Agenda item

To receive the report of the Interim Head of Function (Resources) and Section 151 Officer in response to issues raised in the annual grant audit report.

The report of the Interim Head of Function (Resources) and Section 151 Officer in response to issues raised by the External Auditors as part of their work in relation to the certification of grant claims and returns for 2012/13 was presented for the Committee’s consideration.

The Internal Audit Manager said that the report sets out the response in terms of actions taken and/or planned in relation to the findings of the External Auditors following their audit of the Authority’s grant claims for 2012/13 (of which 61 % were qualified), including greater detail on matters that were of concern, how they occurred, the financial implications and where within the Authority they occurred. The recommendations issued by the External Auditors have been accepted and an Action Plan formulated to improve arrangements and practices around the organisation and production of grant claims.

The following matters were raised in the subsequent discussion –

•           With regard to grant Claim No 7 in Appendix 1 (School Effectiveness Grant/Pupil Deprivation Grant 2012/13), the Grants Co-ordinator confirmed that processes have been introduced within the Finance Service to ensure tighter control over the monitoring of schools’ expenditure so that significant qualification points raised previously should not reoccur.

•           Communities First items of funding. The Grants Co-ordinator said that the 2012/13 programme under which the grants were certified ended at the end of March, 2013 meaning that the various community partnerships in effect at that time have been disbanded. The Communities First grant is now channelled via a single delivery organisation under the name Môn Communities First the performance of which is scrutinised by the Partnerships and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee. The organisation is required to make its annual accounts available to the Audit Committee.

•           Housing Benefit and Council Tax Subsidy 2011/12 and 2012/13 (No.25) regarding which certain accuracy issues remained ongoing. Mr Joe Hargreaves, PwC said that this grant is recognised as one of the most complex and technical of the grants and that it is not uncommon for issues to be identified with regard to its administration. He said that he was not aware of any significant issues arising to date with the certification work in relation to the grant. At the end of the process any findings will be reported to the Audit Committee through the annual grants audit report and certification letters will be issued when the individual claim itself is certified.

•           SEG 2011/12 (No 22).Clarification was sought regarding items totalling £121,658k the eligibility of which it was difficult to determine because of a lack of information about the nature of the expenditure. The Grants Co-ordinator said that the aforementioned sum was retained by the Authority and that there were no financial implications. The grant was allocated to address matters around literacy, numeracy and poverty but issues arose when it was not possible to apportion expenditure to each of the individual headings because much of it was combined. The service was delivered under the themes even though the exact expenditure under each theme could not be evidenced in line with certification instructions.

•           Strategic Infrastructure Sites and Premises 2011/12 (No 24). The Grants Co-ordinator confirmed that the work for which an advance payment of £74,379 was made has been completed. Negotiations took longer than expected and an upfront payment was required which is normal in the circumstances.

It was resolved to accept the report and to note its contents.

ACTIONS ARISING:

•           Grants Co-ordinator to liaise with Môn Communities First to obtain a copy of its 2013/14 annual accounts for presentation to the Audit Committee.

•           Grants Co-ordinator/External Auditor to provide an update on progress with regard to resolving any ongoing issues in relation to  the certification of the Housing Benefit and Council Tax Subsidy claims 2011/12 and 2012/13.