Agenda and minutes

The Chair will draw attention to the emergency evacuation procedure as set out under Note 7.

The Democratic Services Officer read out the emergency evacuation procedure.

None was needed.

There were none.

At this point in the meeting declarations of interest are received from Members in any of the agenda items under consideration at the meeting. Members are asked to indicate:

(a) The agenda item number in which they have an interest to declare.

(b) The nature of their interest.

(c) Whether their interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest or an other interest,  (as defined in Part 2, A and B of the Code of Conduct and Rules for Registration of Interests)

Any Member who needs to clarify any matters relating to the declaration of interests is recommended to seek advice from the Council’s Monitoring Officeror a member of his staff before the meeting to expedite dealing with the item during the meeting.

There were none.

There was none.

There were none.

There were none.

Jon Roberts and Beth Bowers (Grant Thornton External Auditors) presented the reports.  Jon Roberts stated that both the audit findings for the Council and for the Avon Pension Fund (APF) complied with the auditing standards and governance was part of the Corporate Audit Committee role.  He went on to explain that the report gave an indication of the status of the audit which was nearly complete and outstanding work was small compared to other Councils.  The audit opinion for the Council was unqualified and for VFM there was one key recommendation in relation to an identified significant weakness.  The audit had additional powers and duties which could be implemented in respect of the public interest but these were not needed.  The final opinion on the accounts would be given in the next few days.

Council Audit

Beth Bowers made the following points in respect of the Council Audit:

·  Property, Plant & equipment and valuation were still an outstanding query;

·  the materiality threshold on page 17 had not changed;

·  on pages 18-21 there were no significant risk findings that would lead to an unqualified opinion;

·  on page 22 there were no issues found as part of the group audit;

·  there was one weakness on VFM and the next item on the agenda would go into more detail;

·  the Council was below the National Audit Office threshold so it’s Whole of Government Accounts (WGA) return does not need to be audited;

·  in respect of Independence and Ethics, Beth Bowers declared an interest which members of the audit team had been consulted on and had approved her continuance.  Her mother had a new job and had been admitted to the APF.  She was not working in a financial capacity but as a chaplain at a university.  She and her mother were financially independent of each other.  She confirmed she remained independent and would declare this as a future issue.  Members all agreed they were happy to proceed on this basis;

·  the appendices referred to the action plan, recommendations to management and follow up on the recommendations in the previous period;

·  there were no adjusted misstatements impacting on the primary statements for the year ending 31 March 2023;

·  there were a few additional fees for audit services which had been raised with management and which would be submitted to the PSAA (Public Sector Audit Appointments) for approval.

During Members’ questions the following answers were given:

·  Councillor Lucy Hodge - the significant weaknesses on VFM had previously been identified as the DSG and governance, it was reported that governance had been assessed and was not deemed a significant weakness;

·  Councillor Sam Ross - it was confirmed that outstanding queries would be completed very shortly and was a small area of work.  The report sought delegated authority to approve the audit subject to any small adjustments.  Anything significant would be reported back to the Committee.  The Head of Financial Management had circulated amended recommendations to the Committee prior to the meeting;

·  Councillor Sam Ross – page 43  ...  view the full minutes text for item 34.

Jon Roberts (Grant Thornton External Auditor) presented the report and explained that the report covered two periods 2021/22 & 2022/23.  He stated auditors follow the NAO (National Audit Office) framework which sets out practice and guidance with a narrative, commentary and observations.  He explained the hierarchy of findings which included the statutory recommendations - of which there were none; the key recommendations – which included the DSG and its recovery plan under the safety valve programme; and 15 improvement recommendations – that provided a narrative of the opportunities to improve in line with best practice.

In relation to risk assessments, there were two set out and one was upheld – the arrangements for managing the DSG recovery plan - and the other had no significant weakness.  It was a positive report and it was hoped that the scrutiny was appreciated.

The following points were made during questions:

·  Councillor Lucy Hodge – were links to other Committees were being picked up.  In respect of financial sustainability, the Business Change Hub had been reported to scrutiny (page 262);

·  further detail would be appreciated in the Reserves table;

·  the majority of movement was the Covid reserves which were down, though the Council had protection against unplanned shocks;

·  the Section 151 Officer reported that reserve balances were up and some of this related to grants.  If grants were not spent then money would be returned to the government;

·  the section 25 statement went to all directors for horizon scanning, looking at demand pressures to ensure that enough reserves were held in case of unplanned risk;

·  the Head of Financial Management confirmed that £12.5m was the target level of unearmarked reserves, although the year end balance could fluctuate as it includes carry forward of revenue underspends;

·  Councillor George Leach – the financial statement audit goes through the reserves in detail;

·  Councillor David Biddleston – every year the earmarked reserves are reappraised looking at the long-term and the balance.  If not used they can be released;

·  Councillor Lucy Hodge – it would be helpful for Members to see the Corporate Risk Register;

·  Aequus would be addressing other groups including the political groups and the external auditors would report on progress in the future;

·  Councillor Malcolm Treby – in respect of conclusions from any actions that weren’t followed up, the recommendations were tracked and there was an option to raise an issue (page 24-25);

·  Councillor Malcolm Treby – page 266 management would brief the Committee on the response to the confidential item;

·  the Director – One West would report to the Committee regarding contract waivers and why these were needed;

·  Councillor David Biddleston – the Committee role was to be a critical friend and there was a recovery plan and safety valve for the DSG.  A number of other Councils had the same issue.  This period the external auditors had done a ‘deep dive’ to ensure previous concerns were addressed;

·  Councillor Lucy Hodge – governance – the Section 151 Officer stated that there was a Capital  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35.

The Director – One West explained that this was a working document and contained more detail since initial drafting.  He confirmed the Corporate Risk Register would now be considered by the Committee.

RESOLVED to note the 2023/24 workplan for the Committee subject to any proposed amendments.