Agenda and minutes

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Contact: Craig Saunders - Email: craig.saunders@buckinghamshire.gov.uk 

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Items
No. Item

1.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 443 KB

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 10 June, 2020, copy attached.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED –

 

That the Minutes of the meeting held on 10 June 2020 be approved as a correct record.

2.

Declarations of Interest

Members to declare any interests.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

There were none.

3.

Action Tracker / Log

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chairman informed the Committee that it would be important for Members to keep track of actions agreed at previous meetings, to ensure that appropriate action was then taken.  As such, he had requested that Officers keep an Action Tracker / Log of outstanding actions to be reported to each Committee meeting.

 

Members noted that Actions Tracker at pages 5-6 of the agenda.  All 5 identified actions had been completed since the last meeting, with no actions being outstanding.

 

RESOLVED –

 

That the Action Tracker be noted.

4.

Audit Plan Update (District Councils) pdf icon PDF 2 MB

To consider the attached report.

 

Contact Officer:  Hasina.Shah@buckinghamshire.gov.uk

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee was informed that audit plans for all the districts had been presented to the respective Audit Committees or circulated via email to the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Audit Committee if there had been no scheduled meetings during March 2020 before the lockdown.

 

Since the original audit plans, there had been two significant events : the outbreak of Covid-19 and creation of the new Buckinghamshire Council and the Audit & Governance Committee.  The Audit plan update attached at Appendix 1 to the agenda provided an update on impact of Covid-19 and audit risks resulting from these events.

 

In the original plans, the auditor had also outlined the impact the changing risk and regulatory environment was having on audits and the discussions that were ongoing with the Public Sector Audit Appointments (PSAA) regarding the scale fee setting process.  The Audit Plan update included an update on how those issues were impacting the scale fees of the District Councils that were subject to approval by the Public Sector Audit Appointments (PSAA).

 

Due to significant increase in fees across all the District Councils, these had been challenged but at the same time it was recognised the changes to the regulatory environment was having an impact on the audit work and ultimately the fees would need to be approved by PSAA.

 

Members were informed that the total consolidated budget for the District Councils’ Main audit fees and Housing Benefit Fees was £277K, the total revised fees (which would have to be approved by PSAA) which included an estimated cost of extended testing for Housing Benefit forecast at £343K that would result in a forecast overspend of £66K.  The Finance Service would endeavour to manage this forecast overspend within its overall budget, however ultimately this might have an impact on Council’s overall General Fund position.

 

Members considered the Appendix 1 report from the external auditors on update of audit risks, other areas of audit focus, and update on audit fees, and in response to questions were informed as follows:-

 

(i)                 that the increase in fees was due to a number of factors including significant changes in the regulatory environment, increased risks due to the current Covid pandemic and there had been an increase in the focus on areas of the financial statements where judgemental estimates were made, e.g. valuation of land and buildings (such as Consilio) and pension assets and liabilities.  This also meant that some work was taking slight longer to complete than had been anticipated.

 

(ii)               that the increase in fees for the area ‘Changes in expectations on delivery’ was due to Councils’ systems not being as advanced as had been predicted.

 

(iii)             that the total revised fee for the auditing of the County Council’s 2019/20 financial statements of £92,828 had been reported to the Audit and Governance Committee on 10 June 2020.  Again, this fee would need to be approved by the PSAA.

 

Members expressed concerns with the larger than expected increase in the fees for auditing of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

5.

Aylesbury Vale District Council: Statement of Accounts 2019/20 and Audit Report pdf icon PDF 210 KB

To consider the attached report.

 

Contact Officer:  Hasina.Shah@buckinghamshire.gov.uk

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 required Local Authorities to prepare a Statement of Accounts in accordance with proper accounting practice and these were required to be approved and signed by the Council’s Audit & Governance Committee.  Due to Covid-19, the statutory deadline for completion of draft Statement of Accounts had been postponed from 31 May 2020 to 31 August 2020.  The publication of the audited statement had been postponed from 31 July 2020 to 30 November 2020.

