Council and Democracy

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Room 1, Town Hall, Rose Hill, Chesterfield

Contact: Rachel Appleyard  01246 34 5277

Items
No. Item

45.

Appointment of a Chair

Minutes:

RESOLVED –

 

That, in the absence of the Chair and Vice-Chair, Councillor Rayner be the Chair for the meeting.

46.

Declarations of Members' and Officers' Interests relating to Items on the Agenda

Minutes:

No declarations of interest were received.

47.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Caulfield and Kellman.

48.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 336 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED –

 

That the Minutes of the meeting of the Standards and Audit Committee held on 16 February, 2022 be approved as a correct record and be signed by the Chair.

49.

Local Government Act 1972 - Exclusion of Public

To move “That under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act".

 

Part 2 (Non Public Information)

Minutes:

*RESOLVED –

 

That under Section 100(a)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

50.

Update on QPSC and Markets Internal Audit Recommendations

Minutes:

The Service Director – Leisure, Sport and Cultural Wellbeing provided an update on the recommendations from recent audits on Markets and Queen’s Park Sports Centre income. The majority of the recommendations had now been completed. The outstanding recommendation from the Queen’s Park Sports Centre audit would be completed once the new leisure management system was in place and a review was underway to address the outstanding recommendation on the Markets audit.

 

*RESOLVED –

 

1.    That the update be noted.

 

2.    That the target date for completing recommendation 4 of the Markets Income audit be shared with members of the Committee.

51.

Progress update on the 2021/22 Internal Audit Plan

Minutes:

The Internal Audit Consortium Manager presented a report summarising the internal audit reports issued during the period January 2022 to March 2022 in relation to the 2021/22 internal audit plan.

 

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

 

-      ‘Substantial assurance’ – three

-      ‘Reasonable assurance’ – one

-      ‘Limited assurance’ – one

 

A summary of these reports was provided in Appendix 1 of the officer’s report and the limited assurance report (Markets Income) was attached in full at Appendix 3 of the officer’s report. The Committee were informed that no fraud had been detected.

 

Members were also informed on the progress against the internal audit plan which was detailed in Appendix 2 of the officer’s report.

 

*RESOLVED –

 

That the report be noted.

52.

Local Government Act 1972 - Re-admission of the Public

Minutes:

*RESOLVED –

 

That the public be re-admitted to the meeting.

53.

Chesterfield Borough Council Internal Audit Plan 2022/23 pdf icon PDF 85 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Internal Audit Consortium Manager presented a report detailing the Internal Audit Plan for 2022/23.

 

The Public Sector Internal Audit Standards required that a periodic risk-based plan be prepared that would be sufficiently flexible to reflect the changing risks and priorities of the organisation. The development of the internal audit plan had taken into account the council’s organisational objectives and priorities, local and national issues and risks, the requirement to produce an annual internal audit opinion, an update of the internal audit risk assessment exercise, the council’s strategic risk register and comments from the corporate leadership team.

 

The internal audit plan, attached at Appendix 1 of the officer’s report, detailed the areas where audits would take place during 2022/23 and the number of days allocated to each area. The report noted that the number of contingency days had been increased to allow for the coverage of any unforeseen or emerging risks. In addition, a number of reserve areas had been added to the end of the list; if the contingency days were not required, these would be utilised on the reserve areas. The Internal Audit Consortium Manager advised that they were struggling to recruit to the vacant Senior Auditor post which may impact on the ability to complete the plan.

 

*RESOLVED –

 

1.   That the Internal Audit Plan for 2022/23 be approved.

 

2.   That it be noted that the plan is provisional and may need adjusting and prioritising in the light of any emerging risks or staff shortages.

54.

Review of the Code of Corporate Governance and the 2021/22 Annual Governance Statement pdf icon PDF 174 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Internal Audit Consortium Manager presented a report on the review of compliance with the Code of Corporate Governance requirements during 2021/22 and the Annual Governance Statement for 2021/22.

 

The report noted that local authorities are recommended to adopt and regularly review a Code of Corporate Governance which details the system by which the Council controls and directs its functions and how it relates to its local community. The outcomes from the review, as detailed in Appendix 1 of the officer’s report, demonstrated that there had been substantial compliance with the Code during 2021/22.

 

The Annual Governance Statement, as detailed in Appendix 2 of the officer’s report, was derived from a detailed review of the assurances by senior officers and from the work undertaken and risks identified by internal audit. The review indicated that many of the Council’s processes and procedures were compliant with good practice; however there were some governance issues and future challenges which were detailed within the Statement, including the continuing impact of Covid-19 on the Council’s governance arrangements.

 

*RESOLVED –

 

1.   That the Annual Governance Statement be approved and be signed by the Leader and Chief Executive.

 

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

 

3.   That progress on the significant issues and future challenges identified in the Annual Governance Statement be monitored by the Corporate Leadership Team.

55.

Delegation Scheme and Constitution pdf icon PDF 85 KB

Minutes:

The Monitoring Officer presented a report seeking approval to make changes the Constitution. The Constitution is a key document, required by law, which sets out the principal powers, duties and procedures of the Council. Full Council considers the main changes and other changes are delegated to Standards and Audit Committee. Any consequential amendments and general updates are the responsibility of the Monitoring Officer.

 

The changes were outlined in Appendix 1 of the officer’s report and related to the terms for the disposal of land and animal licensing functions in Part 3 – Delegation Scheme.

 

*RESOLVED

 

That the changes to the Constitution, as detailed in Appendix 1 of the officer’s report, be approved.

 

56.

Standards and Audit Committee Work Programme 2022/23 pdf icon PDF 55 KB

Minutes:

The work programme for the Standards and Audit Committee for 2022/23 was considered.

 

*RESOLVED –

 

That the work programme be noted.