election of chairman

In the absence of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman at the start of the meeting, Councillor Andy Booth opened the meeting and chaired for the first two items.

minutes

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 26 June 2013 (Minute Nos. 94 - 105) were taken as read, approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

declarations of interest

Councillor Andy Booth declared an interest in respect of Minute No. 296 as he had personal ties with a private surveillance organisation.

part b minutes for information

annual financial report 2012/2013 and audit findings report

The Committee considered the report which sought approval of the Council's financial statements for 2012/2013 and asked the Committee to consider the external auditor's Audit Findings Report.

The Cabinet Member for Finance said that he was very pleased with the accounts and asked for his thanks to be recorded to the whole Finance team for their work on this.

The Chief Accountant took Members through the report. The Head of Finance expressed his thanks to Grant Thornton for the way in which they had undertaken the audit.

The Audit Manager (Grant Thornton) advised that the quality of financial statements and working papers was of a very high standard and that there were no amendments arising from the audit which impacted on the Council's financial performance. He outlined the executive summary on page 5 of the report. In respect of the unadjusted misstatement in relation to the netting off of VAT, he accepted that there was some ambiguity in the Chartered Institute for Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) code and that they were not unhappy with the way in which VAT had been treated.

The Chairman thanked all involved for the positive report.

The Committee thanked the Audit Manager (Grant Thornton) and his team for their work and wished him well in his forthcoming retirement. These sentiments were echoed by the Cabinet Member for Finance on behalf of the Cabinet and all Members.

annual treasury management report 2012/2013

The Chairman asked Officers to ensure that in future years the Audit Committee considered this report before it was considered by the Cabinet and approved by the Council. The Head of Finance gave an assurance that the Audit Committee would consider it before Council in future years. He undertook to discuss the timing of consideration by the Cabinet with the Cabinet Member for Finance.

benefit fraud annual report 2012/2013 - activity and outcomes

The Revenues and Benefits Manager introduced the report which set out the summary of outcomes of the Investigation Team.

In response to a question concerning surveillance, the Revenues and Benefits Manager advised that the Department of Work and Pensions undertook surveillance as it was more cost effective for them to do this.

In response to a question about the level of service, the Revenues and Benefits Manager confirmed that the reason for the shared service would be to continue to provide an excellent service, and referred to recent turnover of staff. In response to a question about the spare room subsidy, the Revenues and Benefits Manager advised that Welfare Officers had visited everyone affected, working together with housing associations and Job Centre Plus.

The Cabinet Member for Finance considered that the move to a shared service was a very important move and would strengthen the team.

internal audit charter

The Head of Audit introduced the report, which asked the Committee to approve a new Charter. Each authority in the partnership would be asked to approve the Charter and he hoped to keep it consistent across the four partners. Tunbridge Wells Borough Council had suggested the inclusion of a section regarding Value For Money and he advised that this would be subject to a report to the next meeting. He advised that there would be Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors assessment in January 2014 and explained the process for this. He also outlined the other sections of the report regarding the One Employer proposal; extending the current partnership agreement; and the recruitment to the Head of Audit Partnership.

In response to questions, the Head of Audit explained the reasoning for the One Employer proposal and that objectivity was fundamental for auditors. Flexibility for the team to work in other authorities would be useful; however, there would be consultation over the next few weeks. It was confirmed that the Audit Partnership Board wished to protect the terms and conditions of staff. The decision would be made by the Leader via the individual delegated decision process.

audit committee draft work programme

The Committee was advised that the Annual Audit Letter would be considered at the Audit Committee meeting scheduled to take place on 11 December 2013. The report would be updated for the next meeting to reflect that the new Audit Manager, Russell Heppleston was now in post.