8 December 2010

Present:

Councillors Sir Simon Day (Chairman), Greenslade, Hannon, McMurray, Moulding, Parsons and Pennington

Apologies

Councillor

*56 Minutes

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting held on 24 September 2010 be signed as a correct record.

*57 Audit Progress Summary to 30 November 2010

The Committee considered the report of the District Auditor that included reports by the Commission issued since last meeting, work currently in progress and Audit Commission events and national reports. Mr Williams had no further news about the future of the Audit Commission although it was expected that the Government would be making an announcement in January 2011 regarding the new audit arrangements.

It was MOVED by Sir Simon Day, SECONDED by Councillor Moulding and

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

*58 Review of Financial Statements and Key Financial Systems

The Committee considered the report of the District Auditor which was enclosed and numbered separately with the agenda. The report sets out the matters arising from the Audit Commission s work to enable it to give an audit opinion on the County Council s financial statements, including matters arising from it s work on key financial systems and the audit of the statement of accounts but excludes the Commission s work on grant claims which would be reported separately. Members asked about the timetable for responding to the Audit Commissions recommendations and were told that actions would be implemented by the end of the current financial year. Members congratulated officers on the quality of the financial statements.

It was MOVED by Sir Simon Day, SECONDED by Councillor Moulding and

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

*59 Annual Audit Letter

The Committee considered the report of the District Auditor which was enclosed and numbered separately with the agenda. The report summarised the District Auditor s findings from the 2009/10 audit comprising the audit of the Council s financial statements and the Auditor s assessment of the Council s arrangements to achieve value for money in the use of resources. Members discussed the non-material errors in the financial statements identified by the Commission and explained as presentational issues which would be corrected on the face of the 2010/11 accounts.

It was MOVED by Sir Simon Day, SECONDED by Councillor Moulding and

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

*60 Internal Audit Report 2010/11 Progress in First Half Year

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Finance (CR/10/103) summarising progress to date against Internal Audit Plans drawn up and agreed with key senior managers in directorates at the start of 2010/11. Mr Hutchings, Assistant Head of Devon Audit Partnership, presented the report, corrected the table setting out the Local Performance Indicators (LPIs) and highlighted a number of issues. Members asked questions in relation to South West Highways outstanding payments, the effectiveness of LPIs for larger pieces of work where there are no incremental stages, concern regarding the move from DCC employed school escorts to contracted escorts and the need for a further report on this issue and the programme of security reviews for smaller care homes.

It was MOVED by Sir Simon Day, SECONDED by Councillor Moulding and

RESOLVED that the Committee note

(a) that satisfactory progress against the agreed Internal Audit Plans for 2010/11 during the first six months;

(b) the key issues arising from those audits highlighted in this report.

*61 Risk Management

The Committee considered the report of the Corporate Risk Management Group (CRMG) (CX/10/127 - text only | pdf CX/10/127) summarising the findings of the CRMG on the risk registers of each directorate. Mr Kitchen, Acting Head of Organisation Development, presented the report and said that a future report would review corporate risks and present an updated risk policy. He was also looking at different ways of displaying risks in documents presented to Committee. Members asked questions relating to a CYPS management of the risk to the authority of schools opting to become academies and the apparent haste with which some Devon schools were choosing to become academies before 1 April 2011 in order to receive perceived incentives. While there was some minor criticism regarding the colour presentation of the directorate risk registers, the progress with the reporting of risk management was commended.

It was MOVED by Sir Simon Day, SECONDED by Councillor Moulding and

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

*62 Date of Next Meeting

The Committee noted that the next meeting of the Committee was due to be held on Thursday 31 March 2011 at 2.15pm.

*DENOTES DELEGATED MATTER WITH POWER TO ACT

The meeting started at 2.15pm and finished at 3.30pm.

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