The Chairman will advise the meeting of the evacuation procedures to follow in the event of an emergency. This is particularly important for visitors and members of the public who will be unfamiliar with the building and procedures.

The Chairman will inform the meeting whether there is a planned evacuation drill due to take place, what the alarm sounds like (i.e. ringing bells), where the closest emergency exit route is, and where the second closest emergency exit route is, in the event that the closest exit or route is blocked.

The Chairman will inform the meeting that:

(a) in the event of the alarm sounding, everybody must leave the building via the nearest safe available exit and gather at the Assembly points at the far side of the Car Park.  Nobody must leave the assembly point until everybody can be accounted for and nobody must return to the building until the Chairman has informed them that it is safe to do so; and

(b) the lifts must not be used in the event of an evacuation.

Any officers present at the meeting will aid with the evacuation.

It is important that the Chairman is informed of any person attending who is disabled or unable to use the stairs, so that suitable arrangements may be made in the event of an emergency.

The Chairman outlined the emergency evacuation procedure.

Councillors should not act or take decisions in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves or their spouse, civil partner or person with whom they are living with as a spouse or civil partner.  They must declare and resolve any interests and relationships.

The Chairman will ask Members if they have any interests to declare in respect of items on this agenda, under the following headings:

(a)          Disclosable Pecuniary Interests (DPI) under the Localism Act 2011.  The nature as well as the existence of any such interest must be declared.  After declaring a DPI, the Member must leave the meeting and not take part in the discussion or vote.  This applies even if there is provision for public speaking.

(b)          Disclosable Non Pecuniary (DNPI) under the Code of Conduct adopted by the Council in May 2012.  The nature as well as the existence of any such interest must be declared.  After declaring a DNPI interest, the Member may stay, speak and vote on the matter.

Advice to Members:  If any Councillor has any doubt about the existence or nature of any DPI or DNPI which he/she may have in any item on this agenda, he/she should seek advice from the Director of Corporate Services as Monitoring Officer, the Head of Legal or from other Solicitors in Legal Services as early as possible, and in advance of the Meeting.

No interests were declared.

To approve the Minutes of the Meeting held on 30 November 2016 (Minute Nos. 1036 - 1044) as a correct record.

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 30 November 2016 (Minute Nos. 1036 – 1044) were taken as read, approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

The Audit Manager introduced the report which provided and sought Members’ approval of the Internal Audit and Assurance Plan 2017/18 set-out at Appendix I of the Committee report.  She referred to pages 10 and 11 of the Plan which set out the available resources and evaluation of the service and concluded that the Audit Partnership had enough resources to deliver the audit plan. 

The Audit Manager referred Members to the following items on the Plan: table on page 11 of the Plan which gave details of audit provision for South East England District Councils, an improved colour copy was tabled for Members; the process followed to provide the Audit Plan; audit projects for review in 2018/19; the Audit Universe which identified the recurring range of areas of potential examination by internal audit at Swale Council; Appendix B which provided information on the Audit Team; and Appendix C which detailed assurance and recommendation ratings.

A Member stated that the information detailed in yellow on the table on page 22 of the Committee report was difficult to read.

In response to a query from a Member, the Deputy Head of Audit Partnership explained that the Member support work included: Audit Committee; Member briefings; and Committee reports. 

In response to queries from a Member, the Audit Manager advised that the Interim Director of Regeneration was currently developing the Regeneration Strategy for Swale so it would make sense for it to be considered in 2018/19.  The Chief Finance Officer reported that with regard to investment, external audit would be considering the risks in terms of Value For Money (VFM).  Trevor Greenlee (Manager – Grant Thornton) stated that they would expect the necessary arrangements to be in place and they would make a judgement on VFM on that basis. 

The Chairman thanked officers for the report, which he considered was clear and easy to read.

Resolved: 

1)    That the Audit & Assurance Plan for 2017/18 be approved.

2)    That the longer-term issues recorded by Mid-Kent Audit be noted.

3)   That the view of the Head of Audit Partnership that the Plan sets-out sufficient resource to complete a work programme leading to a Head of Audit Opinion on the Council’s internal controls, risk management and governance be endorsed.

4) That the Head of Audit Partnership’s assurance that the Plan is compiled independently and without inappropriate influence from management be noted.

The Deputy Head of Audit Partnership introduced the report which sought to provide Members with a progress update on the Council’s risk management processes over the last 18 months. The Deputy Head of Audit Partnership stated that risk management was a key part of sound governance arrangements and it was within the Committee’s Terms of Reference to ensure that risks were being managed. 

The Deputy Head of Audit Partnership explained that the Council was entering a new era of reporting risks, and drew attention to Appendix I of the report which provided details of the Risk Management for 2016/17.  He asked the Committee to note the report and the corporate level risks, with these higher levels risks being inherent to the Council’s Corporate Plan and achievement of objectives.

In response to queries from a Member, the Deputy Head of Audit Partnership stated that high level risks were reported to Strategic Management Team on a quarterly basis, and were the responsibility of individual risk owners so would be continually monitored.  In response to concerns from the same Member, the Deputy Head of Audit Partnership considered that Swale had improved in terms of liaising with internal audit and there was a good level of engagement across the Authority.  He considered there was an effective process in place to monitor risks and these were regularly reviewed.

The Chairman stated that Members needed to consider whether the Corporate level risks identified in the report were ‘pitched right’.  He added that there were a lot of inherent risks that the Council had no control over.

In response to a query, the Chief Finance Officer stated that officers needed to make a judgement that sufficient controls were in place to ensure that risks in the ‘black’ were reduced to ‘red’ risks.  The Chairman stated that risks highlighted as ‘black’ were reported regularly and it was about being up-front, open and acknowledging there were risks.

The Deputy Head of Audit Partnership, in response to a question, reported that in terms of process, there was a detailed register for each risk identified which included a breakdown of the assessment for impact and likelihood that included monetary (financial) levels.  He stated that there were other risk impact levels that needed to be considered which were just as important as monetary risks, such as: the reputation of the Council; health and safety; legal; and environmental.

A Member asked whether details of the measurement and weightings of uncontrolled financial loss could be made clearer.  The Deputy Head of Audit Partnership agreed to make this clearer in future reports.

In response to queries from a Member, the Chief Finance Officer stated that risk information would be reported to Cabinet.  Other Members would then be able to consider this information via the Scrutiny Committee.

The Chairman thanked officers for the report which he considered was clear and easy to read.

Resolved:

(1)       That the Corporate Level Risks for Swale Borough Council be noted.

Mr Trevor Greenlee (Manager, Grant Thornton) introduced the Certification Report 2015/16 which summarised the outcomes following the requirements to certify the Council’s claim for housing benefit subsidy of £55.2 million. 

Mr Greenlee reported that only very minor errors had been identified in relation to this claim, and the impact of amendments to it had resulted in the subsidy claim being reduced by just £26.

Members welcomed the report.  The Chairman praised the hard work of the Training and Policy Officer from the Revenues and Benefits section. 

Resolved: 

(1)       That the Certification Report 2015/16 be noted.

Mr Greenlee (Manager, Grant Thornton) introduced the report which set-out the progress in delivering the external auditors’ responsibilities as Swale Borough Council’s external auditor.

Mr Greenlee reported that with regard to interim testing of accounts, he had been liaising with the Council’s Financial Services Manager about an earlier timetable for finalising these.  

Resolved: 

(1)          That the Audit Committee progress report be noted.

The Chairman stated that the full Work Programme for 2016/17 was testament of the work of the Committee.  He thanked Members and officers for their support.

Members noted the Audit Work Programme.

Resolved:

(1)   That the report be noted.