Agenda item

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

The report of the Head of Audit and Risk incorporating the Committee’s terms and reference for the purpose of review was presented.

The Head of Audit and Risk reported that the Committee’s Forward Work Programme provides for the regular review of its terms of reference which is considered good practice. The last review in September 2018 approved a fully revised and updated terms of reference to bring them into line with the publication of CIPFA guidance. Due to the full revision of the terms of reference in 2018, significant and wide-ranging consultation was conducted to obtain stakeholder views. As no new sector specific guidance has been issued and there have been no other significant changes that affect the terms of reference, limited consultation was conducted with the Director of Function (Resources) and Section 151 Officer and an adviser from CIPFA. No significant changes were identified with the only change being the change in the Director of Function (Resources) and Section 151 Officer’s job title. If that remains the case, the terms of reference can be updated without requiring the Executive’s and Full Council’s approval.

Referring to sections 30 to 33 of the terms of reference which covered fraud and corruption, the Officer highlighted that the Committee’s work in this area has hitherto been limited – Internal Audit is currently undertaking a piece of work on fraud and corruption with a view to bringing a report to the Committee’s April, 2020 meeting that will include a fraud risk assessment as well as an overview of fraud for the year.

The Committee considered the terms of reference and sought clarification of whether any bodies other than CIPFA has a bearing on Audit Committee responsibilities in Wales. Reference was also made to a presentation by Wales Audit Office to an inaugural meeting of the 22 Chairs of Audit Committees where the guidance provided was in contrast to this Committee’s terms of reference specifically with regard to membership of audit committees

The Head of Audit and Risk confirmed that CIPFA is the principal body in terms of producing guidance on the function of audit committees. With regard to the Wales Audit Office presentation she clarified that part of the presentation was in relation to proposals contained within the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Bill which introduces electoral reform and new governance arrangements for local government in Wales which when enacted, is likely to result in changes including to this committee’s membership. Currently, the Audit and Governance Committee’s membership and terms of reference are in accordance with the Local Government (Wales) Measure. In response to a request for an update on the arrangements for the Committee to undertake a self-assessment, the Officer said that as the meeting of the 22 chairs of audit is undertaking a piece of work on the effectiveness of audit committees, it was deemed sensible in order to avoid duplication, to defer to this process. A session where the 22 chairs and the heads of audit met together has identified areas where it was considered audit committees need the greatest support specifically in relation to training on the code of governance. It is therefore hoped that some training on governance matters will be rolled out early next year.

It was resolved to approve the existing term of reference with only minor changes to update the Director of Function (Resources) and Section 151 Officer’s job title.

THERE WERE NO PROPOSALS FOR ADDITIONAL ACTION