Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies from Members of the Panel.

Apologies for absence were received from Dr Susan Blackall.

The Chair to announce any items of urgent business circulated separately from the main agenda.

There were no items of urgent business.

Members to declare any personal and financial interests in items on the agenda. Attention is drawn to the Council’s Constitution; the Council’s Code of Conduct and associated advice.

Resolved -

That the list of Councillors’ memberships as Council appointed representatives on outside bodies, joint committees and school governing bodies is noted.

Members are requested to confirm as an accurate record the Minutes of the meeting held on 4 September 2024.

No motion or discussion may take place upon the Minutes except as to their accuracy, and any question on this point will be determined by a majority of the Members of the body attending who were present when the matter in question was decided. Once confirmed, with or without amendment, the person presiding will sign the Minutes

Resolved –

That the Minutes of the meeting of the Audit and Risk Management Panel held on 4 September 2024 be agreed and signed as a true and accurate record.

To note the result of the self-assessment and evaluation undertaken by Panel and recommended improvement actions.

The Chair introduced the item.

Members requested that the agreed suggestion that there be a second independent member of the Audit and Risk Management Panel be added to the Recommended Improvement Actions action plan

Action: Governance and Audit

Resolved –

1.            That the result of the self-assessment and evaluation undertaken by Panel (Appendix A) and recommended improvement actions (Appendix B) be noted;

2.            That it be noted that a progress update on the recommended improvement actions will be presented to Panel on 22nd January 2025.

To note the Treasury Management Mid-Year Report and the Capital Mid-Year Report for 2024/25, and refer any comments to Cabinet and Council; and to note the recommended leasehold disposal of the council’s interest in premises at Oakmere Road.

The Panel was advised by the Committee Services Officer that paragraphs 1.4 and 1.5 were erroneous additions arising from the use of a different report template. The Committee Services Officer confirmed that the report would go on Cabinet and Council.

The report was presented by the Interim Assistant Director of Finance & Deputy s151 Officer.

In response to questions from the Panel, the Interim Assistant Director of Finance & Deputy s151 Officer confirmed that a close eye was kept on the finances teams’ resourcing level and he said it was felt to be adequate, sufficient and reliable at the current point in time. He explained that the leasehold disposal detailed in section 13 of the report had been looked at thoroughly by the Director of Regeneration, Enterprise and Skills, and Officers were satisfied that it was best consideration. The Interim Assistant Director said the Capital Financing Requirement (CFR) was kept under a regular review every quarter, and the impact of the CFR was assessed.

In response to questions from the Panel, the Accountancy Business Change Manager replied that the increased borrowing was in support of the CFR for capital projects. He confirmed that LOBOs were monitored. The term period for borrowing was considered, and they would look to see what they could do short term before a long term borrowing, so that they did not lock in higher rates for a long period.  

The Accountancy Business Change Manager said the line “This has increased in line with Bank of England rapid interest rates increase over the last year” in paragraph 5.2 was an error and should be removed.

Resolved -

1.            That the Treasury Management Mid-Year Report for 2024/25 be noted.

2.            That the Capital Mid-Year Report for 2024/25 be noted.

3.            That the recommended leasehold disposal of the council’s interest in premises at Oakmere Road, formerly occupied by the PDC, as outlined in section 13 to the Compass Partnership of Schools (TCPS) Academy Trust, and that it shall be delegated to the Director of Regeneration Enterprise and Skills, in consultation with the Director of Children’s Service, the authority to agree the detailed terms of the lease to support SEND provision within the borough, be noted.

To note the 2024 Global Internal Audit Standards and that the standards become mandatory for the UK public sector from April 2025

The report was presented by Assistant Director of Resources (Financial Governance & Audit). He highlighted that the standards were coming into effect next year but many of the requirements were already in place. Officers would conduct another internal assessment shortly to identify any potential shortcomings or concerns in relation to these new standards.

In response to questions from the Panel the Assistant Director of Resources  (Financial Governance & Audit) indicated that it was not known why there had been a delay from January to April for the UK implementing the new standards. He confirmed that if there were any changes particularly pertinent or relevant to those charged with government governance they would be reported to the Panel. The three tools (Watch, Deliver, Read) listed at beginning of Appendix A might need to be undertaken before the next meeting.

Resolved -

That the 2024 Global Internal Audit Standards (2024 GIAS), the latest set of professional guidelines for internal auditors, and that the standards become mandatory for the UK public sector from April 2025 be noted.

To note Internal Audit and Anti-Fraud performance in relation to the delivery of the Royal Borough’s Internal Audit Plan and the prevention, detection and investigation of fraud, for the period April 2024 to September 2024.

The report was presented by the Assistant Director of Resources  (Financial Governance & Audit). He highlighted that in terms of the audit plan it was not unusual to be slightly behind at that time of the year. There was one was one limited assurance review, and its action plan, which represented the position at quarter 2, was appendix D. There would be a check to see if the recommendations had been fully implemented in the early part of 2025. There had been a slight increase in the volume of blue badge referrals but that could be because they were in the midst of a small proactive exercise. He added that the internal audit statistics would be circulated to Members in a different format, which if acceptable would be the new format in future.

In response to questions from the Panel, the Assistant Director of Resources  (Financial Governance & Audit) explained that most reviews would receive a moderate assurance, as it was quite difficult to get a high level of assurance. When recommendations were not or only partially implemented then internal audit could only give a limited assurance.

The Panel requested that a “trendline” be included in future for assurances, showing the previous assurance results in comparison with the current result

Action: Governance & Audit

The Panel was addressed by the Head of Personalised Support and HAS Financial Services.  The Head of Personalised Support and HAS Financial Services explained that the team had been through a restructure. There would be a new team leader in January who was aware that a priority would be to sort out processes and procedures in the team. A new database system would go live in January. All the team had received mental capacity training and the team had joined a national group to ensure best practices.

In response to questions from the Panel, the Head of Personalised Support and HAS Financial Services and the Senior Manager - HAS Financial Services replied that there were also two other members of staff joining the team and they would be fully staffed in January; this level of staffing was in line with other boroughs. Recruitment had been difficult because they needed people with a background in the work, it was experience based rather than qualification based. They were open to using apprentices. The total number currently under financial protection was 490 and that was broadly in line with other boroughs per head of population. The Association of Public Authority Deputies (APAD) best practice was to have 50 clients per member of staff, previously the team had been working with 80 per member of staff. The service did recover costs, according to set rules, and the new computer system would help with the calculations; other local authorities were now starting to charge for appointeeships and that was something they would also look at. They had been audited by APAD who had recommended that all the staff were mental capacity trained on the Five Principles of the Mental Capacity Act. All the staff  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

To provide Members of the Panel with details of the revised Internal Audit Plan 2024/25

The report was presented by the Assistant Director of Resources (Financial Governance & Audit). He commented that due to resourcing issues there would be a discussion on how to move the function forward and that might be done by buying resources in from a framework at a significantly reduced rate but that would only be a short-term fix for specific audit topics

In response to questions from the Panel, Assistant Director of Resources (Financial Governance & Audit) indicated that there would be a variety of reasons for why Finance and Legal Services had had more coverage than Health and Adult Services, for example they held the key financial systems.

Resolved –

That the details of the revised Internal Audit Plan 2024/25 as set out in Appendix A be noted.