social services to adults, of how the performance element of the proposed North Wales study of benchmarking Social Services costs against performance is to be identified and defined.

Mr Huw Lloyd Jones said that the WAO has unravelled the revenue out-turn statements for councils in Wales and the various lines within them and has attributed those lines to certain national performance indicators for Children and Adults’ social services;  it will then compare performance across authorities. Some authorities are high performers at low cost whilst others are high performers at high cost. The purpose of the study is to explore why things appear to be as they are.

4.2       A Certificate of Compliance following the audit of the Council’s 2015/16 Improvement Plan was presented and noted by the Committee. The Certificate confirms that the Council has discharged its duties to prepare and publish an Improvement Plan in accordance with statutory requirements as set out in section 15 of the Local Government (Wales) Measure 2008 and statutory guidance.

4.3       An update on the status of WAO’s ongoing and planned improvement and assessment projects was presented for the Committee’s information, and was noted.

Mr Huw Lloyd Jones informed the Committee that the Corporate Assessment report on the Isle of Anglesey County Council when issued will contain an appendix of all the recommendations from last year’s published national reports, and from now on every council will be expected to decide which of those recommendations are most relevant to them, and form an Action Plan around them. He referred to a discussion point from the Committee’s previous meeting about ways in which the Committee might be apprised of national reports and studies which could be of interest to its members but which may not be brought directly to their attention because they are not Anglesey specific, and he said that he would encourage the Council to reflect on how it deals with external reports that are not particular to Anglesey but which may convey messages that are relevant to it.

4.4       The report on the conclusions of the WAO’s review of the Anglesey and Gwynedd Local Service Board was presented for the Committee’s information.

Mr Huw Lloyd Jones reported that the review found that after a slow start the Anglesey and Gwynedd Local Service Board has clarified its focus and is improving its governance but that the pace of recent progress needs to be maintained. He advised that progress in implementing the proposals for improvement needs to be monitored and perhaps either the Audit and Governance Committee or the Partnerships Scrutiny Committee might wish to keep track of that aspect to ensure that the momentum of improvement is sustained.

The Committee considered the report and raised the following points thereon –

•           The Committee sought clarification of the governance arrangements for setting and managing the Board’s agenda items (given the diverse interests represented on it) and their congruity with the business of the Council. Mr Huw Lloyd Jones said that the business to be considered by LSB meetings is determined by the Board itself within the Officer framework. What is encouraging is that there is now a better alignment between the aims of the LSB and those of the Council; the Board’s agenda will need to address those wider objectives.

•           The Committee sought clarification of whether the aims and objectives of the Local Service Board involve eliminating duplication and ensuring value for money and efficiency in the way resources are used. Mr Huw Lloyd Jones said that the LSB is now more clearly focused in terms of what it does and that a key part of that is ensuring that the “public pound” wherever it is spent, is well spent.

•           The Committee questioned whether it was appropriate and/or timely for it to be asking the LSB for a report on any savings it has found hitherto. Mr Huw Lloyd Jones said that it is premature to be talking about the LSB in terms of the delivery of savings at this point in time. He confirmed that there are arrangements for joint scrutiny of the LSB which when finalised and in place will, it is expected, interrogate the Board’s use of resources more closely. The Committee noted the point and emphasised that there needs to be greater and more transparent reporting on the Board in general.

•           The Committee noted the need, if the Authority is to be more efficient in the use of resources, for it to consider encouraging and extending collaborative working.

•           That in light of the extension of this Committee’s governance responsibilities and specifically its oversight role with regard to the governance arrangements of the significant partnerships to which the Council is party, it was suggested that consideration needs to be given, and a conversation held as to what are the Committee’s objectives in that role and what its focus needs to be. The Interim Head of Resources and Section 151 Officer said that further work remains to be done within the Council in relation to how it engages with partners. A logical area of interest for the Audit and Governance Committee is the reporting on the financial performance of partnerships especially as Gwynedd Council is the host for most of the partnerships to which the Council is party, meaning that Anglesey has no involvement in the production of the financial accounts for them.  He suggested, and it was agreed by the Committee, that it would be informative and useful in terms of improving engagement, for the Committee to have sight of partnerships’ financial information.

The Programme and Business Planning Manager said that one of the areas to emerge from the work undertaken in relation to the corporate self-assessment as in need of improvement was the Council’s arrangements for dealing with partnerships and their governance, and in particular the need to review historical partnerships to establish whether they continue to provide value and whether they still serve the best interests of the residents of Anglesey. That piece of work has been identified and following on from that, policies, protocols and expectations will be created and applied to all new partnerships arrangements entered into. He suggested that there is a role for the Audit and Governance Committee in scrutinising the governance documentation as it is created. The Committee noted the point and highlighted also that it has on previous occasions flagged up shortcomings with regard to partnerships governance.

Mrs Sharon Warnes suggested that to ensure it does not lose sight of what it is should be doing and when, it would be useful for the Committee to be provided for quick reference with a summary sheet of the key issues and areas which it has been tasked with, or has committed to monitor to ensure that it is aware of when they are due for review and is clear as to the expectations. Mr Huw Lloyd Jones said that some authorities make available to their audit committees as a matter of course, information about external reports and the issues they cover, the recommendations therein and their relevance to the individual authority.

It was resolved to note the WAO report on the review of the Anglesey and Gwynedd Local Service Board.

ACTIONS ARISING: Interim Head of Resources and Section 151 Officer to provide the Committee with –

•           Financial information in relation to the key partnerships in which the Council is involved

•           A summary reference sheet of the key areas and issues for review by the Committee, and by when.