The committee will be asked to note the chair and vice chair appointed at the Annual General Meeting held on 20 May 2011.

Members noted the appointment of Councillor Dr. Mahony as Chair and Councillor Stevens as Vice-Chair for the Municipal Year 2011/12.

Members will be asked to make any declarations of interest in respect of items on this agenda.

There were no declarations of interest made in accordance with the Code of Conduct.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 25 March 2011.

Agreed the minutes of the meeting held on 25 March 2011, subject to the inclusion of the following

To receive reports on business which, in the opinion of the Chair, should be brought forward for urgent consideration.

Independent Member – Mr. Clarke

The Committee was advised that Mr. Clarke’s four-year term of appointment as an Independent Member would expire at the end of the month.

Agreed that Mr. Clarke is appointed as an Independent Member of the Audit Committee for a further four-year term.

To note progress on the recruitment of additional Independent Members.

The Democratic Support Officer reported that there had been an initial delay in the recruitment process in order to try and co-ordinate appointments for other Independent Members on the Standards Committee, Local Access Forum and the Remuneration Panel.  However, following an e-mail advertising campaign, only two expressions of interest had been received.

Agreed that, in order to ensure recruitment to the post before the next meeting –

The Council’s internal auditor will submit the Annual Report 2010/11.

The Committee considered the report which summarised the work undertaken by Devon Audit Partnership during 2010/11, reviewed the performance and effectiveness of the Internal Audit Service and provided an audit opinion of the adequacy of internal controls.

In response to questions raised Members were advised that –

Agreed that –

The Director for Corporate Support will submit the Annual Governance Statement 2010/11.

The Head of Corporate Risk and Insurance presented the Annual Governance Statement for 2010/11.

With regard to Employee Relations, concern was expressed at the fact that there had been no resolution locally to a number of outstanding pay claims, despite the job evaluation process having been undertaken four years ago.

Agreed that –

The Director for Corporate Support will submit a report.

The Head of Corporate Risk and Insurance presented the Operational Risk Management Update Report.  The report –

Concern was raised at the Council’s failure to achieve carbon reduction targets and Members queried whether the impact of an increasing number of lorries coming to the City to deliver waste to the proposed waste to energy plant had been considered.

Agreed that –

The Director for Corporate Support will submit a report.

The Head of Corporate Risk and Insurance presented the Risk Management Annual Report.  The report summarised the work carried out during 2010/11 to develop the Council’s approach to risk management and covered –

·                                                       Corporate and Operational Risk Management Groups

·        Risk Registers

·        Performance Management and Business Planning

·        Annual Governance Statement

·        Risk Management and the Competency Framework

·        Partnerships Governance

·        Intranet Risk Management Guidance

·        Information Governance

·        ALARM Benchmarking

·        Risk Management Maturity Review by Heath Lambert

·        Focus for 2011/2012

With regard to Partnerships Governance, Members queried whether the broad-based, city-wide review had commenced.  As the answer to this question could not be provided at the meeting, a written response was sought.

Agreed that –

The Director for Corporate Support will submit the Annual report on Treasury Management Activities for 2010/11.

The Director for Corporate Support submitted for consideration the Annual Report on Treasury Management Activities for 2010/11.  In attendance to present the report was the Corporate Accountancy and Finance Manager.  The report –

Agreed –

The Director for Corporate Support will provide a verbal update.

The Corporate Accountancy and Finance Manager reported that the accounts would be submitted, in accordance with the new International Finance Reporting Standards (IFRS) format, to the Committee Chair and Director for Corporate Support on Wednesday for sign off.  Members were further advised that a training session had been arranged at 12.30 pm on 6 July 2011 in order to help them better understand the new accounting format.

The Council’s external auditor, Grant Thornton, will submit a report.

The City Council’s external auditor, Grant Thornton, submitted an interim report and update to its Financial Audit Plan for 2010/11. 

The report was noted.

The Council’s external auditor, Grant Thornton, will submit a report.

The City Council’s external auditor, Grant Thornton, submitted a progress update on its Audit Plan for 2010/11.

The report was noted.

The Council’s external auditor, Grant Thornton, will submit a report.

The City Council’s external auditor, Grant Thornton, submitted its Value For Money Review of the Procure to Pay Project.  The report detailed the key findings of the review and made a number of recommendations which were summarised in the form of action plan.

In response to questions raised, Members were informed that –

The report was noted.

The Council’s external auditor, Grant Thornton, will provide a verbal update.

The Head of Finance updated the Committee on the latest situation regarding the future of local public audit.  Members were advised that –

Discussion took place on the proposed changes to the committee membership and the merits of retaining the public right to challenge local authority accounts.  A vote was recorded in respect of each of these matters as follows –

• proposal for an Independent Chair – not supported by the Committee
• proposal for a majority Independent membership – not supported by the Committee
• proposal to retain the public right to challenge local authority accounts – supported by the Committee

Agreed that –

The panel will be provided with a position statement on the division of children from care.

Further to minute 76, the Committee considered the response from Children’s Services to the concerns raised regarding the reduction of children in care and the implications of failure to the budget.

Agreed that a more detailed response is sought in advance of the next meeting, with a request being made for the Assistant Director for Children’s Social Care to attend should the detail remain insufficient.

The Committee will note its work plan for the forthcoming year.

The Committee’s Forward Work Plan for 2011/12 was noted.

To consider passing a resolution under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 to exclude the press and public from the meeting for the following item(s) of business on the grounds that it (they) involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph(s) ….. of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, as amended by the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

There were no items of exempt business.