25 March 2009

Present:

Councillors Date (Chairman), Button, Sir Simon Day and Owen.

Apologies:

Councillors Clatworthy, Fowler and Shadrick

*76 Minutes

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting held on 4 December 2008 be signed as a correct record.

The Chair asked that thanks be recorded to Peter Job (Head of Internal Audit) who had provided excellent advice and support to the Committee and wished him luck in his forthcoming retirement.

*77 Annual Audit and Inspection Letter

The Committee considered the Annual Audit and Inspection Letter which was introduced by Mr Alun Williams (District Auditor) and presented by Ms Pauline Webb (Audit Manager). The Letter provided an overall summary of the Audit Commission s assessment of the County Council, drawing on audit, inspection and performance assessment work.

Members were reminded that the letter was a public document which appeared in full on the DCC and Audit Commission websites and was on the agenda to give Members a further opportunity to ask questions.

Ms Webb presented the complete document and focused on the six key messages set out at the beginning of the Letter which, among other things, praised the Council s improved performance in spite of the economic recession and the Boundary Committee ongoing review of local government in the County, the comparative weakness in the Council s financial reporting and possible improvements in collecting and using citizen feedback. The Council needed to maintain its focus on services improvements and strengthen its financial reporting arrangements.

Furthermore, members were updated on improving outcomes in areas such as the Direction of Travel, Children s Services, ACS, Economy and Regeneration, Environment and Recycling and also achieving Level 3 in Equality.

Members questions included:

When would the Corporate Assessment Framework be achieved;

That the Council needed to recognise that teenage pregnancies were still a problem within certain wards in Devon;

Whether comparison had been made with family Authorities;

Confirmation that the issues raised with financial reporting had been addressed; and

That more work was required with the Equality Impact Needs Assessment (EINA);

RESOLVED;

(a) that the report be noted; and

(b) that a report be brought to the next meeting of the Committee on the ongoing work relating to EINA and how this was being progressed.

*78 External Audit Progress Report

Catherine Brown (Audit Manager) presented the report of the District Auditor giving a progress update in relation to the external audit programme of work set out in the 2007/08 and 2008/09 audit plan. Members noted that much of the work for 2007/08 had been completed, with the exception of the certification of claims.

Progress was also reported on the Health Inequalities review being undertaken which focussed upon joint working between the County Council, PCT and other partners and Members were informed of the reviews on the 2008/09 audit plan which related to the Local Area Agreement and implementation of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004.

Members commented on the Civil Contingencies Act review querying whether other partners such as the police were involved in the reviews and asking if CAA would reduce some of the current duplication.

RESOLVED that the report be noted

*79 Shared Services for Internal Audit

The Committee considered the report of the Acting Executive Director of Finance, IT and Trading (FI/09/21 - text only | pdf FI/09/21) on progress being made toward the formation of a consortium between Devon County Council, Plymouth City Council and Torbay Council for the provision of internal audit services to be called Devon Audit Partnership and implemented on 1 April 2009.

Martin Gould was introduced to the Committee as the head of the New Partnership and he advised members how the new structures would operate, including the new joint committee and also a management board.

Members commented on how the new structure might affect the current operation of Devon s Audit Committee.

It was MOVED by Councillor Date, SECONDED by Councillor Button and

RESOLVED that the progress made toward the formation the Devon Audit Partnership be noted.

*80 Internal Audit Plans for 2009/10

The Committee considered the report of the Acting Executive Director of Finance, IT and Trading (FI/09/22 - text only | pdf FI/09/22) on one of the responsibilities of the Committee to focus audit resources and monitor delivery of the audit service. A copy of the Internal Audit Plans for 2009/2010 was annexed to the report.

Members noted that the risk based element of the planned work was drawn from corporate and directorate risk registers and also that there would be an emphasis on fundamental systems on which the Council s financial control depended.

The focus of the 2009/10 audit plans were explained in more detail including risk based audits, fundamental systems, school audits, anti-fraud arrangements, effective allocation of audit resources, continuous improvement and customer care and partnership working.

Members asked questions and said that in view of the CAA it was positive that audit services were heavily involved in work with other agencies such as the police and fire authorities. They also queried what happened to schools that did not meet the targets set by DCFS.

It was MOVED by Councillor Date, SECONDED by Councillor Button and

RESOLVED that the Internal Audit Plans for 2009/10 be approved.

*81 Risk Management Update

The Committee considered the report of the Acting Executive Director of Finance, IT and Trading (FI/08/23 - text only | pdf FI/08/23) summarising actions taken since the Committee received its previous update report in December 2008, together with the Corporate Risk Register Review and progress in the development of business continuity plans.

Members queried how reports which flagged areas of risk (e.g. the Napoli report) were tied in with the risk register.

Following a challenge at the last meeting of the committee relating to risk and the externalisation of residential care homes, David Johnstone (Executive Director of ACS) and Nick Chapman (Assistant Director, with responsibility for Care Homes) attended the meeting to update the Committee on the current situation and proposed timescales regarding the externalisation of services and also to answer members queries.

Members asked whether the current economic climate would impact on the tendering exercises and also how the Council would manage a larger number of different providers.

It was MOVED by Councillor Date, SECONDED by Councillor Button and

RESOLVED that the activity in the last quarter across the County Council in respect of risk management arrangements be noted.

*82 Date of Next Meeting

The Committee noted that the next official meeting in the County Council calendar was due to be held on Thursday 9 July 2009 at 2.15pm but in view of a statutory requirement for local authorities to approve their Statement of Accounts by 30th June of each year it was recommended that a special meeting to approve the accounts be held at the end of June.

It was MOVED by Councillor Date, SECONDED by Councillor Button and

RESOLVED that 9^th July meeting of the Committee be moved to Tuesday 30 June 2009 at 14.15pm, in order that it can approve the Statement of Accounts.

*DENOTES DELEGATED MATTER WITH POWER TO ACT

The meeting started at 2.15pm and finished at 4.10pm.

The Minutes of the Committee are published on the County Council s Website at:-