Agenda and minutes
Venue: Town Hall, Mulberry Place, 5 Clove Crescent, London, E14 2BG
Contact: Nishaat Ismail, Democratic Services Tel: 020 7364 0842, E-mail: nishaat.ismail@towerhamlets.gov.uk
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ELECTION OF VICE-CHAIR To elect a Vice-Chair for the municipal year 2014/15 Minutes: Councillor Ayas Miah self-nominated that he be appointed Vice Chair of Audit Committee for the duration of the Municipal year and the nomination was seconded by Councillor Amina Ali. There being no other nominations, it was
RESOLVED
That Councillor Ayas Miah be appointed Vice-Chair of Audit Committee for the duration of the municipal year.
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DECLARATIONS OF DISCLOSABLE PECUNIARY INTEREST PDF 56 KB To note any declarations of interest made by Members, including those restricting Members from voting on the questions detailed in Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act, 1992. See attached note from the Monitoring Officer.
Minutes: No declarations of disclosable pecuniary interest were made.
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MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING(S) PDF 107 KB To confirm the minutes of the Audit Committee held on 18th March 2014. Minutes: The unrestricted minutes of the Audit Committee held on 18 March 2014 were presented for approval.
RESOLVED
That the minutes of the Audit Committee held on 18 March 2014 be approved as a correct record of proceedings.
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Audit Committee Terms of Reference, Quorum, Membership and Dates of meetings PDF 57 KB To note the Terms of Reference, membership, quorum and dates of meetings of the Audit Committee for the Municipal Year 2014/15. Additional documents:
Minutes: The clerk presented the annual report which asked Members to note its Terms of Reference, Membership, Quorum and Dates of future meetings and then invited the service Head of Risk Management and Audit to provide a summary of the role of the committee
Members were informed that the Charter for Internal Audit set out the Council’s responsibility for internal audit which focussed on: Internal control, Risk management and Governance. These functions were performed by the Internal Audit Team, and were supplemented, where necessary, by specialised internal audits undertaken by Mazars. The team also delivered a range of regular reports including the audit of key financial systems to provide assurance over the Statement of Accounts, reports of the outcomes of audit work undertaken on behalf of the work of Mazars internal audit work and internal audits of grants.
The Chair enquired and Members agreed that the preferred time of the future of Audit Committees be 7.00PM.
RESOLVED
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TOWER HAMLETS ITEMS FOR CONSIDERATION |
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Annual Financial Report 2013/14 PDF 141 KB Report to follow Additional documents: Minutes: The Acting Corporate Director - Resources presented the Annual Financial Report for 2013/14.
He apologised that, owing to statutory deadlines and the time required to prepare the accounts for external audit, it had been necessary to circulate the Annual Financial Report as a supplementary agenda. He noted there had been change in financial systems whilst preparing the accounts and thanked all officers who had worked to produce the required documents to short deadlines.
He confirmed he had signed off accounts on the 30th June 2014 and these had been passed on to external auditors for external audit review. The accounts were now also available for public inspection and there would be a three month review period where the contents of the accounts could be challenged.
He informed the Committee that Accounts received show Tower Hamlets is in good financial health and had added to reserves of the Housing Revenue Account and the General Fund. This would put the Council in good stead to address the financial challenges anticipated in the next three to four years.
He then offered to provide detailed answers to Members’ questions and the following information was provided:
RESOLVED: That the Annual Financial Report for the financial year ending 31st March 2014 team comprising the explanatory forward and the draft statement of accounts which is subject to audit be noted.
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Internal Audit Annual Report for 2013/14 PDF 401 KB To provide the annual internal audit opinion to committee in accordance with the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards. Minutes: The Head of Risk Management and Audit presented the report at agenda item 5.2 which summarised the work carried out by Council’s auditors during 2013/14.
The report provided:
He also informed the Committee:
The Head of Risk Management and Audit then summarised the recent audit work undertaken informing the committee that a number of limited assurances had been returned. Officers were present to answer questions on the limited assurances returned in four of the audits that had been undertaken.
Procurement below EU threshold: Follow up audit
It was noted that at the time of audit, management had already identified the need to review processes and procedures, a work group set up to ensure standardisation of all documentation and a new procurement system had been implemented.
The Service Head for Strategy and Resources CLC was present to answer the committee’s questions. He noted the following:
He confirmed that the recommendations had been substantially complied with from the follow-up audit and was open to questions from the Committee. The Head of Risk Management and Audit pointed out that CLC had been given the opportunity to raise any concerns before the report was concluded and offered that a fresh review be undertaken to address the sample size issue. The Service Head for Strategy and Resources suggested that before moving to undertake the suggested review audit, the Head of Risk Management and Audit should meet with him to review the current position regarding follow up and collectively agree if any further action is needed. Controlling and monitoring of disclosure and barring service checks audit
The Head of Risk Management and Audit advised that the audit concerned risks arising to the authority from the transfer of applicants’ central records checking systems from Criminal Records Bureau to Disclosure and Barring Service. A limited assurance had been assigned because although the transition had been good, the process lacked evidence.
The Service Head for HR and Workforce Development was present to answer questions and informed Members of the long and extensive process of going through current posts, to ensure employees do not exceed the three year period.
Looked after children audit
The Service ... view the full minutes text for item 5.2 |
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Annual Governance Statement 2013/14 PDF 259 KB To Agree the Draft Annual Governance Statement for the financial year 2013/14. Minutes: The Head of Risk Management and Audit presented the Annual Governance Statement, which sets out the framework for reviewing and reporting the Council’s system on internal control and governance arrangements.
He reported that no gaps were identified in respect of: · Establishing principle statutory obligations and organisational objectives · Principle risks to achieving objectives · Identifying key controls to manage principle risks.
Having considered process and findings set out in the report members were then invited to approve the draft annual government statement for the financial year.
RESOLVED That the draft annual government statement for the financial year 2013/14 be approved.
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Risk Management annual Report 2013/4 PDF 414 KB To note the Annual Risk Management report 2013-14. Additional documents:
Minutes: Noting that there had been error in the order of document publication, the Head of Risk Management and Audit introduced the report printed at page 131 of the agenda advising members that day-to-day management risk lay with officers and managers. However the Council had an overall obligation to identify and mitigate risks which could affect the overall achievement of service objectives.
He stated the Risk Management Team’s aims;
The report states what has been planned for this financial year.
RESOLVED That the annual risk management report 2013/14, highlighting the effectiveness of the processes deployed to identify and assess priorities and mitigate the risks which could affect the overall achievement of service objectives be noted.
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Treasury Management Activity Update Report For Period Ending30 April 2014 PDF 458 KB To advise the Committee of treasury management activity for the previous financial year up to 30 April 2014.
Minutes: The Chief Accountant presented the report circulated at agenda item 5.5. He noted the investment levels, interim returns and projected annual returns that had been reported and also informed members of the Council’s proposed intention to change the counterparty list. This proposal was to mitigate the effects of the Government’s intention to reduce its holdings in government backed banks such as Lloyd’s and Royal Bank of Scotland. It was intended therefore to reduce the levels invested with any particular bank.
RESOLVED
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ANY OTHER BUSINESS THE CHAIR CONSIDERS URGENT Minutes: Nil items.
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