 

Closing the 2019/20 Statement of Accounts and audit had been done under the challenging circumstances of lockdown due to Covid-19.  The draft statement of accounts had been published on the Council’s website on 8 June 2020, well in advance of the revised statutory deadline.  The public inspection period for the accounts had run from 8 June 2020 to 17 July 2020 and had now ended.

 

Since the draft accounts, the final National Non-Domestic Rates 3 (NNDR) had been completed and this had impacted on the outturn along with other minor adjustments which had resulted in a favourable variance of £150k which had been transferred to the Earmarked Reserve.  A re- adjustment of £210k to increase the value of a carpark asset had been agreed in the last few days but this did not impact on reserves.  Any further adjustment above the materiality for reporting threshold of £106k would be circulated to Audit and Governance Committee members.

 

The Committee was informed that the audit of the accounts had commenced in June and at the time of writing this report, the plan was for the audit fieldwork to be substantially complete followed by closing procedures and final reviews with a view to signing off the audit soon after the Audit Committee meeting on 29 July.

 

In accordance with the International Standard on Auditing (ISA) 260, the External Auditor (EY LLP) had prepared a detailed record of all matters arising from the audit of the Statement of Accounts. This Report was attached as Appendix 2.  The auditor’s opinion on the financial statements had yet to be confirmed and had therefore not been included in the Statement of Accounts.

 

Members were informed that the Statement of Accounts outlined AVDC’s financial performance for the year under the Narrative Section of the Statement. The accounts provided public information on the Council’s financial performance and were a key element of this performance review process by which the Council was held accountable to the public for the proper management and stewardship of financial resources.  The key financial sections within the accounts were summarised as follows:-

 

Accounting Policies: There were minor changes to the CIPFA Code and International Financial Reporting standards.  The Council was either already in compliance with these changes or some of the changes were not applicable to AVDC Statement of Accounts.

 

Significant movement between years

 

Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Account (CIES): This statement reports the net cost for the year of all functions for which the Council was responsible and demonstrated how that cost had been financed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

Chiltern District Council: Statement of Accounts 2019/20 and Audit Report pdf icon PDF 215 KB

To consider the attached report.

 

Contact Officer:  Hasina.Shah@buckinghamshire.gov.uk

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 required Local Authorities to prepare a Statement of Accounts in accordance with proper accounting practice and these were required to be approved and signed by the Council’s Audit & Governance Committee.  Due to Covid-19, the statutory deadline for completion of draft Statement of Accounts had been postponed from 31 May 2020 to 31 August 2020.  The publication of the audited statement had been postponed from 31 July 2020 to 30 November 2020.

 

Closing the 2019/20 Statement of Accounts and audit had been done under the challenging circumstances of lockdown due to Covid-19.  The draft statement of accounts had been published on the Council’s website on 29 June 2020, well in advance of the revised statutory deadline.  The public inspection period for the accounts was from 29 June 2020 to 7 August 2020.

 

Since the draft accounts, the final National Non-Domestic Rates 3 (NNDR) had been completed and this had an impact on outturn along with other minor adjustments.  The adverse impact of £342k had an impact on the General Fund reserves.  Any further adjustment above the materiality for reporting threshold of £63k would be circulated to the Audit Committee members.

 

The audit of the accounts had commenced in June and at the time of writing this report, it had been planned for the audit fieldwork to be substantially complete, followed by closing procedures and final reviews with a view to signing off the audit soon after the completion of public inspection period on 7 August 2020.

 

In accordance with the International Standard on Auditing (ISA) 260, the External Auditor (EY LLP) had prepared a detailed record of all matters arising from the audit of the Statement of Accounts. This Report was attached as Appendix 2 to the agenda.  The Auditor’s opinion on the financial statements had not been confirmed at the time of writing the Committee report and had therefore not been included in the Statement of Accounts.

