Agenda item

A report by the Service Director, Finance and Section 151 Officer is circulated.

The Committee considered the report of the Service Director, Finance and Section 151 Officer Michael Hudson which requested the Council to become a member of the South West Audit Partnership Ltd. (SWAP Ltd.) and to dissolve the current South West Audit Partnership Joint Committee (SWAP).

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Performance and Risk, Councillor Brady spoke about how SWAP had developed over the years to include 12 partners, with Wiltshire Council entering the partnership in November 2011.  Councillor Brady explained that the SWAP Partnership Board had been exploring a number of ways in which the current model might be adapted to meet the current and future needs of the partnership. He referred to a number of issues and areas that needed addressing and reminded the Committee of a workshop for partners to express their views on the type of governance arrangements that should be employed by the new company.  Details of how the new company would operate from 1 April 2013 along with an agreement for the provision of audit services were included in the report.

Gerry Cox, Head of Internal Audit explained that all the Council’s responsibilities would transfer to the new company, and was pleased to announce that there would be no increase in the fee structure, and in fact fees would be held at the current level for the next five years.

Members were reassured that any contract or freelance staff employed to cover staff shortages or maternity leave would be subject to the standard HR policies in place for permanent employees.

There was a concern that a Partnership Board of 17 may be too large and unwieldy, however it was noted that this number would have been much larger had a compromise not been reached at the workshop, referred to above, on 10 October 2012.

Resolved:

That the Cabinet Member with responsibility for Finance and Performance, in consultation with the Audit Committee:

a)    Approves the formation of a company limited by guarantee, to replace the existing SWAP Joint Committee.

b)    Elects to be a Member^[1] of SWAP Ltd. from 1^st April, 2013, on the terms and basis set out in the articles of association, deed and service agreement.

c)    Agrees to the dissolving of the SWAP Joint Committee at a date to be determined, but not later than 30^th June, 2013.

d)    Note the separation of responsibilities and the membership profiles of the Members’ Board and the Board of Directors, and recommend that the Cabinet Member with responsibility for Finance and Performance (with the Chair of Audit Committee as Deputy), and Section 151 Officer represent the Council on the proposed Members Board and Board of Directors respectively as discussed at paragraphs 3.6 to 3.8 of this report.

e)    Notes that the fees for the provision of internal audit services by SWAP Ltd., for the financial year 2013/14, will not increase on the fees paid to SWAP by the council for 2012/13.

^[1] In the context of a company, a ‘Member’ is a local authority.  Therefore to avoid confusion, for the purposes of this report, the use of the word ‘Member’ (with a capital ‘M’) will refer to a council, whereas a council member will be referred to as ‘Councillor’.