Agenda and minutes
Venue: Siambr Hywel Dda, Council Offices, Caernarfon, Gwynedd, LL55 1SH
Contact: Bethan Adams 01286 679020
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APOLOGIES To receive apologies for absence. Minutes: Councillors Aled Ll. Evans, Berwyn Parry Jones, Charles Wyn Jones, Huw G. Wyn Jones, John Pughe Roberts and Gethin Glyn Williams. |
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DECLARATION OF PERSONAL INTEREST To receive any declaration of personal interest. Minutes: No declarations of personal interest were received from any members present. |
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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. |
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The Chairman shall propose that the minutes of the meeting of this committee, held on 28 June 2018, be signed as a true record. Minutes: The Chair signed the minutes of the previous meeting of this Committee, held on 28 June 2018, as a true record. |
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GWYNEDD PENSION FUND'S 2017/18 STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS PDF 61 KB To submit, for information, the Pension Fund’s statutory financial declarations (subject to audit) for 2017/18. Additional documents: Minutes: The Head of Finance Department set out the background and context of
the report. Attention was drawn to the fact that these were draft accounts, not
yet audited, that were being submitted for information, and the final version
would be submitted for the Committee's approval, in its ‘governance’ role, at
its meeting on 27 September 2018. It was explained that the Pensions Committee
had an executive role while the Pension Board scrutinised implementation in
detail. It was reported that members of the Pensions Committee and the Pension
Board had given detailed consideration to the statement at a joint meeting held
on 16 July 2018. The Investment Manager provided details of the Pension Fund's Statement
of Accounts. In response to an observation by a member that schools outside Gwynedd
were active employers within the Pension Fund, the Head of Finance Department
explained that administrative staff in specific schools contributed to the
Fund, and the bodies that were part of the Fund followed the footprint of the
former Gwynedd county which included Anglesey and
Conwy. He elaborated that there were some employers from outside the boundary
that were members of the Fund, and there were other bodies that had been
approved to be part of the Fund with conditions. A member noted that the situation in terms of the United Kingdom
leaving the European Union was impossible to predict but that the Fund's
position had improved. In response to the observation, the Head of Finance
Department noted that the decision to leave the EU had affected the currency
exchange rate. He explained that the Fund's assets in the United States of
America had been valued in pound sterling, and with the value of the pound
decreasing, the value of the Fund's assets were higher after converting from
dollars to pounds. It was noted that uncertainty remained, but that the
implementation and objectives of the Pension Fund were long-term issues,
pension benefits were paid in the long-term after collecting contributions. A member noted that not only was the Fund investing overseas, but most
of the UK's major companies operated their business internationally and that
business assets had increased, and contributed to the £300m increase, which was
20% of the Fund’s value in 2017/18. He reiterated the observations of the Head
of Finance Department, noting that the Fund made long-term investments with a
three year valuation. In response to the above observations, the Head of
Finance Department noted that 'Note 16b - Analysis of Investments' demonstrated
a geographical breakdown of the Fund's overseas investments. In response to a question by a member if there was a deficit in the Pension Fund as with other funds, the Head of Finance Department noted that the Fund's three year valuation had set out prudent assumptions, and the last valuation had noted that the Fund was meeting 92% of its future commitments, which was a much better situation than some funds that were funded around 60%. He explained that opinion can drive actuarial assumptions which identified whether there ... view the full minutes text for item 5. |
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TREASURY MANAGEMENT 2017/18 PDF 164 KB To submit, for information, the report of the Investment Manager on the results of the Council’s actual borrowing and investment during the financial year that ended 31 March 2018. Minutes: The Head of
Finance Department set out the background and context of the report. The Investment
Manager submitted the report on the Council's actual Treasury Management
results during 2017/18, compared with the strategy established for that financial
year. She noted that the Council's borrowing activity was within the limits
that had originally been set. She noted that no bank that the Council deposited
money with had defaulted, and that £211,000 of interest had been received on
investments, which was higher than the interest target of £172,750 within the
2017/18 budget. Details were provided on the borrowing activities, investment
activities and compliance with prudential indicators. RESOLVED to accept the report for information. |
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RISK MANAGEMENT ARRANGEMENTS PDF 82 KB To submit the report of the Senior Manager Revenues and Risk. Minutes: Submitted - the
report of the Senior Revenue and Risk Manager who provided an update to the
Committee on developments to the risk management arrangements after submitting
a report to the Committee's meeting on 9 February 2017, which had included the
Council's response to improvement proposals that had been noted in a letter
from the Wales Audit Office to the Chief Executive. It was explained
that the Corporate Risk Register would be transferred to the Sharepoint lists facility within the Council’s iGwynedd system. It was noted that it was aimed for the
provision to go live to all Council officers by September 2018. It was
emphasised that it was intended for the risk register to be used as a
prioritisation tool. During the ensuing discussion the Senior
Revenue and Risk Manager responded to the members' observations as follows: ·
There was not much variation in terms of scores
systems within risk registers nationally but there were possibly differences in
terms of their descriptions; ·
Before starting on a project there was a need to
establish what the project was trying to achieve – does it respond to a
specific risk which has been identified through the project management
procedure. He was willing to discuss with the Staff Development Module project
team to see whether it would be possible to modify the descriptions in order to
make them more suitable for project risks. The Corporate Risk Register was seen
as a tool to prioritise and identify where a specific project was needed; ·
There was a need for a change in culture in order
for risk management arrangements to be successful, as part of the Ffordd Gwynedd culture, obstacles beyond the control of
specific services would be identified on the risk register; ·
Officers' access to the risk register could be
managed per Department and officers such as the Internal Audit Service would
have a higher level of access. There was an expectation on every post holder to
manage risk to some degree; ·
That it was a health and safety risk assessment
matter to relocate the Children's Service's case conferences from Frondeg, Pwllheli to Ffordd y Cob, Pwllheli. An annual health and safety report was
submitted to the Cabinet. ·
The Corporate Risk Register included governance
risks; ·
That part of his duties and the Insurance and Risk
Service was to coordinate and keep an eye on the impact services had on other
services within the Council; ·
That internal audit work would link in with risk
management arrangements. Departments would carry out self-assessments with the
Internal Audit Service looking at the scores and assessing them in order to
establish if they are a reasonable reflection of the situation. RESOLVED to
accept the report as an update on the steps the Council is taking to benefit
from the opportunities to improve as outlined in the Wales Audit Office's
letter. |
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AUDIT ASSURANCE LEVELS AND RISK SCORING ARRANGEMENTS PDF 74 KB To submit the report of the Audit Manager. Minutes: Submitted - the Audit Manager's report
detailing the proposed arrangements of providing audit assurance levels to
reflect the Authority's method of assessing and measuring its risks. She
explained that the risk score provided would be based on the Auditor's opinion
in consultation with the relevant Audit Leader and the Audit Manager, and would
fall into one of four categories/risk levels, namely - Very High (20-25), High
(12-16), Medium (6-10) and Low (1-5). She noted that historically audits had been
given opinion categories ranging from 'A' to 'Ch'.