 

The full draft Statement of Accounts were appended to the report and the following key points were highlighted to Members:-

 

Revenue Outturn

Budget

Outturn

Variance

£’000

£’000

£’000

Net Cost of Services

10,108

9,792

-316

Capital Financing Costs

601

234

-367

Contribution to Unitary Transition

0

1,995

1,995

Transfer to/from Earmarked Reserves

201

931

730

Budget Requirement

10,910

12,952

2,042

 

In terms of the Financial Outturn the most significant feature was the £1,995k contribution to the Unitary Transition budget.  Excluding this the revenue budget showed an underspend of £101k.  The main other points to note in the outturn were as follows:

·                    There had been significantly higher parking income than budgeted (£274k), which included Amersham Multi Storey Car Park where growth in occupancy had exceeded expectations.

·                    Waste client costs exceeded budget (£260k) due to lower green waste income and additional temporary staff costs in the Waste Admin team.

·                    Staff vacancies in Revenues & Benefits and Customer Services (£166k), which included the Head of Service and the Customer Services Manager.

·                    Savings in temporary accommodation costs (£150k).

·                    Savings from re-phasing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

7.

South Bucks District Council: Statement of Accounts 2019/20 and Audit Report pdf icon PDF 214 KB

To consider the attached report.

 

Contact Officer:  Hasina.Shah@buckinghamshire.gov.uk

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 required Local Authorities to prepare a Statement of Accounts in accordance with proper accounting practice and were required to be approved and signed by the Council’s Audit & Governance Committee.  Due to Covid-19, the statutory deadline for completion of draft Statement of Accounts had been postponed from 31 May 2020 to 31 August 2020.  The publication of the audited statement had been postponed from 31 July 2020 to 30 November 2020.

 

Closing the 2019/20 Statement of Accounts and audit had been done under the challenging circumstances of lockdown due to Covid-19.  The draft statement of accounts had been published on the Council’s website on 29 of June, well in advance of the revised statutory deadline.  The public inspection period for the accounts was from 29 June 2020 to 7 August 2020.

 

Since the draft accounts, the final National Non-Domestic Rates 3 (NNDR) had been completed and this had an impact on outturn along with other minor adjustments.  The adverse impact of £54k had impacted on the General Fund reserves. Any further adjustment above the materiality for reporting threshold of £48k would be circulated to the Audit and Governance Committee members.

 

The Committee was informed that the audit of the accounts had commenced in June and at the time of writing this report, it had been planned to substantially complete the audit fieldwork followed by closing procedures and final reviews with a view to signing off the audit soon after the completion of public inspection period on 7 August 2020.

 

In accordance with the International Standard on Auditing (ISA) 260, the External Auditor (EY LLP) had prepared a detailed record of all matters arising from the audit of the Statement of Accounts. This Report is attached as Appendix 2 to the agenda.  As the Auditors opinion on the financial statements had not been confirmed at the time of writing the report it had not been included in the Statement of Accounts.

 

The following key points on the full draft Statement of Accounts were highlighted:-

 

RevenueOutturn

 

Budget

Outturn

Variance

£’000

£’000

£’000

Net Cost of Services

7722

8305

583

Capital Financing Costs

74

-88

-163

Payment to BCC Unitary Reserve

0

1,552

1,552

Transfer from Revenue Reserves

-155

0

155

Budget Requirement

7,641

9,769

2,127

 

In terms of the Financial Outturn the most significant feature was the £1,552k contribution to the Unitary Transition budget.  Excluding this the revenue budget showed an underspend of £322k.  The main other points to note in the outturn were as follows:

·                    Additional Waste contract costs and the authority’s share of the joint procurement costs (£129k).

·                    Staff vacancies in Revenues & Benefits and Customer Services, which included the Head of Service and the Customer Services Manager, offset by the costs in increasing the bad debt provision for housing benefit overpayment recovery (£398k).

·                    Savings in temporary accommodation costs (£150k)

·                    Rephasing of the costs of the South Bucks Country Park project and income now being received for soil importation (£108k). 

·                    Additional costs in Human  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

8.

