minutes

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 25 September 2013 (Minute Nos. 291 - 298) 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 the audit committee to decide

treasury management half year review

The Head of Finance introduced the report which gave the mid-year outturn position on treasury management transactions for 2013/14 including compliance with treasury limits and Prudential Performance Indicators. He explained that the report would also be considered at the full Council meeting on 22 January 2014.

The Head of Finance stated that Swale Borough Council (SBC) had complied with all the relevant regulations and drew attention to Appendix I of the report which set out the Councils Investments as at 31 October 2013.

In response to a query the Head of Finance explained the reasons why the interest income received for the first half of 2013 was higher than originally forecast and agreed to forward the exact figure to Members.

Members welcomed the report.

annual audit letter - 31 march 2013 - 8 october 2013

The Chairman welcomed Mr Trevor Greenlee (Grant Thornton) to the meeting.

Mr Greenlee introduced the Annual Audit Letter - 31 March 2013 - 8 October 2013. He stated that the accounts had been approved with few amendments.

Mr Greenlee reported that the overall Value for Money (VFM) conclusions were good and considered that SBC had made good progress from previous years and the overall picture was very positive.

In response to a query about the Grant certification fee, Mr Greenlee advised that the figure was expected to remain at £13,050 but this would be confirmed at the next meeting on 26 March 2013.

The Corporate Services Director welcomed the comments from Grant Thornton and stated that this was a good news story for SBC.

internal audit interim report

The Head of Audit Partnership introduced the report which detailed the work of the Internal Audit team between April and September 2013. He gave assurances that the audit process within SBC was working efficiently.

The Head of Audit Partnership drew attention to Appendix II of the report which set out a summary of internal audit reports - April to September 2013. He stated that a number of the audits were shared service audits as set out in Appendix V of the report.

The Head of Audit Partnership drew attention to the Leisure Centre audit and gave an update from the Head of Commissioning and Customer Contact. An agreement had been reached between Serco and Swale Community Leisure Limited (SCLL) resulting in a significant reduction in financial liability to SBC relating to utilities. A report would be considered by Cabinet early in the new year advising as follows: there was a £40,000 per annum reduction in utility charges which was in addition to the £30,000 per annum reduction from 2012, meaning a total reduction of £70,000 per annum for the remainder of the contract; the savings would provide a two year grant to the Trust to employ an Executive Officer; a format had been agreed for a Business Plan for the Trust; and Key Priority Indicators had been agreed which the Trust and Serco's performance would be monitored against.

The Head of Audit Partnership stated that this update meant that it was very likely that the assurance for the Leisure Centre Management project would become Substantial rather than Limited when the follow-up was carried out.

In response to a query officers confirmed that the £70,000 saving included both Sittingbourne and Sheerness leisure centres and agreed to forward Members details of the exact split of costs between the two centres.

A Member spoke about the council tax single persons' discount review and queried whether a more formalised procedure could be adopted to enable Members to report suspected abuses. The Head of Finance agreed to liaise with the Revenues and Benefits Assistant Manager about whether this was possible.

audit committee work programme

Members considered the Work Programme.