Venue: Remotely Via Teams
Contact: Nicola Headon
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Declaration of Interest Minutes: The
following Member made a declaration of interest at the commencement of the
meeting:-
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Minutes of Previous Meeting PDF 60 KB Minutes: Members questioned the Minutes of the previous
meeting page 6 bullet point 2, the minutes should read would funding be
tracked. Members requested a further
explanation. The Director of Finance and Corporate Services
explained that Welsh Government originally made available £188m towards the
Hardship Fund to reimburse Councils’ for additional costs and loss of income,
on the 17 August it announced an additional sum of £264m which would take us
through to the end of March 2021. The Welsh Government maintained a record of
how that was allocated to different areas within the Hardship Fund, the council
was required to identify which areas of the fund they were making claims
against for reimbursement. Audit Wales would be reviewing the accounts and
claims that have been made during the year. It was highlighted that the Internal Audit Section
would be carrying out work in relation to various expenditure, income and
payments that the council had made during the first five months of this
year. Officers went onto explain that a substantial
amount of money had been given to help businesses with grants from the Welsh
Government of £10k and £25k. Over £28m to some 2,500 businesses had already been paid out and there
were some further ones that would be made. Internal and external audit would be reviewing and
ensuring there would be appropriate governance arrangements in place. Information had been submitted to the
National Fraud Initiative who carried out work at the end of July early August
2020 on payments made to businesses. Various information was coming back to the Finance
Section to double check potential issues around the payments, therefore there
were many forms of governance checks and balances that would be undertaken
during the second half of 2020. RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 9 June, 2020, be approved. |
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Annual Governance Statement Report 2019-2020 PDF 91 KB Additional documents:
Minutes: The Committee received an
update of the Council’s Annual Governance Statement 2019-2020 and Addendum, as
detailed in the circulated report. It
was noted that the Addendum report explained what controls had changed, and also
priorities for improvement that needed to be worked on in the foreseeable
future. It
was highlighted that the report showed updated requirements in terms of
providing further training for Members of the Audit Committee. RESOLVED: That the report and addendum be noted. |
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Audit Wales Statement of Accounts 2019-2020 PDF 361 KB Minutes: Members received an update from Audit Wales
on the Statement of Accounts for 2019-2020 for Neath Port Talbot County Borough
Council, as detailed in the circulated report. Audit Wales thanked officers for their support
in providing audit evidence in challenging and difficult circumstances. Audit Wales drew Members attention to Note 35
of the accounts which described the impact of COVID-19 on the valuation of
Pension Scheme Assets as at 31 March 2020. It was noted that during the audit, two misstatements had been
identified in the statement of accounts and these had been discussed with
management, but management had chosen not to adjust. Audit Wales officers highlighted the uncertainty arising from the
valuation of Pension Scheme Property Assets and that an additional narrative
disclosure had been added to the accounts.
Members were also informed that in relation to the McCloud Judgement an
additional narrative disclosure was made because the draft financial statements
were prepared before the government published on 16 July 2020 its consultation
to the Judgement. This consultation proposed remedy and response on age
discrimination in public sector pension schemes. The external auditor confirmed with the pension
actuary, that they had taken the Judgement into account and had made provisions
for a proposed remedy in valuing pension liability. In respect of the Asset Valuation process,
there were some improvements that would be made going forward. Members thanked Audit Wales and their team
for all their good work. RESOLVED: That
the report be noted. |
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Statement of Accounts 2019-2020 PDF 109 KB Additional documents:
Minutes: Members received an overview of the Statement of Accounts 2019-2020,
following the completion of the external audit. Officers highlighted that the draft Statement of Accounts was presented
to Audit Committee during June 2020 and there had been some changes to the
accounts since that date. Officers went on to explain that Local Authorities were originally
required to complete and submit a set of accounts to audit by the15 June, with
a requirement to gain Audit Committee approval.
Due to the impact of Covid-19 these dates had been subsequently
amended. It was necessary to amend the
final sign off date for the accounts to 15 September 2020, this was still in
line with legislation. It was explained that a new valuation by the Pension Actuary came into
effect from 1 April 2020 for the next 3 years, this had taken into account what
had been anticipated to be the major impacts of the McCloud Judgement, and as a
result Auditors were satisfied. In terms of the Property Asset Valuations, mentioned by Audit Wales
under the previous agenda item, these were based on independent valuations for
the City and County of Swansea Local Government Pension Scheme. These
valuations were carried out annually, and if required, adjustments would be
actioned through the pension accounts, which would then be reflected in the
Council’s Statement of Accounts. The
Auditors had highlighted that as a result of valuation reductions they could
have an impact on the overall viability and sustainability of the Pension
Scheme. The Director of Finance and
Corporate Services stated that there was no concern at the present time, and
this would be addressed as part of next year’s audit of the Pension Fund
accounts. Members questioned whether the former Director of Environment and
Regeneration was a paid Director of Neath Port Talbot Waste Management
Company? Officers confirmed that the
former Director was, but that the current Director of Environment and
Regeneration was not a paid Director of Neath Port Talbot Waste Management
Company nor Neath Port Talbot Recycling Limited. It was highlighted that the service provider
up until 30 September 2019 was Neath Port Talbot Recycling Limited, but since 1
October 2019 all staff and functions had been transferred and operating
directly by the council. Members were also informed that Neath Port Talbot
Recycling Limited would be going into liquidation during the next calendar year
and that Members would need to consider a way forward in relation to the Waste
Management Company. It was noted that the acronyms listed under the Grant Income Section
were not covered in the glossary.