She explained that under the proposed procedure each audit would be allocated
an assurance level. She elaborated that the assurance level awarded would be
based on an evaluation of the internal management environment and the number of
risks identified along with their risk score. She noted that the general
assurance levels of audits would fall into one of four categories:
During the ensuing discussion, the following main observations
were noted by members: ·
The proposed arrangements would provide members
with more information and it was a valuable step forward; ·
Was there a figure attached to what was noted in
the definition of impact as 'on many residents'? ·
Of the opinion that it was a positive step forward.
Would the Committee receive a summary in terms of what had been done? ·
Would the audit risk scores be discussed with the
relevant officers at the Departments before the report was submitted to
Committee? ·
Would the timeline in terms of historical
information and milestones be noted in the reports? ·
A culture was needed that meant that auditors did
not have to defend the score given to an audit. It was hoped that officers
could view an audit as something positive and not negative; ·
How much notice did services receive in terms of
conducting an audit? ·
What was the situation regarding leisure centre
audits in light of establishing the new leisure company? In response to the
observations, the officers noted: ·
That it was approximately estimated
that between thousands and tens of thousands of residents would be considered
to be 'many residents'. Nevertheless, it was emphasised that a risk which was
awarded a '5- Catastrophic' impact would be defined as having a catastrophic impact
on any resident; ·
The Committee would receive a summary
of the audit reports and the audit's level of assurance would be noted. It was
felt that the risk score, as opposed to an opinion category, would be more
useful for officers; · The relevant officers within the ... view the full minutes text for item 8. |
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SELF-ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE AUDIT AND GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE PDF 112 KB To submit the report of the Senior Manager Revenues 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 during September or October 2018 in Penrhyndeudraeth
to conduct a self-assessment of the Committee's effectiveness. |
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REPORT OF THE CONTROLS IMPROVEMENT WORKING GROUP PDF 159 KB To submit the report of the Chair of the Audit and Governance Committee outlining the feedback from the meeting of the Working Group on 19 June 2018. Minutes: Submitted – the report of the Chair of the
Committee on a meeting of the above-mentioned working group held on 19 June
2018 to consider the 'Frondeg' and 'Schools Schemes -
Ysgol Glancegin' audits
along with audits that had received a category C and CH rating, namely - a) Supported
Housing b) Staff
Development Module c) Obtaining References, Proof of Identity
and Evidence of Qualifications ch) Safeguarding
Arrangements for Children and Adults - Field Workers' Awareness of Policy d) Smallholdings Officers had been
invited to attend the meeting to discuss the matters that had arisen from the
audits and the work undertaken since the audit reports had been published in
order to reinforce the internal controls in question. The Chairman noted
his gratitude to the members who had been present at the Working Group
meeting. The Audit Manager
submitted an update on developments following the meeting of the Working Group.
She noted that usually, follow up audits would be held, but in the case of 'Y Frondeg', a full audit would be carried out at the request
of the Head of Adults, Health and Well-being Department. In response to a
member's question about the Committee receiving an update on progress against
the actions, the Audit Manager noted that numbers would be noted rather than
individual details, due to the number of actions. She explained that
unacceptable progress would in future be reported to the Committee. A member noted
that the Working Group's meetings were valuable with the members taking an
objective approach to the audits. In response to
members' observations on the full audit held for 'Frondeg',
the Audit Manager noted that the situation was unique and she was pleased that
the Department had asked for a full audit as they needed guidance on some
matters in order to put an action plan in place for the new manager. A member noted
there was a tendency for officers to be defensive at Working Group meetings,
the members were adopting the role of a critical friend and tried to contribute
towards improving services. In response to
observations from a member in relation to important themes in audits on
Residential Homes, the Audit Manager reported that the Working Group, at its
meeting on 23 October 2017, had discussed a summary of the themes highlighted
in audits on Residential Homes with the Cabinet Member for Adults, Health and
Well-being and the Head of the Adults, Health and Well-being Department. She
added that it was worrying that lessons were not being learnt. RESOLVED to accept the report. |