minutes

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 19 September 2012 (Minute Nos. 284 - 292) were taken as read, approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

declarations of interest

No interests were declared.

part b minutes for information

planning enforcement - internal control improvements

The Development Manager introduced the report which provided an update on progress with regards to the Planning Enforcement Audit Action Plan, following on from earlier reports of the 8 March and 19 September 2012.

The Development Manager provided a tabled paper for the Committee, which set out the timescales and tasks agreed between the Planning and Legal Departments for any work required. He confirmed that the Service Level Agreement (SLA) between the two departments was almost complete. It was currently being reviewed by the Heads of Legal at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Councils to ensure that all the Mid Kent Legal Services teams agreed with the document. It was expected that the SLA would be signed by the end of January 2013.

The Development Manager referred Members to the document recently circulated regarding current enforcement cases. He advised that this would be sent to all Councillors on a monthly basis and he welcomed comments and suggestions for improvements to the template.

The Enforcement Team Manager advised that a number of useful comments on the enforcement document had been received from Councillor Wilcox, which he summarised. He confirmed that the improvements suggested would be incorporated into future documents. He referred Members to paragraph 3.3 in the report and the target to provide all Members with remote access to the enforcement system. They were also planning to add the register of enforcement notices to the Council's website for the public to view.

Members made the following comments: the monthly enforcement report was very useful; concern regarding the slow pace of progress; pleased that the issues identified would be remedied for future reports and good progress had been made.

The Chairman thanked the Development Manager and Enforcement Team Manager for attending the meeting.

audit fee 2012/13

Andy Mack (Grant Thornton) introduced this report which set out the planned audit fee for 2012/13.

Members welcomed the 40 per cent reduction. They thanked the auditors for their work and the positive working relationship with Council officers and the Audit Committee.

treasury management half year review

The Head of Finance introduced the report which reviewed the mid year outturn position on treasury management transactions for 2012/13, including compliance with treasury limits and Prudential Performance Indicators. He advised that a report would be submitted to Cabinet and Council in February 2013 to review the Council's deposits and the rates of return being offered by the banks.

strategic risk register - action plans

The Internal Audit Manager introduced the report which provided the Risk Management Action Plans completed and agreed by their respective risk owners.

Members made the following comments: the recent Member training session on Risk Management was very good; Risk Management Action Plan review frequency/ dates need to more clearly reflect future action requirements; the Committee welcome more rigorous reporting on risk management; and committee reports should address localism implications.

The Head of Audit Partnership confirmed that they would follow-up with the Head of Corporate Strategy and Communications regarding Risk Scenario Three and whether further review dates needed to be added.

internal audit partnership - progress report

The Head of Audit Partnership introduced the report which provided an update on the progress made since the audit partnership started in 2010 and the issues relevant to the future delivery of the service. He confirmed that the partnership had met all the objectives and achieved a 25 per cent budget reduction. He referred Members to paragraph 3.6 in the report which set out the opportunities to develop the service further.

Members made the following comments: very happy with the service being provided by the Internal Audit Team and the quality of the work being produced; good working relationship with the Audit Committee; more effective and higher quality service; audit undertaken on Faversham Pools was excellent; and confidence in internal audit process has improved.

The Corporate Services Director confirmed that he was pleased with the progress made from a governance perspective and advised that Swale Borough Council had been shortlisted for the Local Government Chronicle most improved Council award.

internal audit interim report

The Internal Audit Manager introduced the report which provided details of the work of the Internal Audit Team between April and September 2012. The Internal Audit Manager confirmed that the follow-up IT disaster recovery test was scheduled for January 2013 and she would report back further at the next meeting.

audit committee work programme

The Committee noted the work programme and the Chairman advised that the next Audit Committee date had changed from 20 March 2013 to Monday 18 March 2013.

Two amendments were requested to add "Audit Plan and Progress Report" and "Strategic Risk Register" to the March meeting.