Agenda and minutes
Venue: Siambr Hywel Dda - Council Offices, Caernarfon. View directions
Contact: Bethan Adams 01286 679020
No. | Item |
---|---|
APOLOGIES To receive apologies for absence. Minutes: Cllrs Sian Gwenllian, John B. Hughes, Siôn Wyn Jones and Mr John Pollard. |
|
DECLARATION OF PERSONAL INTEREST To receive any declaration of personal interest. Minutes: No declarations of personal interest were
received from any members present. |
|
URGENT ITEMS To note any items which are urgent business in the opinion of the Chairman so they may be considered. |
|
MINUTES The Chairman shall propose that the minutes of the meetings of this
committee held on the undermentioned dates be signed as true records:- Minutes: The Chairman
signed the minutes of the previous meetings of this committee, held on 21
January and 11 February 2016, as a true record. |
|
WALES AUDIT OFFICE - GWYNEDD COUNCIL AUDIT PLAN 2016 PDF 299 KB To submit the report of the external auditor. Minutes: Clare Edge (Financial Audit Manager, Deloitte) and Ian Howse (Financial Audit Engagement Leader, Deloitte)
submitted the report on behalf of the Wales Audit Office (WAO). Apologies were
expressed that the Welsh version of the report had been released later and it
was noted that it would be ensured in future that the report would be released
bilingually in a timely fashion. Members were guided through the report, which detailed the WAO's audit
arrangements for 2016. The main financial audit risks were highlighted, noting
that a number of the risks were relevant to all Local Authorities, with some
being specific to Gwynedd Council. Members
were given an opportunity to ask questions, and the following responses were
given:- ·
That work to prepare information
for the actuary was progressing; ·
That the relevant
professional officers were confident that the Full Council's decision at its
meeting on 9 October 2014, which underscored a previous decision not to invest
the Council's money in Israel, which was the subject of a judicial review in
the High Court, was valid and lawful; ·
In terms of a deficit in the Pension Fund, the
WAO's review of local government pension funds in Wales had shown that the
shortfall in Gwynedd’s Fund was comparatively low. It was added that
confirmation of the situation would be received by September 2016 following the
current triennial valuation by the actuary. RESOLVED to accept the report. |
|
REPORT FROM THE CONTROLS IMPROVEMENT WORKING GROUP PDF 483 KB To submit the report of the Chair of the Audit Committee outlining the feedback from the meeting of the Working Group on 7 April 2016. Minutes: Submitted – the report of the Chairman of the Audit Committee regarding
a meeting of the above mentioned working group held on 7 April 2016 to consider
audits that had received a category C opinion during the period between 1
November 2015 and 31 January 2016, namely - a) Arfon Leisure
Centre b) Plas y Don Care Home c) Plas Hedd Care
Home ch) Maintenance of
Buildings and Sites Officers had been
invited to attend the meeting in order to discuss the matters that had arisen
from the audits and the work undertaken since the audit reports were published
in order to strengthen the internal controls in question. A member noted
that a trend is emerging where the service or organisation has a new manager
that the audit receives a category C opinion. Therefore, it should be ensured
that there would be appropriate support for the individual and ensure that
induction/training arrangements were in place. In response to a member's observation, the Audit Manager noted that
unannounced visits had been planned for four Leisure Centres and it has hoped
that this arrangement would motivate leisure centre staff to operate in
accordance with the requirements. RESOLVED to accept the report. |
|
INTERNAL AUDIT OUTPUT 1/2/16 - 31/3/16 PDF 735 KB To submit the report of the Audit Manager. Minutes: Submitted - the report of the Audit Manager, outlining Internal Audit’s
work during the period. It was noted that 26 reports about audits from the operational
plan had been completed during the period (with the relevant opinion category
shown), three follow-up audits and two responsive audits. In response to a member’s observation
regarding the definition of an 'Acceptable' category relating to follow-up
work, the Senior Revenue and Risk Manager noted that Internal Audit was
currently reviewing the category definitions and the procedure for issuing
recommendations. Consideration was given to each individual report
and during the discussion reference was made to the following main matters – Proactive Prevention of
Fraud and Corruption – The Use of Photocopiers in Schools In response to a member's observation, the Audit Manager noted that an
opinion category had not been allocated to this audit as the concerns
highlighted were not common across the schools. It was noted that matters
relating to the audit were being discussed at the Educational Department's
regional business meetings. Education Improvement
Grant for Schools A member enquired
how the messages highlighted by the audit were communicated to the schools. The
Audit Manager noted that the Head of the Education Department had highlighted
the messages at the regional business meetings. Secondary Schools
Catering - Ysgol Ardudwy, Ysgol y Gader and Ysgol Moelwyn In response to a member’s question regarding a shortage of up-to-date
contracts for kitchen staff, the Audit Manager noted that the Education
Department's attention had been drawn to the fact that the kitchen staff's
contracts had not been revised following the Governing Body's decision not to
commit to the Education Department's catering contract. It was noted that the
Education Department was acting on the matter.
