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CHAIR To elect a Chair for 2018/19. Minutes: RESOLVED to re-elect Councillor R. Medwyn Hughes as Chair of the Committee for 2018/19. |
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VICE-CHAIR To elect a Vice-chair for 2018/19. Minutes: RESOLVED to re-elect Councillor John Brynmor Hughes as Vice-chair of the Committee for 2018/19. |
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APOLOGIES To receive apologies for absence. Minutes: Councillors Peter Read, John Pughe Roberts and Gethin Glyn Williams. |
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DECLARATION OF PERSONAL INTEREST To receive any declaration of personal interest. Minutes: Councillor
John Brynmor Hughes declared a personal interest in item 8 on the agenda,
(Internal Audit Output 29/1/18-31/3/18 - Appendix 4 – Food Hygiene) as he was a
public house and restaurant owner. Councillor
Berwyn Parry Jones declared a personal interest in item 8 on the agenda,
(Internal Audit Output 29/1/18-31/3/18 - Appendix 11 - Victoria Dock) as his
wife worked for Caernarfon Harbour Trust. The members were not of the opinion that they were prejudicial interests, and they did not withdraw from the meeting during the discussion on the item. |
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URGENT ITEMS To note any items which are urgent business in the opinion of the Chairman so they may be considered. Minutes: The Chair reported that he had received a request from two Committee members to discuss the letter sent to Council staff informing them of the Council Cabinet's decision on 13 March 2018 to adopt changes to Council employment conditions as an urgent item. He informed the Committee that he had received guidance from the Monitoring Officer that there was a need for proper preparations before it was submitted for discussion by the Committee. He noted that a report regarding the matter would be submitted to the Committee either at its meeting on 28 June or 19 July. |
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The Chairman shall propose that the minutes of the meeting of this committee, held on 8 February 2018, be signed as a true record. Minutes: The Chair signed
the minutes of the meeting of this Committee held on 8 February 2018, as a true
record subject to amending the second bullet point on page 5 under the item
'Capital Programme 2017/18 – Third Quarter Review' to read as follows: "Discussions had been held with the Education Department and the Environment Department in terms of alternative solutions rather than using taxis to transport pupils to schools. As the overspend was unavoidable, mainly as pupils were transported to Ysgol Hafod Lon, bridging finance would be transferred to the Education Department at the end of the financial year." |
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2018 EXTERNAL AUDIT PLAN To submit the reports of the external auditor. |
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Minutes: Submitted - a
report by the Financial Audit Manager (Deloitte) and the Performance Audit
Leader (Wales Audit Office). Members were
guided through the report, which detailed the WAO's audit arrangements for
2018. The main financial audit risks and the work in relation to GwE's grant
income and expenditure were highlighted. Attention was drawn to the performance
audits carried out at a national level, and those that were specific to
Gwynedd. It was noted that fees for audit work continued to be the same as the
previous two years, but a reduction of approximately 25% was likely on the fee
to undertake certification work on the Council’s grant claims and forms as
there was an expectation that Welsh Government would simplify their assurance
arrangements by introducing a 'Summary Schedule of Certified Welsh Government
Grants' to every authority. The Head of the
Finance Department expressed his gratitude for the plan and the beneficial and
professional dialogue that had been held with Deloitte officers. He informed
the Committee that Paul Goodlad was retiring and that Alan Hughes had been
promoted to Performance Audit Leader WAO. He was congratulated on his
appointment. In response to a
question by a member regarding audits under the Future Generations Well-being
(Wales) Act 2015, the Performance Audit Leader (Welsh Audit Office) noted that
authorities were finding their feet in terms of operating in accordance with
the Act. It was explained that a piece of work had already been undertaken with
authorities in terms of the initial steps taken and that another two work packages
to examine how authorities operated in accordance with the Act were in the
pipeline. He noted that the Wales Audit Office was holding regional
meetings/events in order to share good practice. The Head of Finance Department noted that there was a need to tie-in the Well-being Act with Council proceedings. He reminded members that the report submitted to the Committee on 8 February 2018, regarding the 2018/19 Budget and 2018/19 - 2020/21 Financial Strategy, included an explanation of how the budget addressed the aim and objectives of the Well-being Act. |
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GWYNEDD PENSION FUND PDF 378 KB Minutes: Submitted - a
report by the Financial Audit Manager (Deloitte). He provided details on the
content of the report which noted the external auditor's audit plan with
regards to the Gwynedd Pension Fund, and he highlighted the main financial
audit risks. He noted that a specialist team had drawn up the plan and were
undertaking the audit which strengthened the audit work undertaken by Deloitte.
