Agenda and minutes

No declarations were received.

An apology for absence was received from Councillor Diouf.

RESOLVED –

The Minutes of the previous meeting of the Standards and Audit Committee held on 4 April, 2018 were approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

The Chair of the Standards and Audit Committee, Internal Audit Consortium Manager and the Local Government and Regulatory Law Manager submitted the inaugural Annual Report of the Standards and Audit Committee, attached at Appendix 1 to the officer’s report, which summarised the work carried out by the Committee during the financial year 2017/18.

It was noted that the Annual Report would be considered for approval by full Council on 18 July, 2018.

*RESOLVED –

That the Annual Report of the Standards and Audit Committee for 2017/18 be noted and referred to full Council for approval.

The Internal Audit Consortium Manager presented the Internal Audit Consortium Annual Report in respect of Chesterfield Borough Council for 2017/18.

The report provided a summary of the internal audit work undertaken during the year.  Members were informed that 35 reports had been issued during the year; the breakdown of audit classifications was included in paragraph 3.1 of the officer’s report.

Section 3 of the officer’s report also provided detail on the issues to be considered for inclusion in the Annual Governance Statement, and a summary of progress made against the Internal Audit Action Plan.

*RESOLVED –

That the report be noted.

The Internal Audit Consortium Manager presented a report summarising the internal audit reports issued during the period 10 March 2018 to 13 April 2018, in respect of reports issued relating to the 2017/18 internal audit plan.

It was noted that 4 reports had been issued during this period and had been given the following levels of assurance:

·        ‘Substantial Assurance’ – 1

·        ‘Reasonable Assurance’ – 1

·        ‘Limited Assurance’ – 1

·        ‘Inadequate Assurance’ – 1

The Committee welcomed the Assistant Director - Policy and Communications to discuss the Limited Assurance audit report on ‘Performance Management/Corporate Targets’ issued on 13 April, 2018.

The Assistant Director – Policy and Communications referred members to the Implementation Schedule included within Appendix C of the officer’s report, which confirmed that all recommendations had been accepted.

Members received a verbal update on how each recommendation had been addressed, including detail on the measures that had been put in place and the estimated timescales for completion.

The Committee thanked the Assistant Director – Policy and Communications for attending.

The Chair moved that under Regulation 21 (1)(b) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements)(Access to Information)(England) Regulations 2000, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business to be discussed on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined by Paragraphs 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972’.

The Internal Audit Consortium Manager provided a verbal update on behalf of the Assistant Director – Customers, Commissioning and Change, on the Inadequate Assurance report on ‘Procurement’ issued on 5 April, 2018.

It was noted that a group of staff involved with procurement processes across the Council had been tasked with developing an improvement plan to address the recommendations included within the internal audit report, and that a more detailed update on this could be provided at the next meeting of the Standard and Audit Committee.

The Chair moved that, following consideration of a report containing exempt information, the public be re-admitted to the meeting.

Members agreed that an Extraordinary Meeting of the Standards and Audit be held on 6June, 2018 to provide members with more information on the actions being undertaken by the Council to resolve the outstanding issues raised in the internal audit report on procurement, as well as timescales for delivery.

* RESOLVED –

1.   That the report be noted.

2.   That an Extraordinary Meeting of the Standards and Audit Committee be arranged for 6 June, 2018.

The Internal Audit Consortium Manager submitted a report to present Members with the Annual Governance Statement and associated Action Plan, and to review Council compliance with the Code of Corporate Governance during 2017/18.

The Annual Review of the Code of Corporate Governance, as attached at Appendix A to the officer’s report, showed that compliance had largely been achieved in 2017/18, with areas of partial compliance addressed in the Annual Governance Statement Action Plan, as attached at Appendix D to the officer’s report.

The Director of Finance and Resources proposed that the paragraph within the Internal Audit Opinion 2017/18 section of the Annual Governance Statement relating to limited and inadequate assurance reports be supplemented by the table set out in paragraph 3.1 of the Internal Audit Consortium Annual Report 2017/18, to give context for these conclusions and to better reflect the full audit picture.

The Director of Finance and Resources proposed the wording of the action stating that the “Council will consolidate its contracts registers to enable the register of contracts over £5,000 to be published on its website,” to better reflect that the Council had existing contracts registers.

The Committee agreed to both proposed amendments of the Annual Governance Statement.

*RESOLVED –  

1.   That, subject to the proposed amendments being made to the Annual Governance Statement, the Annual Governance Statement and Action Plan be approved.

2.   That a review of the Code of Corporate Governance be undertaken in 12 months’ time.

3.   That progress on the Action Plan be monitored by the Corporate Management Team.

The Local Government and Regulatory Law Manager submitted a report recommending for approval proposed amendments to the Council’s Policy and Procedure on the Management of Unreasonable Complaints or Customers.

The proposed changes to the policy were set out in paragraphs 5.3 and 5.4 of the officer’s report.

*RESOLVED –

1.   That the report be noted.

2.   That the Council’s Policy and Procedure on the Management of Unreasonable Complaints or Customers be amended as per the proposed changes as set out in paragraphs 5.3 and 5.4 of the officer’s report.