Wycombe District Council: Statement of Accounts 2019/20 and Audit Report pdf icon PDF 209 KB

To consider the attached report.

 

Contact Officer:  Hasina.Shah@buckinghamshire.gov.uk

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 required Local Authorities to prepare a Statement of Accounts in accordance with proper accounting practice and were required to be approved and signed by the Council’s Audit & Governance Committee.  Due to Covid-19, the statutory deadline for completion of draft Statement of Accounts had been postponed from 31 May 2020 to 31 August 2020.  The publication of the audited statement had been postponed from 31 July 2020 to 30 November 2020.

 

Closing the 2019/20 Statement of Accounts and audit had been done under the challenging circumstances of lockdown due to Covid-19.  The draft statement of accounts had been published on the Council’s website on 1 June, well in advance of the revised statutory deadline.  The public inspection period for the accounts was from 4 June 2020 to 16 July 2020 and had now ended.

 

Since the draft accounts, the final National Non-Domestic Rates 3 (NNDR) had been completed and had an impact on outturn along with other minor adjustments.  The adverse impact of £174k had resulted in a reduced contribution to the Earmarked Reserve.  Any further adjustment above the materiality for reporting threshold of £86k will be circulated to the Audit and Governance Committee members.

 

Members were informed of a couple of typographical errors at page 32 of the statements (Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Statement) as follows:

Halfway down page 32, below the heading ‘Surplus’

·                    Opening General Fund Balance ‘at 31st March 2018’ should be changed to read ‘at 31st March 2019’.

·                    Closing General Fund Balance ‘at 31st March 2019’ should be changed to read ‘at 31st March 2020’.

Bottom of page 32, below the heading ‘Surplus’

·                    Opening General Fund Balance ‘at 31st March 2017’ should be changed to read ‘at 31st March 2018’.

·                    Closing General Fund Balance at ‘31st March 2018’ should be changed to read ‘at 31st March 2019’.

 

The Committee was informed that the audit of the accounts had commenced in June and at the time of writing this report, it had been planned to substantially complete the audit fieldwork followed by closing procedures and final reviews with a view to signing off the audit soon after the completion of public inspection period on 7 August 2020.

 

In accordance with the International Standard on Auditing (ISA) 260, the External Auditor (EY LLP) had prepared a detailed record of all matters arising from the audit of the Statement of Accounts. This Report is attached as Appendix 2 to the agenda.  As the Auditors opinion on the financial statements had not been confirmed at the time of writing the report it had not been included in the Statement of Accounts.

 

The following key points on the full draft Statement of Accounts were highlighted:-

 

Significant movement between years

 

Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Account (CIES): This reported the net cost for the year of all functions for which the Council was responsible and demonstrated how that cost had been financed from general government grants and income from local taxpayers. Total Comprehensive Income and Expenditure  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

9.

Annual Report - Higginson Park Charity pdf icon PDF 185 KB

To consider the attached report.

 

Contact Officer:  Hasina.Shah@buckinghamshire.gov.uk

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received a report on the Higginson Park Charity’s audited Annual Report and Financial Statement for the year ending 31 March 2020, a copy of which was included as Appendix 1 to the agenda.

 

The draft Annual Report and the Financial Statements had been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the CharitiesAct 2011 and had adopted the provisions of Accounting and Reporting by Charities Statement of Recommended Practice and Financial Reporting Standards.

 

The Higginson Park Charity accounts had been audited by Seymour Taylor Audit Limited.  The auditors report (Appendix 1) was draft and it was possible that it could change once the outstanding audit work had been completed and finalised.

 

The net worth of Higginson Park Charity had decreased by £110k from £5.644m in 2019 to £5.534m in 2020.  The net operating expenditure for the year was £108k compared to net income of £10k in 2018/19.  The main reason for significant movement was the closure of the swimming pool for renovation works, which resulted in swimming activity decreased by 32% from the previous year, while dry sports/activities remained unchanged, causing total expenditure to increase by £111k resulting in management fee rebate to the contractor running the leisure facilities.