Parking Income In response to a member’s concern with respect to the amount of money
kept in the machines, the Audit Manger noted that the frequency of collecting
money from the machines was dependent on the season and the use of the
machines. It was noted that G4S Cash Solutions (UK) Limited collected the money
in accordance with the contract. A member noted that other methods of paying parking fees should be
looked at, such as using a mobile phone. The Head of the Finance Department
responded by noting that the Regulatory Department had raised the matter of
receiving payment via alternative methods and the message would be sent to the
Department to progress with the matter. RESOLVED to
accept the report on the work of the Internal Audit for the period from 1
February 2016 to 31 March 2016 and to support the recommendations that had
already been submitted to the managers of the relevant services for
implementation. |
|
HEAD OF INTERNAL AUDIT ANNUAL REPORT 2015/16 PDF 593 KB To submit the report of the Audit Manager. Minutes: Submitted
- the report of the Audit Manager. It was noted that Internal Audit Standards
in the Public Sector required her to express opinion on the Council's internal
control framework annually. On the basis of the work that had been completed
during 2015/16, the officer was satisfied that Gwynedd Council had a sound
framework of internal control. It
was reported that 73 out of 74 audits in the final amended internal audit plan
had been completed by 31 March 2016, which corresponded to 98.65% of the plan,
against a performance target of 95% for 2015/16. It
was noted that the draft internal audit plan for 2016/17 had been submitted to
this committee at the previous meeting on 11 February and the final plan could
be found as Appendix 3 of the report. In
response to members' observations regarding a decrease in the staffing level of
Internal Audit, the Head of the Finance Department noted that the decrease was
in accordance with the efficiency savings that had been approved by the Full
Council. A
member noted that by training officers in the departments to operate
appropriately it could lighten the Internal Audit workload to enable giving
fuller consideration to the audits that receive opinion category B. The Internal Audit
staff were thanked for their work. RESOLVED to accept the report as the formal annual report of the Head of
Internal Audit in accordance with the requirements of the Public Sector
Internal Audit Standards for the 2015/16 financial year. |
|
INSURANCE CLAIMS AGAINST THE COUNCIL PDF 357 KB To submit the report of the Senior Manager Revenue and Risk. Additional documents: Minutes: Submitted - the report of the Senior Revenue and Risk Manager who
provided an update of the item submitted at the meeting on 11 February 2016,
detailing the Council's arrangements in terms of dealing with insurance claims.
Attention was drawn to the fact that 78.5% of accountability claims against the
Council had been settled without costs. During the ensuing
discussion officers responded to the members' enquiries as follows: ·
In relation to number 84 'The claimant was injured
due to snow and ice on the road', the reason for a verdict that went against
the Council in this specific case was a lack of documentation in terms of
gritting rather than a lack of gritting; ·
That the Insurance Unit had been conducting
discussions with the department throughout the process when an
insurance claim against the Council was received and shared the lessons
to be learned. RESOLVED to accept the
report. |
|
SELF-ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE AUDIT COMMITTEE PDF 370 KB To submit the report of the Senior Manager Revenue and Risk. Minutes: Submitted - the report of the Senior Manager - Revenue and Risk in
relation to carrying out a self-assessment of the effectiveness of the Audit
Committee, using CIPFA assessment guidelines. RESOLVED to hold a workshop in June 2016 in
order to conduct a self-assessment of the Committee's effectiveness. |
|
SELF-ASSESSMENT OF GOVERNANCE ARRANGEMENTS PDF 252 KB To submit the report of the Senior Manager Revenue and Risk. Additional documents: Minutes: Submitted - the
report of the Senior Revenue and Risk Manager in relation to adjustments to the
self-assessment since submitting a report to the Committee meeting on 11
February 2016 following the Governance Arrangements Assessment Group's review
of the Council's governance arrangements during November and December 2015. It was noted that
following a suggestion from the Corporate Management Group, the Governance
Arrangements Assessment group had assessed whether a 5 x 5 Impact /
Effectiveness matrix should be used rather than 10 x 10, as a way of improving
the visual impact. The conclusion was
reached that the 5 x 5 matrix excelled and the assessment of its new form had
been included as Appendix 1 of the report. Attention was
drawn to the fact that two other elements had been added, namely Use of
Technology and Asset Management and the title 'Staff Appraisal, Training and
Development' had been amended to ‘Workforce Planning'. RESOLVED to approve the assessment of the governance arrangements. |