Officers agreed to expand on these in the final version of the
accounts. Members thanked Audit Wales and officers for the work put in to
preparing the accounts and for enabling closure. RESOLVED: 1. That the report be noted. 2. That
approval be granted for the Director of Finance and Corporate Services to amend
acronyms in the Statements of the final published version of the accounts; 3. That the Letter of Representation, included ... view the full minutes text for item 5. |
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Internal Audit Annual Report 2019-2020 PDF 127 KB Minutes: Members were given an update on the Head of Internal Audit’s (HIA)
Annual Opinion on the systems of internal control operating within the Council
during the financial year 2019/2020 and details of the Internal Audit
achievement against the 2019/2020 Internal Audit plan approved by Audit. It was noted that the HIA’s opinion
was that reasonable assurance could be given that there had been no major weaknesses noted in the
relation to the internal control systems, governance arrangements and risk
management processes operating within the council. It was highlighted that 83% of planned audits were undertaken, which was
an improvement on 80% from the previous year.
It was confirmed that internal audit work had complied with all Public
Sector Internal Audit Standards. A discussion took place regarding School Data Protection Registration
Audit. Officers explained that some
schools audited throughout the year had been late in ensuring registration was
up-to-date. This should be completed annually, but there were one or two that
were late, therefore Audit completed an exercise with all of the schools to
check for compliance. It was highlighted
that there were no major issues, and that every school within the Authority was
now compliant with their registration requirements. The recommendation made to all schools had
been to put a diary date in their calendar to remind them to renew their
registration annually. With regards to the Procurement Audit which wasn’t undertaken officers
explained that at the beginning of the pandemic period this audit was in the
planning stage, and during initial discussions with the Head of Legal Services
the auditor was made aware that a new Procurement Manager had been appointed
and the Contract Procedure Rules were in the process of being updated,
therefore the audit was delayed in order to allow the new Procurement Manager
to make changes they felt necessary and to allow the Contract Procedure Rules
review to be completed. It was explained
that by delaying the Audit there was no added risk to the Authority. Members asked if that by delaying the Audit there had been added risk to
the authority. Officers explained that there had been no major contracts
procured during the pandemic but part of the work the Internal Audit Section would
be undertaking between now and Christmas was an audit of the Urgency Actions
undertaken during lockdown. Findings
would be reported to the Audit Committee when completed. A discussion took place regarding sufficient resources within the Audit Team. Officers explained that the Audit Plan for the quarter September to December 2020 prioritised work on fundamental systems for this year and was looking at processes which would have changed as a result of remote working and homeworking. It was noted that the council would not deliver the original audit draft plan which would have been presented to members at the March committee meeting had it gone ahead due to the team’s redeployment earlier in the year, but it would be re-prioritised to look at the areas of greater risk. The Audit Plan put ... view the full minutes text for item 6. |
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Internal Audit Update 2020-2021 PDF 125 KB Minutes: Members received an
overview of the Internal Audit work undertaken since the last Audit Committee of
December 2019, as detailed in the circulated report. Officers explained that
during the pandemic audit officers had been involved in assisting staff establish
appropriate internal controls etc. as the council moved into different ways of
working. During this time the Internal
Audit Manager provided support in terms of the Safe and Well Services, and
managed the implementation of the Test Trace & Protect Service (TTP) to
which some of the Audit Team were re-deployed for a number of months, two
members of staff remained providing audit advice to staff and undertaking
audits. It was noted that all members of
staff were now back in the Audit Team as from 1 September, 2020. RESOLVED: That the report be noted. |
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Treasury Management Monitoring 2020-2021 - Quarter 1 PDF 102 KB Minutes: Members received an
overview of the Treasury Management action and information reported to Cabinet
on 30 July 2020, as detailed in the circulated report. RESOLVED: That the report be noted. |
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Internal Audit Plan for the Period 1 September 20 – 31 December 2020 PDF 99 KB Minutes: Members were asked to
approve the Internal Audit Plan for the period 1 September 2020 – 31 December
2020, as detailed in the circulated report. It was noted that at this
time the plan would be quarterly in order to concentrate on higher risk areas
and to allow for the changing environment we find ourselves in due to the
pandemic. RESOLVED: That the Internal Audit Plan for the period 1 September 2020
– 31 December 2020, be approved. |
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Access to Meetings That
pursuant to Section 100A(4) and (5) of the Local Government Act 1972, the
public be excluded for the following items of business which involved the
likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 12 and 15 of
Part 4 of Schedule 12A of the above Act. Minutes: RESOLVED: that pursuant to Section 100A(4) and (5) of the Local Government Act
1972, the public be excluded for the following item of business which involved
the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 12, 13 and
14 of Part 4 of Schedule 12A to the above Act. |
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Higher Risk Ratings Minutes: Members
received an update on special investigation audits undertaken since the Audit
Committee meeting held in December 2019 which had a risk rating of 3, 4 or 5
applied, together with special investigations currently in progress, as detailed
in the private circulated report. A
discussion took place in regard to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)
checks, officers agreed to update members at the next committee. RESOLVED: That the report be noted. |