Archived decisions

AT A MEETING of the AUDIT COMMITTEE of the COUNTY COUNCIL held at The Castle, Winchester on 22 December 2009.

PRESENT:

p Councillor K. Evans (Chairman)

19 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors M. Geddes, C. Leversha and C. Thomas.

20 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

All Members who believed they have a personal or prejudicial interest in any matter to be considered at the meeting were asked to declare that interest and, having regard to the circumstances described in paragraphs 9, 10, 11 and 12 of the County Council's Code of Conduct, consider whether to leave the meeting whilst the matter is discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with paragraph 12 of the Code. The declaration should be made at the time of the relevant debate.

Councillors F. Allgood and B. Dash declared personal, non-prejudicial interests in respect of agenda items 10 and 14 (Pension Fund Panel minutes) as members of the HCC Pension Fund Panel.

21 MINUTES - 23 SEPTEMBER 2009

The Minutes of the meeting held on 23 September 2009 were agreed and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

22 CHAIRMAN'S ANNOUNCEMENTS

Councillor B. Dash was formally welcomed to the Committee following his recent reappointment as a member of the Audit Committee.

23 ANNUAL AUDIT LETTER

The Committee considered the Audit Commission's draft annual audit letter for 2008/09 (Item 5 in the Minute Book).

The Chairman welcomed Kate Handy from the Audit Commission and asked her to give a brief outline of the comments within the Annual Audit Letter, which had also been considered by the County Council's Cabinet at their meeting on 21 December 2009.

Ms. Handy explained that the Annual Audit Letter outlined outcomes that had been achieved by 31 March 2009. The Committee noted with pleasure that it included the following observations:

· that an unqualified opinion was being given in respect of the County Council and Pension Fund financial statements;

· that external financial reporting processes were well developed and embedded;

· that the County Council's accounts meet the statutory requirements and financial reporting standards;

· that the County Council had made proper arrangements to secure economy, efficiency and effectiveness in its use of resources of the year ending 31 March 2009;

· that the Council has made good progress in the management of natural resources and its physical assets.

Despite a reduction in the Council's overall score to 3 (it was 4 last year) the Committee noted that this was primarily due to the changes in the assessment methodology and that it did not imply any deterioration in the Council's performance overall or within themed areas: on the contrary, the Council had continued to make improvement in its arrangements, notably its approach to the planning of its finance, its arrangements for commissioning and the procurement of services, and its strategic asset management.

The Committee particularly noted the Audit Commission's assessment of the Council currently being able to deliver value for money in the provision of its services. They also noted the Audit Commission's commentary in terms of the Council's responsiveness to recessionary pressures, that the County Council had evidence of clear outcomes and priority areas and that it also set ambitious, affordable plans for the future despite a lower level of grant funding relative to other counties.

24 HCC RESPONSE TO THE 2008/09 ANNUAL AUDIT LETTER AND AUDIT COMMISSION REPORT ON THE USE OF RESOURCES

The Committee considered the report of the County Treasurer and Chief Executive and the 2008/09 Audit Commission's "Use of Resources" report (Item 6 in the Minute Book).

The Committee noted that both the Annual Audit Letter and the Audit Commission's detailed assessment contained within the use of resources report were extremely positive. Members welcomed the Audit Commission commentary in terms of the County Council's management of its use of resources, along with the Audit Commission's statement that the County Council's performance management arrangements were "exemplary." The Committee further noted the positive observations made in terms of financial governance, leadership and "an innovative approach to achieving value for money".

Noting that the 2009 Annual Audit Letter had also been considered by Cabinet at its meeting on 21 December 2009, the Committee gave its endorsement to (i) the County Council's response to the 2009 annual audit letter and use of resources report and (ii) the resources action plan.

RESOLVED:

(i) That the annual audit letter be received;


(ii) That the County Council's response to the 2009 annual audit letter and use of resources report, along with the resources action plan, be endorsed.

25 AUDIT COMMISSION'S PROGRESS REPORT

The Committee considered the Audit Commission progress report (Item 7 in the Minute Book).

The Committee welcomed the detail contained within the progress report. The Chairman indicated, however, that it was also likely to be of value to the Audit Committee if a brief summary of key actions agreed in respect of Audit Commission reports could also be provided for those reports submitted to either a service department or committee. Members of the Audit Committee could then consider whether there were any matters that the Committee would wish to receive further detail upon. The Chairman asked that officers give consideration to the most effective means of bringing such summaries to the attention of the Audit Committee.

RESOLVED:

(i) That the Audit Commission progress report be received and noted;


(ii) That officers, in consultation with the Audit Commission, consider the most effective way of providing members of the Audit Committee with details of the key actions agreed by service departments or committees in respect of Audit Committee reports; (Audit Committee members can then give consideration as to whether there are any such action plans that they would wish to receive further information on).

26 HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL - INTERNAL AUDIT PROGRESS REPORT 2009/10

The Committee considered the report of the County Treasurer (Item 8 in the Minute Book).

Members welcomed the detailed summary of internal audit opinion work that had been undertaken between April 2009 and October 2009. The low level of irregularities reported to the internal audit unit was particularly welcome.


RESOLVED:

That the progress of internal audit work during 2009/10 be noted and approved.

27 CORPORATE ANTI-FRAUD AND CORRUPTION STRATEGY

The Committee considered the report of the County Treasurer and Monitoring Officer (Item 9 in the Minute Book).

Members noted with satisfaction that comments made at previous Audit Committee meetings had been incorporated within the revised Strategy.

The Chief Internal Auditor advised that in respect of the confidential appendix accompanying the report, the recognised Trade Unions had now confirmed their acceptance of the whistle blowing policy outlined in that appendix.

RESOLVED that:

(i) the revised anti-fraud and corruption strategy and related policies be approved;


(ii) the principle of raising awareness of the revised anti-fraud and corruption strategy related policies through the corporate governance awareness training programme and Hantsnet be endorsed;


(iii) the strategy and related polices be reviewed every five years in the future (or at such time as significant change is judged to be required if earlier).

28 PENSION FUND PANEL - MINUTES OF MEETINGS

The Committee considered the minutes of the Pension Fund Panel meetings held on 21 July 2009, 29 July, 9 October 2009 and
6 November 2009 respectively (Item 10 in the Minute Book).

RESOLVED:

That the Minutes of the Pension Fund Panel meetings held on 21 July 2009, 29 July 2009, 9 October 2009 and 6 November 2009 respectively be received.

29 EXCLUSION OF PRESS AND PUBLIC

RESOLVED:

That in relation to the following items the public be excluded from the meeting as it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the public were present during the item there would be disclosure to them of exempt information within Paragraph 3 and/or 4 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, and further that, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, for the reasons set out in the reports.

30 HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL INTERNAL AUDIT PROGRESS REPORT 2009/10

The Committee received the exempt appendix accompanying agenda item 8.

31 CORPORATE ANTI-FRAUD AND CORRUPTION Strategy

The Committee received the exempt appendix accompanying agenda item 9.

32 MINUTES OF PENSION FUND PANEL MEETINGS

The Committee received the exempt appendices accompanying the Minutes of the Pension Fund Panel meetings held on 21 July 2009, 29 July 2009, 9 October 2009 and 6 November 2009 (agenda item 10).

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