26 November 2014

Present:

Devon County Council

Councillors Clarance and Clatworthy

Plymouth Council

Councillor Wheeler

Torbay Council

Councillor Pountney

Office of the Police Crime Commissioner

Mr S Haworth

Also in Attendance

Mrs M Davis (Devon County Council)

Mr R Hutchins (Devon Audit Partnership)

Apologies

Councillor Murphy (Plymouth City Council) and Councillor Tyerman (Torbay Council)

*32 Minutes

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting held on 18 June 2014 be signed as a correct record.

*33 Devon Audit Partnership: Six Month Update

The Committee considered the Report of the Head of Devon Audit Partnership (CT14/72) summarising the Partnership s activity in the first six months of 2014/15. Challenging targets had been set by Partners, and the management team and staff were working to achieve these. The Audit team had also been involved in a significant number of high profile pieces of work, had taken on new clients and enhanced working relationships with current clients. A training event had also been delivered to 74 Audit Committee members from 21 local authorities across the southwest.

Members discussed the possibility of further development of similar Partnership arrangements for other assurance functions such as risk management and information governance, and the potential this presented to add value for internal and external partners, as well as increasing income and further reducing costs for the founding partners.

It was MOVED by Councillor Wheeler, SECONDED by Councillor Clatworthy and

RESOLVED that the Report be noted.

*34 Devon Audit Partnership Budget Position at Month 6

The Committee considered the Report of the Head of Devon Audit Partnership (CT/14/73 - text only | pdf | supplementary information CT/14/73) setting out the Budget monitoring position for the Partnership at month 6 (2014/15) indicating a potential small underspend at the year end (a trading surplus) due to additional services being provided to some external partners, although this had in part been offset by an increase in associated costs needed to carry out this work.

It was MOVED by Councillor Wheeler, SECONDED by Councillor Clatworthy and

RESOLVED

(a) that the projected outturn, the variances and the reasons for those be noted;

(b) that the under/overspend be presented more clearly in future Budget Position Reports and include agency staffing costs under employees rather than under supplies and services .

*35 Devon Audit Partnership Risk Register

The Committee considered the Report of the Head of Devon Audit Partnership (CT/14/74 - text only | pdf | supplementary information CT/14/74) setting out the updated strategic and operational risks facing the Partnership including:

change in priorities or dissatisfaction of one of the founding partners, resulting in a partner leaving;

failure to deliver the agreed audit plan in line with targets resulting in increased control risk to clients and lack of confidence in the Partnership as a provider;

inefficient or expensive IT arrangements.

The Committee were assured that the Partnership s management continued to monitor mitigating actions to ensure that risks do not materialise.

Members discussed, in relation to the risk around founding partner dissatisfaction, the importance of ensuring that appropriate and desirable added value is provided to partners, and the differing priorities and preferences between clients.

It was MOVED by Councillor Wheeler, SECONDED by Councillor Clatworthy and

RESOLVED that the updated Strategic and Operational Risk Register and the actions in place to reduce risks to an acceptable level be noted.

*36 Devon Audit Partnership Quality Action Improvement Plan

The Committee considered the Report of the Head of Devon Audit Partnership (CT/14/75 - text only | pdf | supplementary information CT/14/75) setting out the areas for development over the next 12 months. This included implementing the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards and Local Government Application Note, constant review of the effectiveness of ICT, embedding further the ethos of providing added value within the Audit team and continuing with the self-assessment process against the Investors in People standard.

It was MOVED by Councillor Wheeler, SECONDED by Councillor Clatworthy and

RESOLVED

(a) that the current Quality Improvement Action Plan, the challenges for the future and the action being taken by management to react to these challenges be noted;

(b) that exception reporting be used at future meetings of the Committee to enable a better focus on areas of possible concern.

*37 Income Received from External Partners

The Committee considered the Report of the Head of Devon Audit Partnership (CT/14/76 - text only | pdf CT/14/76) setting out the anticipated level on income from external partners in 2014/15. The Report showed that this income had continued to increase year on year and the Partnership continued to seek out business opportunities and to tender for external work where beneficial.

The Committee discussed the benefits for the Partnership of working with new clients such as Cornwall Council, and recognised the opportunities created by developing staff with specialist knowledge in areas such as European Projects in order to offer specialist services to organisations that do not have this knowledge in house.

It was MOVED by Councillor Wheeler, SECONDED by Councillor Clatworthy and

RESOLVED that the continued significant level of income generated from working with external partners be noted.

*38 Comparison of Costs using CIPFA Benchmark Data

The Committee considered the Report of the Head of Devon Audit Partnership (CT/14/77 - text only | pdf | supplementary information CT/14/77) outlining the results from the CIPFA benchmarking exercise 2013/14. The Partnership had selected to use data from Plymouth City Council in the exercise, being seen as representative of the Partnership overall, and results showed to be better or in line with the comparative group.

The Head of Devon Audit Partnership also reported that a free benchmarking process was being developed by the County Chief Auditors Network which would be used to compliment the CIPFA benchmark data.

It was MOVED by Councillor Wheeler, SECONDED by Councillor Clatworthy and

RESOLVED that the results from the 2013/14 CIPFA benchmark exercise be noted.

*39 External Inspection Reports

The Committee considered the Report of the Head of Devon Audit Partnership (CT/14/78 - text only | pdf | supplementary information CT/14/78) highlighting the results from external inspection work undertaken by internal and external audit and showing that clean reports have been issued by both auditors, although the internal auditors identified some areas where control could be further enhanced.

It was MOVED by Councillor Pountney, SECONDED by Councillor Clatworthy and

RESOLVED

(a) that the results from the 2013/14 external audit carried out by Grant Thornton and the results from the 2013/14 internal audit carried out by the South West Audit Partnership be noted;

(b) that the appointment of Grant Thornton as the external auditor for the Partnership for 2014/15 be noted;

(c) that the decision to retain the South West Audit Partnership as the internal auditors for the Partnership for 2014/15 be endorsed.

*40 Future Meetings

Wednesday 18 March 2015, Wednesday 24 June 2015 and Wednesday 18 November 2015 all in the Committee Suite at County Hall, Exeter.

*DENOTES DELEGATED MATTER WITH POWER TO ACT

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

The meeting started at 10.30 am and finished at 11.45 am