minutes

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 19 June 2012 (Minute Nos. 89 - 93) were taken as read, approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

declarations of interest

No interests were declared.

change to the agenda

The Chairman advised that the following items should be Part B Minutes for information, not part A as set out on the agenda, as they did not require Council approval: Annual Governance Report and Annual Accounts 2011/12 and Annual Treasury Management Report 2011/12.

part b minutes for information

annual governance report and annual accounts 2011/12

The Head of Finance introduced the report and thanked the Auditors, the Chief Accountant and Finance Team for the quality of their work.

The Chief Accountant reported that a member of the public had written to the Council after reading the 2011/12 Statement of Accounts to comment on how user-friendly and useful she had found the document, which he considered was very encouraging. He then drew Members' attention to some of the major items contained in the Statement of Accounts.

The District Auditor introduced the Annual Governance Statement (AGS). He advised that he would be issuing an unqualified opinion on the 2011/12 financial statements, and concluded that the Council had made proper arrangements to secure value for money in the Council's use of resources. He referred to the quality of the accounts which he considered were of a high standard and demonstrated a continued improvement from the previous year. He referred Members to some of the key messages within the AGS, in particular the action plan as set out in Appendix Five.

A Member referred to recommendation R1 "The Council should perform an ICT Disaster Recovery Test on an annual basis" and asked for an update. The Internal Audit Manager confirmed that a test had been completed and there would be a follow-up in October 2012 due to some minor queries. The District Auditor confirmed that they would follow this up as part of their 2012/13 audit.

A Member referred to the transfer of community assets with regard to the Alexander Centre, Faversham. She advised that the Audit Committee had raised concerns regarding the transfer of the Alexander Centre and whether it would secure the Council value for money, but she considered that the Committee's comments were not taken into account by the Cabinet when they made their decision.

The District Auditor advised that they were satisfied that Members had sufficient information regarding the Alexander Centre proposals to inform their decision making process. He referred Members to the recommendations made in the AGS regarding the Council's Community Asset Transfer (CAT) Policy.

The Cabinet Member for Finance confirmed that the CAT Policy was being reviewed to ensure that it fully reflected the requirements of the Localism Act.

Discussion ensued regarding Municipal Mutual Insurance Limited, Section 106 Agreements and the Alexander Centre and the Head of Finance and Chief Accountant responded to Members' questions.

annual treasury management report 2011/12

The Head of Finance introduced this report and advised that it had already been considered by Cabinet and Council.

Members raised concern that the report had been submitted to Council before being considered by the Audit Committee and asked that this was considered when setting next year's timetable of meetings.

strategic risk register

The Internal Audit Manager introduced this report which presented the new Strategic Risk Register. She drew Members' attention to the six key strategic risks, and advised that action plans to address the risks were being prepared by the Officer Risk Owners.

Members raised concern that the report had been considered by Cabinet before being considered by the Audit Committee which Officers noted for future reports.

A Member commented on some of the descriptions and terminology used in the Risk Register and stressed that it was important to use plain English. He also noted that under Risk Scenario Six: Safeguarding it should refer to 'vulnerable adults', as set out in the legislation. The Internal Audit Manager undertook to amend this.

development control enforcement progress holding report

The Chairman introduced this report which provided a brief update on progress with regard to the Planning Enforcement Audit Action Plan. The Chairman confirmed that a full report would be submitted to the next meeting on 19 December 2012 and the Head of Planning and Cabinet Member for Planning would be invited to attend this meeting.

A Member raised concern that Members, and in particular the Planning Committee, were not receiving adequate enforcement information, and that there were a few cases that had been outstanding for a number of years.

RESOLVED:

(1) That the update report on the internal audit action plan for Planning Enforcement be noted and it be agreed that a detailed report will be presented to the Audit Committee at the next meeting on 19 December 2012.

(2) That the Head of Planning and Cabinet Member for Planning be invited to attend the Audit Committee meeting on 19 December 2012. Senior Democratic Services Officer

review of audit committee

The Internal Audit Manager introduced this report which provided an update on the actions taken to implement the findings of the Local Government Improvement and Development (LGID) review of the Audit Committee.

Members discussed the need for bespoke training for Audit Committee Members and considered that the training sessions could be aligned to the Audit Committee work programme. It was agreed that the section of the Member Training session on 13 December 2012 allocated to Treasury Management should be replaced with a section on the Strategic Risk Register and that Treasury Management be programmed in as a training session later in the municipal year.

audit committee work programme