 

The Committee was informed that an amendment to the accounts had been made to reflect £2m in renovation funding that had been provided by Wycombe District Council, and which had been treated as grant income.  This money had been credited to restricted funds in the Statement of Financial Activities for the year ending 31 March 2020 and would be used to offset depreciation charge over the life of the asset.

 

Members sought additional information and were informed:-

(i)                 that the Officers would ensure that the Council submitted an application to Government for the reimbursement of lost income, where this was possible.

 

(ii)               that the charity would continue into the future as a separate body, with the Buckinghamshire Council acting as trustee of the charity.

 

Having reviewed the audited Annual Report and Financial Statement, it was,

 

RESOLVED –

 

(1)               That, subject to the audit progress and findings reported to the meeting, the Higginson Park Charity’s audited Annual Report and Financial Statement for the year ended 31 March 2020 be approved.

 

(2)               That the Service Director – Corporate Finance (Section 151 Officer), in consultation with the Chairman of the Audit and Governance Committee, be authorised to make any final amendments to the Accounts arising from outstanding audit work prior to the approval of the accounts by the auditor.

10.

Risk Management Strategy (updated) pdf icon PDF 809 KB

To consider the attached report.

 

Contact Officer:  Maggie.Gibb@buckinghamshire.gov.uk

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Risk Management Strategy had been submitted to the Audit and Governance Committee on 10 June 2020.  Members had noted the Strategy and had included a “placeholder” relating to risk appetite which needed to be updated.

 

The Committee received a report with the updated Risk Management Strategy which included information on:-

·                    The aims and objectives of the Strategy.

·                    The approach to risk management, which included information on the risk appetites across the different Directorates, with the appetites differing None to High according to the different types of risk / activities undertaken in the areas.

·                    the types of risk (internal, external, strategic, and major programmes and projects) and how the organization as a whole then used a methodology to calculate risk to ensure that the Council had an accurate overview of the risks that were posed.  The two criteria used for the methodology were to look at the likelihood of an event occurring and the impact that event could have.  Once this was done then it was necessary to determine the strategy for managing that risk.

·                     Roles and responsibilities, with it being recognised that it was the responsibility of all Members and Officers to have due regard for risk in performing their duties.

·                     Risk reporting and escalation: ensuring that a framework was in place to provide assurance that key risks with Directorates were being identified, monitored and managed as effectively and robustly as possible.  Risks would be reported regularly to the relevant Directorate Board, the Corporate Management Team and the Risk Management Group.

·                     Culture, awareness and training being done to effectively implement a level of understanding of the Council’s risk management approach across the organisation.

·                     How Risk Appetite Matrix and Risk Methodology were measured.

 

Also attached to the Committee report were the terms of reference for the Risk Management Group, which Members referred to as part of their discussions.

 

Members sought additional information and were informed:-

 

(i)                 that they would be provided with information on the names of the various Risk Champions within the Council (Action Log)

 

(ii)               that Members of the Risk Management Group would be provided with adequate training in the principles of audit, risk and control, as mentioned in paragraph of the Group’s terms of reference.

 

RESOLVED –

 

That the updated Risk Management Strategy (Appendix A) and the Risk Management Group terms of reference be noted.

11.

Internal Audit Plan (updated) pdf icon PDF 230 KB

To consider the attached report.

 

Contact Officer:  Maggie.Gibb@buckinghamshire.gov.uk

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received a report updating it on the Internal Audit Plan for 2020/21.  The original plan, attached as Appendix B to the agenda, had been prepared in consultation with the S151 Officer and internal audit and risk leads from the legacy Councils, as well as discussion with the Corporate and Service Directors for the Buckinghamshire Council, and been submitted to the meeting on 10 June 2020. 

 

Due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the council, and further to conversations with various other Heads of Internal Audit, and taking into account other advice from professional bodies, we have been carefully considering what we need to achieve in 2020/21 with regards Internal Audit work during these unprecedented times and are mindful that a proportionate approach to Internal Audit must be taken to allow council staff and members to focus on the recovery from the Covid-19 crisis and council priorities.

