Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologises or membership changes.

Apologises were received from Cllr Stephen Oldrieve and Cllr Stewart Dobson. Cllr Sheila Parker was unable to attend due to a family bereavement; a minutes silence was held as a mark of respect.

To receive any announcements through the Chair.

To confirm and sign the minutes of the Audit Committee meeting held on 18 December 2013.  

The minutes of the Audit Committee meeting held on 18 December 2013 were signed and approved by the Chairman.  

To receive any declarations of pecuniary or non-pecuniary interests or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

There were no declarations.  

The Council welcomes contributions from members of the public.

Statements

If you would like to make a statement at this meeting on any item on this agenda, please register to do so at least 10 minutes prior to the meeting. Up to 3 speakers are permitted to speak for up to 3 minutes each on any agenda item. Please contact the officer named on the front of the agenda for any further clarification.

Questions

To receive any questions from members of the public or members of the Council received in accordance with the constitution. Those wishing to ask questions are required to give notice of any such questions in writing to the officer named on the front of the agenda (acting on behalf of the Director of Resources) no later than 5pm on Tuesday 4 March. Please contact the officer named on the front of this agenda for further advice. Questions may be asked without notice if the Chairman decides that the matter is urgent.

Details of any questions received will be circulated to Committee members prior to the meeting and made available at the meeting and on the Council’s website.

There were no public or councillor questions or statements submitted.

To respond to a request by the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee in relation to their recommendations from their 7 January 2014 meeting:

“The Audit Committee should arrange for a full audit of the Highways and Streetscene contract as soon as possible, the outcome of which should be reported to the O & S Management Committee”.

In response to the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee Request from their 7 January 2014 meeting stating that that the Audit Committee arrange a full audit of the Balfour Beatty Living Spaces Contract, the Chairman stated that an audit was already due in Q2 of the 2014/15 year and that it was part of the future plan which was to be approved later in the agenda.

Members raised concern at communication methods used by Balfour Beatty and a need to improve the reporting mechanisms in the contract. Dr Carlton Brand (Corporate Director) provided clarity on the process and stated that improvements in the contract were to be reported in the next scrutiny meeting.

Resolved

To note the request from the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee, and that a full audit of the contract was scheduled for the second quarter of 2014/15.

The progress report, presented by Michael Hudson (Associate Director – Finance), is to provide the Committee with an update on the performance of the Internal Audit (IA) Section.

Appendices:

A – IA Third Progress Report 2013/14

B – IA detailed Audit Plan and monitoring statement 2013/14

C – Significant Corporate Risks

D – Summary of audits deemed ‘Partial / No’ assurance

E - Recommendations Not Accepted / Outstanding

The report was introduced by the Associate Director (Finance) who thanked senior officers and the committee for their feedback.

David Hill (South West Area Partnerships) discussed areas where value had been added and thanked participants for their work on the customer satisfaction survey. Explanation was then provided on the appendices as detailed in the report papers.

Members raised concern over the delivery of projects over the year. It was stated in response that plans had been made to allocate reports differently and that some audits had been deferred due to the timing of the business plan and staff restructuring.

Conversation continued into the allocation of resources and centralisation. The nature of the partnership and the 95% target of the audit delivery were also discussed.  

It was noted that there were no recommendations from the Pensions and System Administration.

David Hill stressed the need to be flexible and the intention to smooth delivery across the partnership. 

Resolved

To note the update.

The Internal Audit Plan is to be presented to the Committee by Michael Hudson (Associate Director – Finance). Appendices are attached as follows:

A – Internal Audit Annual Plan Report 2014/15

B – Internal Audit Plan 2014/15

C – Internal Audit Charter

The Associate Director (Finance) provided a brief introduction on the plan and request Members input.

Discussion continued on the benefits of joint audits and the need for flexibility in the programme.

Members discussed the new projects and requested clarification on the timing or process involved in such projects. Discussion continued on to the work plan and a request was made for assurances that it would be completed on time. It was stated that more audits had been completed since the publication of the report.

The private meeting between internal audit and Members without the presence of council officers which had taken place in January was discussed and the potential to go forward with more of these meetings was raised.

Resolved:

To approve the internal audit plan

To arrange an annual meeting between the Committee and internal audit without the presence of council officers.

Certification of grants and returns to be presented to the Committee.

Tara Westcott (KPMG) provided a summary of grants and reports for the 2013/14 financial year. The auditing grants were discussed and the adjustments that were made were explained. Recommendations and the reduction in audit fees was also highlighted.

Resolved:

To note the report from KPMG.

The Protecting the Public Purse Fraud Briefing is to be presented to the Committee.

Tara Westcott (KPMG) presented to the Committee and provided a short introduction; stating the findings from the audit commission report and fraud protection result. The Committee noted a national fall in detected fraud. Detail was provided in regards to the Council Tax and Housing Benefit fraud, with specific detail into the ‘Fraud Drivers’ (or motives).

The Associate Director explained Wiltshire Council’s fraud policy and that the figures provided in the presentation were not the Council’s own but were instead that of the Audit Commission. A corporate fraud team has been installed within Wiltshire Council to revise the current fraud and corruption strategy.

The Chairman sought a conclusion to the report but in response, it was stated that the statistics were there to provide guidance and that further issues of fraud were ‘still out there’.

Members asked questions of KPMG in relation to their findings and trends that could be seen in the figures. Concern was raised by Members in relation to the housing benefit and council tax benefit fraud figures.

Resolved:

To note the report from KPMG

To request a further update in six months to assess the progress in fraud detection

The External Audit Plan is to be presented to the Committee.

Darren Gilbert (KPMG) introduced the External Audit Plan and explained the audit process to the Committee. The key audit risks were highlighted and it was stated that there were ‘no significant risks’ to the pension fund at this point.

Discussion included a request for clarification on the status of the Shurnhold site on the balance sheet, as to whether it was vacant or in use. The value of such a property on the balance sheet was explained and fees determined by the audit commission for Wiltshire Council were highlighted. 

Chief Accountant, Matthew Tiller, Wiltshire Council, will present the Council’s Accounting Policies.

The Chief Accountant explained the accounting policies document to the Committee prior to it coming into effect.

Members discussion included ‘limits to component account’ and a request was made for more plain English to be used within the reports.

No items were received for the Forward Work Programme.  

To note that the next regular meeting of the Committee will be held on 29 April 2014.

The next meeting will be held on the 24 June 2014 (10:30AM) in the Kennet Room, County Hall, Trowbridge.

There were no urgent items.