Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies from Members of the Panel.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Christine May and Dave Sullivan.

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 3 December 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 3 December 2024 be agreed and signed as a true and accurate record.

To note 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 December 2024.

The report was presented by the Assistant Director of Resources (Financial Governance & Audit). The Assistant Director explained the new appendices. The Assistant Director confirmed that there had been a proactive exercise in December with regard to Blue Badge fraud, which thus increased the number of referrals.

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Resources and Social Value commented on the surge of right to buy applications following the Government's decision to lower the discount and the effect that had had.

In response to questions from the Panel, the Assistant Director of Resources (Financial Governance & Audit) advised that following negotiations between audit officers and services over recommendations in some cases they would just have to agree to disagree to ensure that the audit plan did not overrun and become unmanageable. For a recommendation not to be accepted by a service then the relevant Director had to formally agree that they accepted the risks associated with not accepting the recommendation. The Assistant Director clarified that their work for Bromley Council was only charged for costs. He added that in the past they had provided services for free to some Registered Social Landlords (RSL) because they knew the RSLs were not allowed to prosecute but that the cases would result in proceeds of crime which would then be split evenly with the RSLs. He indicated there was no longer a market for providing their services as most local authorities either had their own anti-fraud team or accessed it in partnership with other boroughs. The Assistant Director explained that the time taken to implement recommendations affected the statistics; if implemented slowly that might give the impression at that moment in the statistics that those recommendations had not been implemented. It was accepted that some recommendations might take months to implement based on the nature of the required changes. The Assistant Director said an extension for implementation would be granted if it was a capacity matter for the service.The Assistant Director replied that there might be some slippage on school reviews otherwise it was expected that all the key or highest risk areas reviews would be completed by the end of the municipal year.

The Assistant Director of Resources (Financial Governance & Audit) to advise -

·      why there was a 3.6 client satisfaction score from “Accounts Payable (Creditors) - 2023/24” ?

·      why the recommendation was “Not accepted” by “CTS/HB 2023/24” ?

·      the outcome of the four allegations implicating a Royal Borough or Agency employee, and whether they worked together?

Action: Resources (Financial Governance & Audit)

In response to further questions from the Panel, the Assistant Director of Resources (Financial Governance & Audit) replied that the increase in the Blue Badge referrals might be due to an increase in the numbers of Officers with experience of dealing with Blue Badges. The increase was in King William Walk / the Greenwich Town Centre area. The Assistant Director confirmed that for any type of prosecution there would be a press release. 

Clarification sought on whether publicity of prosecutions appeared on all the Council’s  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To note the internal assessment of the Internal Audit function undertaken as required under the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards

The report was presented by the Assistant Director of Resources (Financial Governance & Audit). The Assistant Director advised that compliance with the PSIAS criteria had increased to 112 out of 114. The Assistant Director drew Members’ attention to paragraphs 5.8 and 5.9 of the report in respect of the other two criteria.

Resolved –

That the internal assessment of the Royal Borough’s Internal Audit function undertaken as required under the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards (PSIAS) be noted.

To note the action plan and progress made following the self-assessment and evaluation undertaken by Panel, the draft updated Terms of Reference, the audit committee Knowledge and Skills Framework, and to consider incorporating a review of progress against agreed Audit and Risk Management Panel meeting actions as a standing agenda item.

The report was presented by the Assistant Director of Resources (Financial Governance & Audit).

Members requested -

·      a tracked changes version of changes to the Terms of Reference and clarification as to the phrase “To report to Full Council on a regular basis”

·      more training, but that training be open to all Councillors because Panel membership could change, and in addition whether there could be individual e-learning

·      that the recruitment of an additional independent member proceed

Action: Resources

Resolved –

1.             That the action plan and progress made following the self-assessment and evaluation undertaken by Panel (Appendix A of the report) be noted.

2.             That the “draft” updated Terms of Reference, which ensures compliance with the Chartered Institute for Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) guidance (Appendix C of the report) be noted.

3.             That the draft updated Terms of Reference, if agreed, will be presented to Full Council for consideration and approval be noted.

4.             That the audit committee Knowledge and Skills Framework, based on CIPFA guidance, and provide comments on any identified gaps to inform further training (Appendix D of the report) be noted. 

5.             That a review of progress against agreed Audit and Risk Management Panel meeting actions (Appendix E of the report) be agreed as a standing agenda item.