He confirmed that the fee for this work continued to be the same as the
previous year. The Head of
Finance Department welcomed the plan and noted that it was not a particular
plan for Gwynedd and that it was a standard audit plan for pension funds. RESOLVED to accept the reports. |
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INTERNAL AUDIT OUTPUT 29/1/18 - 31/3/18 PDF 583 KB To submit the report of the Audit Manager. Minutes: Submitted - the report of the Audit Manager outlining the Internal Audit
section’s work for the period. It was noted that 16 reports on audits from the
action plan had been completed. A member stated
his disappointment that so many reports highlighted weaknesses in controls,
with debts in terms of Council smallholdings, income in some pay and display
car park machines did not match, a sample of staff highlighting that only half
of them had received checks on their qualifications and a lack of medication
monitoring in residential homes with improperly qualified staff. He noted that
the Committee needed to address these matters. Each individual report was considered and, during the discussion,
reference was made to the following matters – Staff Development Module
(MoDS) A member referred
to the fact that approximately £90,000 excluding VAT had been paid to an
external IT consultant to undertake work and collect information and details
because of a lack of clear and definite brief of the needs and direction of the
project rather than focusing on technical elements. He noted that it was a
waste of money before commencing the work. Obtaining references, proof of identity and
evidence of qualifications A member noted
that checking this information was fundamental and expressed his disappointment
about the shortcoming. School Meals Income A member enquired
when all schools would be on the system and when it was anticipated that an
official opinion on the audit could be provided. In response, the Head of
Finance Department noted that the on-line payment system was developing and
improving. The Audit Manager reiterated the observation noting that it was
premature to provide an official opinion as the system was not fully
operational at the time of the audit. She confirmed that there was an intention
to undertake a follow-up audit in October or November 2018, to give schools a
chance to use the on-line payment system. She noted that the follow-up audit
would be reported upon to the Committee. Food Hygiene A member noted
that the Communities Scrutiny Committee had considered the Food Standards
Agency's detailed audit on the Council's food hygiene arrangements, where
weaknesses had been identified in the Council's administrative arrangements. As
the matter was a high risk for the Council, the member enquired why the audit
had received opinion category B instead of C. In response, the
Audit Manager noted that the basis of the opinion category was a matter for the
auditor. She explained that the Internal Audit Service had quality assurance
arrangements and that the Team Leader and that she, as the Audit Manager,
examined the reports. She noted that there was an intention to submit a report
to the Committee soon in terms of tying-in risk scoring with noting an opinion
category. In response to a further observation by a member, the Head of Finance Department drew attention to the fact that the definition of opinion categories B and C had been noted in the annual report of the Head of Internal Audit. ... view the full minutes text for item 9. |
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HEAD OF INTERNAL AUDIT ANNUAL REPORT 2017/18 PDF 714 KB To submit the report of the Audit Manager. Minutes: Submitted - the
report of the Audit Manager. On the basis of the work of Internal Audit that
was completed in 2017/18, the officer was satisfied that Gwynedd Council had a
sound framework of internal control. It
was reported that all audits (58 audits) in the final amended internal audit
plan had been completed by 31 March 2018, which corresponded to 100% of the
plan, against a performance target of 95% for 2017/18. It
was noted that acceptable action had been taken on 200 out of 222 agreed
actions by 31 March 2018, namely 90.09% of actions against a performance target
of 85%. Reference
was made to Appendix 4 of the report which noted progress against the Quality
Assurance and Improvement Programme in terms of compliance with Public Sector
Internal Audit Standards (PSIAS). It was noted that an external assessment of
Gwynedd Council's Internal Audit Service would be undertaken by Carmarthenshire
County Council's chief audit executive and that the results of the external
assessment would be submitted to the Committee. In
response to an enquiry by a member about using traffic light colours for
performance to show an improvement in the annual report, the Audit Manager
stated that performance measures were corporate measures and that they did not
reflect the work of Internal Audit. She explained that performance in terms of
measuring the performance of 'Percentage of audits in the audit plan that are
ready to be presented to the Audit and Governance Committee because they have
either been closed or the final report has been issued' had a consistent target
of 95%. In
response to an observation by a member regarding the time breakdown of Internal
Audit during 2017/18, the Senior Revenue and Risk Manager explained that all
available days for Internal Audit with seven full time staff members had been
noted in the breakdown. Unproductive time such as annual leave and information
technology difficulties had been removed, thus noting the total productive days
for Internal Audit during 2017/18. A
member enquired about Internal Audit's staffing situation. In response, the
Audit Manager confirmed that Internal Audit staffing capacity was full. She
explained that one of the reasons why the unit's productive days were lower was
due to three officers following a professional course. She noted that training
was important and that it would benefit the unit in terms of delivering the
work. She informed the Committee that one officer had been nominated as
apprentice of the year which was beneficial for the Internal Audit Service, the
Finance Department and the Council. The
Head of the Finance Department expressed his gratitude to the Audit Manager for
the report, and reiterated her viewpoint that staff training was important. As
the three officers were training at the same time, he added that the Department
would consider adding a temporary officer to Internal Audit Service staff. The Chair expressed the Committee's gratitude to the Audit Manager for her work and Committee members' best wishes were sent to her father, Councillor Eric M Jones, ... view the full minutes text for item 10. |