The Minutes of the meeting of 30 September 2021 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

This report provides an update on key findings emanating from Internal Audit reports issued since the last quarterly progress report.

Paul Harrington, Chief Auditor, submitted a reportproviding an update on key findings emanating from Internal Audit reports issued since the last quarterly progress report in September 2021.

The report set out a summary of the audit reports in respect of: Payments to Care Providers; Payments to Voluntary Sector Organisations;  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21.

This report provides Members of the Committee with an overview of the requirements set out in the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards in relation to an External Quality Assessment (EQA) of the Council’s Internal Audit service and to inform Members of the planned approach to ensure an EQA is procured and completed.

Paul Harrington, Chief Auditor, submitted a report providing an overview of the requirements set out in the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards in relation to an External Quality Assessment (EQA) of the Council’s Internal Audit service and to inform the Committee of the planned approach to ensure an EQA was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.

This report provides the latest update on progress of the Finance Improvement Programme workstreams and their deliverables against the Plan since the last meeting in September 2021.

Chris Tidswell, CIPFA, presented a report providing an update on progress of the Finance Improvement Programme (FIP) against the plan for each workstream and their deliverables.  The report explained that the FIP had two key phases:  Phase I was responding to the historic and current issues identified to ensure a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23.

To provide an update on the activity of the Treasury Management function during the first half of the year for the period 1^st April 2021 to 30^th September 2021.

Stuart Donnelly, Financial Planning & Strategy Manager, submitted a report on the mid-year review of the Treasury Management Strategy.  The report provided an update on the activity of the Treasury Management function during the first half of the year for the period 1 April 2021 to 30 September 2021.  The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.

This report sets out the projected revenue and capital outturn positions for 2021/22 for both the General Fund and the Housing Revenue Accounts as at the end of September 2021 (Quarter 2). These forecasts include best estimates of the additional pressures arising as a result of Covid-19.  The report also sets out performance against the measures of success published in the Council’s Corporate Plan.

Darren Carter, Director of Finance, submitted a report, which had been considered by Policy Committee on 13 December 2021 (Minute 54 refers) setting out the projected revenue and capital outturn positions for 2021/22 for the General Fund and the Housing Revenue Accounts as at the end of September 2021 (Quarter  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25.

This report outlines the actions in progress to improve the Council’s policies, systems and processes for better Information Governance.

Michael Graham, Assistant Director of Legal & Democratic Services, submitted a report outlining the action underway to improve the Council’s policies, systems and processes for Information Governance following several limited assurance reports in this area. 

The report provided an update on: recruitment to key posts in the Information Governance Team and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26.

To update on the progress for the implementation of the recommendations contained in the Redmond Review and recommend the Council opts-in to the sector-led option for the appointment of external auditors from 1 April 2023.

Darren Carter, Director of Finance, submitted a report on the progress for the implementation of the recommendations contained in the Redmond Review and seeking endorsement of the proposal that the Council opts-in to the sector-led option for the appointment of external auditors from 1 April 2023. 

During 2021, the Government  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27.

This report sets out a summary of those high and medium risk Internal Audit recommendations which remain outstanding together with an updated management response.

Jackie Yates, Deputy Chief Executive, presented a report setting out, at Appendix 1, the Implementation of Audit Recommendations tracker report. 

The report explained that each recommendation was marked with a percentage complete which correlated to a red/amber/green rating (up to 25% complete: red, between 26% and 75%: amber, over 75%  ...  view the full minutes text for item 28.

This report updates the Committee on progress with the completion of the audit of the Council’s Final Accounts for 2019/20 as at 5^th January 2022.

Darren Carter, Director of Finance, submitted a report on the progress towards the completion of the Council’s Final Accounts for 2019/20, which had been published on 10 November 2021.  The report detailed the audit work that had been undertaken, including income & expenditure sampling; walk through tests; adjusting items; technical  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29.

This Draft Audit Plan summarises EY’s initial assessment of the key risks driving the development of an effective audit for the Council and outlines a planned audit strategy in response to those risks.

Maria Grindley and Adrian Balmer, EY, presented the draft Audit Plan for 2019/20 summarising the initial assessment of the key risks driving the development of an effective audit for the Council and outlining EY’s planned audit strategy in response to those risks.  EY reported that the audit was progressing well  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.

This report proposes the continued use of the Council’s Risk Based Verification (RBV) process in 2022/23. 

Sam Wills, Revenues & Benefits Manager, submitted a report recommending that the Council continued to use its Risk Based Verification (RBV) process in 2022/23.  The scheme enabled processing of claims for Housing Benefit payments and Council Tax Support awards to be streamlined, thereby enabling customers to receive payments sooner. The approach  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.