 

The Head of Business Assurance (& Chief Auditor) had been of liaising with the Corporate and Service Directors to decide which areas of audit activity should not be carried out this year, but in the context of being able to provide adequate assurance over key risk areas and provide an opinion at the end of the year.  This task was further complicated by the increased risks faced through the Unitary transition and the need to ensure that the key control framework is operating effectively to mitigate the risks.

 

The proposed changes were included at Appendix A and were highlighted in yellow. The changes included some audits to be postponed to 2021/22, some to be amalgamated with other audits and new audit areas which have been identified as high risk.  The proposed changes had been agreed by the Audit Board on 15 July 2020.

 

Several audits were now in progress as agreed by the Audit and Governance Committee in June 2020, and the outputs would be reported to the Committee in September.  The Q2 audit were as follows:-

 

Directorate

Service

Audit Area

Status                                                   

Adult’s, Health and Housing

Quality Standards and Performance

Quality Assurance Framework

 

Children’s Services

Social Care

Safer Recruitment

To be combined with HR Processes audit late Q2

Children’s Services

Education

Families First Grant Verification

Completed

Communities

Neighbourhood Services

Taxi Licensing

Planning in progress

Corporate

All

Follow up of audit actions from legacy councils

In progress

Corporate

All

Covid-19 Response to include: Supplier Payments Process; Emergency Payments; Decision Making etc

Planning in progress

Deputy Chief Executive

Policy and Communications

Information Governance

Planning in progress

Planning, Growth and Sustainability

N/A

Local Enterprise Partnership (c/fwd from 19/20 BCC Audit Plan)

Draft report issued

Planning. Growth and Sustainability

N/A

LEP Growth Hub Funding – Grant Verification

Completed

Resources

Finance/HR/IT

SAP Controls

In progress through Finance Task and Finish Group

Resources

HR

SAP Payroll Migration

Planning in progress

Resources

IT

IT Security (including Cyber Security)

Planning in progress

 

Members sought additional information and were informed:

 

(i)                 on the HR approach that was being taken to look at the overall staffing structure for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

12.

Work Programme / Action Log

To consider the future work programme information, as well as the Action Log attached at the front of the agenda.

 

30 September 2020

1.                  BCC Statement of Accounts and Audit Report

2.                  BCC Annual Governance Statement

3.                  Pension Fund Accounts and Audit Report

4.                  Annual Report – Farnham Park Sports Field Charity

5.                  BCC 2019/20 Head of Audit Annual Opinion

6.                  Internal Audit Progress Report

7.                  Counter Fraud Progress Report (part II)

 

18 November 2020

1.                      Internal Audit Progress Report

2.                  Counter Fraud Progress Report (part II)

3.                  Compliments and Complaints – Annual Report

4.                  Contract Procedure Rules – Breaches

5.                  Risk Management Group Update

 

Contact Officer:  Maggie.Gibb@buckinghamshire.gov.uk

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered their future work programme, which had been updated during the course of the meeting.

 

RESOLVED –

 

That the future work programme be approved, as follows:

 

30 September 2020

1.                  BCC Statement of Accounts and Audit Report.

2.                  BCC Annual Governance Statement.

3.                  Pension Fund Accounts and Audit Report.

4.                  Annual Report – Farnham Park Sports Field Charity.

5.                  BCC 2019/20 Head of Audit Annual Opinion.

6.                  Internal Audit Progress Report.

7.                  Counter Fraud Progress Report (Part II).

8.                  Business Interruption Insurance report.

9.                  Sign off of District Council’s statements of accounts (short report)

 

18 November 2020

1.                  Internal Audit Progress Report.

2.                  Counter Fraud Progress Report (Part II).

3.                  Compliments and Complaints – Annual Report.

4.                  Contract Procedure Rules – Breaches.

5.                  Risk Management Group update.