The Head of Audit Partnership introduced the report which set out his annual opinion on the overall adequacy and effectiveness of the organisation’s framework of governance, risk management and control which can be used to inform the Annual Governance Statement for 2015/16.

The Head of Audit Partnership drew Members’ attention to Appendix I to the report which set out the evidence that formed the conclusion.  He explained that the table on page nine of the Appendix set out a summary of specific projects with assurance ratings of strong/sound, and stated that Swale Borough Council (SBC) were unique within the audit partners in that there were no projects with issues, which was something to be proud of.  The Head of Audit Partnership advised that full reports on all the findings were available from him on request.  He referred to page 20 of the Appendix and drew attention to the 68 actions due and completed which was a key piece of assurance.

A Member stated the report was very thorough and very readable.  She suggested that training be provided on counter fraud and corruption, as this could be beneficial to all Members in enabling them to have an input on reducing this issue.  In response, the Head of Audit Partnership reported that the Single Fraud Investigation Service had commenced this year; the Revenue and Benefits Section at SBC were looking into how this could help their department, and an update on this could be provided at the next Audit Committee.  He agreed that it would be timely to have a briefing on this topic.

Another Member congratulated the Head of Audit Partnership on the extremely well documented report, and he encouraged all Members of the Council to read it.  The Member raised some concern with the ‘sound’ controls in place over the Council’s Performance Management and considered there should be improvements to this, to make it ‘strong’.  He considered Risk Management was an issue that all Members should be aware of, as it became more prevalent.

The Director of Corporate Services, in his role as Monitoring Officer, stated that it was important to take a step back and see how good the levels of assurances outlined in the report on the Council had been this year.  He considered this to be a really good picture and thanked the Head of Audit Partnership and his Team for the revised way of working, and flexibility of the Team and responses to issues.  The Monitoring Officer considered the report to be pitched at the right level and the overall picture presented assured both him and the Head of Finance in their statutory roles.

A Member raised concern with some themes that had not been included within the report, for example, HR risks, HM Revenue and Customs, and Value Added Tax.  In response, the Head of Audit Partnership explained that the report was part of a four-year plan and not every issue was looked at each time.  He added that there would be a review of HR in 2016/17; Payroll was included in paragraph 74 of the report; VAT work was scheduled for January 2017, and he advised that Pay As You Earn had a strong record of compliance at SBC.

The Committee congratulated the Audit Team on the recent qualifications they had achieved.

Resolved:

(1)      That the Head of Audit Partnership’s opinion for 2015/16 that reliance can be placed on the overall adequacy and effectiveness of the Council’s arrangements for internal control, governance and risk management, be noted.

(2)      That the work underlying that opinion, and the Head of Audit Partnership’s view, that the audit service had maintained appropriate independence and conformance with Public Sector Internal Audit Standards through 2015/16, be noted.