Meeting documents

SSDC Audit Committee
Thursday, 27th April, 2017 10.00 am

Venue: Coker Room, Council Offices, Brympton Way, Yeovil BA20 2HT. View directions

Contact: Kelly Wheeler 01935 462038  Email: kelly.wheeler@southsomerset.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

70.

Minutes

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the previous meeting held on Thursday 23rd March at 10am.

Minutes:

The minutes of the previous meeting held on Thursday 23rd March 2017 were approved as a correct record and were signed by the Chairman.

71.

Apologies for absence

Minutes:

Apologies of absence were received from Councillor Mike Best and Councillor Mike Beech.

72.

Declarations of Interest

In accordance with the Council's current Code of Conduct (as amended 26 February 2015), which includes all the provisions relating to Disclosable Pecuniary Interests (DPI), personal and prejudicial interests, Members are asked to declare any DPI and also any personal interests (and whether or not such personal interests are also "prejudicial") in relation to any matter on the agenda for this meeting. 

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

73.

Public question time

Minutes:

There were no members of the public present during the meeting.

74.

Date of next meeting

Councillors are requested to note that the next Audit Committee meeting is scheduled to be held at 10.00am on Thursday 25th May in the Alford Room, Brympton Way, Yeovil.

Minutes:

Members noted that the date of the next meeting of the Audit Committee was scheduled for 10am on Thursday 25th May in the Alford Room, Brympton Way, Yeovil.

75.

E:Procurement - Verbal Update pdf icon PDF 96 KB

Minutes:

The Procurement and Risk Manager explained to members that is would soon be a legal requirement that the council carried out procurement transactions electronically and that most organisations e-procure for all services and purchases over the value of £25,000.

 

He suggested that members look at a web-based portal called ‘Selling to the South West’ and agreed that he would provide members with a link to the website. He explained that the full tender application process could be carried out on this web-portal for all transactions over £25,000 and that many local authorities in the South West were using this website portal. He pointed out that the police and other emergency services used a very similar online procurement portal.

 

He advised that approved suppliers could be listed on this website and that contract managers and contract negotiations could be made confidential to some users.

 

In response to questions from members, he advised that the site was very secure and that officers would require a password to access the site. He suggested that access would be given to procurement officers and to a few officers that would be given training initially. Access would be rolled out to further members of staff once any initial problems had been resolved and training had been provided. He further advised that the tender process was very secure and that the tenders would be held electronically until the tender deadline. 

 

The Procurement and Risk Manager advised that suppliers can be pre-selected to ensure that local suppliers and approved suppliers were able to submit contract bids.

 

Members thanked him for the update.

 

RESOLVED:  that members noted the report.

76.

Risk Management/Procurement Strategy - Verbal Update pdf icon PDF 98 KB

Minutes:

The Risk and Procurement Manager advised members that an audit on Risk Management had recently taken place. He pointed out that some of the technical applications on the risk register hadn’t scored as highly as he had hoped and suggested that the search function on register had let them down.

 

He advised that due to the change in the senior leadership, some of the corporate risks appear to be unowned by a manager, but that he was hoping that these risks would be transferred to the Transformation Team as they will have a better understanding of where the corporate risks will sit within the future staff model. He was keen to see risks allocated to managers quickly. He felt that is was important that all risks were allocated.

 

The Section 151 Officer advised that he would be happy to assist with trying to allocate the risks to officers and agreed that it might be sensible to allocate the risks to the transformation team.

 

Members expressed their concerns over the risks which had been unallocated.

 

The Chairman thanked the Risk and Procurement Manager for attending and for his verbal update.

 

RESOLVED:  that members noted the report.

77.

Accounting Policies for 2016/17 Statement of Accounts pdf icon PDF 24 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Principal Accountant presented her report to members. She advised that there had been no major changes to the Accounting Policy statement and that there had only been slight amendments to the wording. She advised that the expenditure and funding analysis had been introduced and the comprehensive income and expenditure statement had been amended to reflect changes to budget monitoring.

 

She advised that training would be provided to members of the Committee in June.

 

The Section 151 Officer advised members that the Income Generation policies could be updated as required, however advised that all policies were in place.

 

RESOLVED:  that members noted the report.

78.

External Audit Plan for 2017-18 pdf icon PDF 79 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Director of Grant Thornton, External Auditors, presented her report to members. She advised members that the report contained the external audit plan.

 

She referred to page 28 which summarised the challenges which SSDC is facing and noted the improvement in the council tax collection rate. She advised that the auditors’ responses to these challenges were included within the plan.

 

She felt that the medium term financial strategy was sound and going well, however felt that the Transformation plan was a risk. She explained that although good rewards were possible, value for money risks surround the programme.

 

She suggested that she would like to see the peer review results which had not yet been received.

 

The Section 151 Officer pointed out that since the report was written, the Transformation figures had moved on following the approval of the Transformation Programme report by the full council committee.

 

The Director referred to the significant risks detailed with the plan, and summarised the five significant risks detailed within the report. 

 

She referred to the value for money section of her report and pointed out that there were three criteria which must be met. She advised that the Transformation project had been identified as a risk. She explained that she would be reviewing the project management and governance arrangements of the project, not just project management as drafted in error.

 

The Section 151 clarified that a larger risk would be to do nothing and that the Transformation project would cover income generation, the workforce structure and how customers would be dealt with.  He advised that although he had not seen the risk register, the risk of reduced funding to the Council was a large risk. The Director agreed and said that being pro-active was important and was a reason for the Council’s relatively strong financial strategy. Being aware of the risks and having sound governance were important areas of making the transformation successful.

 

She pointed out to members the results of the interim audit work on pages 39 and 40 of the agenda and hoped that she would be in receipt of the final financial statement before the end of the month.

 

The Section 151 Officer clarified the changes to the journal entry controls and advised that they are now counter-signed by a manager.

 

RESOLVED:  that members noted the report.

79.

Audit Committee Forward Plan pdf icon PDF 22 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members noted the Audit Committee Forward Plan.