18 March 2015

Present:

Devon County Council

Councillors Edgell and Clatworthy

Plymouth City Council

Councillor Davey and Parker-Delaz-Ajete

Torbay Council

Councillor Tyerman

Office of the Police Crime Commissioner

Mr S Haworth

Also in Attendance

Mr R Hutchins (Devon Audit Partnership)

Mrs M Davis (Devon County Council)

*46 Election of Chairman

RESOLVED that Councillor Clatworthy be elected Chairman for the ensuing year.

*47 Election of Vice-Chairman

RESOLVED that Councillor Parker-Delaz-Ajete be elected Vice-Chairman for the ensuing year.

*48 Minutes

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting held on 18 March 2015 be signed as a correct record, subject to the deletion of Councillor Clarance and the addition of Councillor Edgell under the attendance.

*49 Devon Audit Partnership Who We Are and What We Do

The Committee received a presentation from the Head of Devon Audit Partnership outlining:

the business case and objectives identified at the inception of the Partnership;

achievements to date;

vision and values;

the Partnership s customer base and the advantages of working with other bodies

challenges faced;

the benefits that Devon Audit Partnership brought to its Partners, including financial savings, increased quality, best practice and networking, flexibility and added value.

*50 Devon Audit Partnership Annual Report 2014-15

The Committee received the Report of the Head of Devon Audit Partnership (CT/15/46 - text only | pdf | supplementary information CT/15/46), highlighting some of the key events during the year, and summarising the performance of the Partnership against the set performance indicators. The overall performance remained very good in respect of both the delivery of the Audit Plan and feedback from clients.

In response to Members questions the Head of Devon Audit Partnership confirmed:

that Devon Audit Partnership had built a good working relationship with the South West Audit Partnership (SWAP), and whilst the two organisations might bid for the same work in competitive environment, they had also collaborated successfully in a number of ways, including the holding of joint training days for Audit Committee members;

that the possibility of the Devon Audit Partnership model being applied to other areas of governance, including Risk Management was being explored, but would require buy-in from a number of local authorities.

*51 Financial Outturn and Small Bodies Return

The Committee considered the report of the Head of Devon Audit Partnership (CT/15/47 - text only | pdf | supplementary information CT/15/47) which identified a small operating surplus at year end and gave details of under and over spend.

In response to Members questions the Head of Devon Audit Partnership advised the Committee that the total cash and short term investments figure at 31 March 2015 reflected outstanding payments which were due to be settled in the first quarter of the 2015/16.

It was MOVED by Councillor Tyerman, SECONDED by Councillor Edgell and

RESOLVED that the Financial Outturn Report and Small Bodies Return be noted and that the Chairman, upon being satisfied as to the reason for the difference in the total cash and short term investments at 31 March 2014 and at 31 March 2015, be authorised to sign the return.

*52 Devon Audit Partnership Surplus

The Committee received the Report of the Head of Devon Audit Partnership (CT/15/48 - text only | pdf CT/15/48) providing details of the Partnership s trading surplus/deficit for each financial year since the Partnership s inception in 2009/10, and the providing the current balance sheet as at 31 March 2015.

Members discussed the option available to Partners of withdrawing their surplus allocation, reflecting that Torbay Council had drawn on their surplus previously due to budgetary pressures.

*53 Devon Audit Partnership Risk Register

The Committee received the Report of the Head of Devon Audit Partnership (CT/15/49 - text only | pdf | supplementary information CT/15/49) setting out the updated Strategic and Operational risks facing the Partnership, including:

a 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 current targets, resulting in increased control risk to clients and lack of confidence in the Partnership as a provider;

inefficient or expensive IT arrangements.

The Partnership s Management were continuing to monitor and put mitigating actions in place to manage these risks effectively.

Members considered whether the risk of the Partnership failing to provide audit assurance should be added to the risk register, but concluded that in this case the risk would lie with the client, rather than with the Partnership itself. Members also discussed the potential impact on the Partnership of authorities moving to unitary status.

*54 Future Meetings

Wednesday 18 November 2015

Wednesday 2 March 2016

Wednesday 22 June 2016

Wednesday 16 November 2016

All 10.30am 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 11.27 am