Agenda and minutes
Venue: C1, 1st Floor, Town Hall, Mulberry Place, 5 Clove Crescent, London, E14 2BG
Contact: Simone Scott-Sawyer, Democratic Services Tel: 020 7364 4120; E-mail: simone.scott-sawyer@towerhamlets.gov.uk
No. | Item |
---|---|
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE To receive any apologies for absence.
Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Ullah and Eaton. |
|
DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST PDF 49 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 Chief Executive.
Minutes: There were none. |
|
APPOINTMENT OF VICE-CHAIR To appoint a Vice-Chair of the Audit Committee for the Municipal Year 2012/13. Minutes: The Chair called for nominations for a Member to serve as Vice-Chair of the Committee for the municipal year 2012 - 13.
Councillor Khales Uddin Ahmed MOVED that Councillor Anwar Khan be elected Vice-Chair and this was SECONDED by Councillor Carlo Gibbs.
No further nominations were received and it was therefore
RESOLVED
That Councillor Anwar Khan be elected Vice-Chair of the Audit Committee for the municipal year 2012-13.
|
|
UNRESTRICTED MINUTES PDF 87 KB To confirm as a correct record of the proceedings the unrestricted minutes of the ordinary meeting of the Audit Committee held on 20th March 2012.
Minutes: That the minutes of the meeting of the Audit Committee held on 20th March 2012 be agreed as a correct record of the meeting and the Chair be authorised to sign them accordingly.
|
|
VARY ORDER OF BUSINESS
The Chair Moved that the order of business be varied. Accordingly, item 7 was taken first, followed by items 5, 6 and 8.
|
|
UPDATE ON THE COUNCIL'S WORK PREPARING FOR THE OLYMPICS Minutes: Robin Beattie, Service Head Strategy & Resources, introduced gave a PowerPoint presentation to Members. He informed Members that he had corporate responsibility for the Olympic planning process and highlighted the following points:
In response to some Members’ concerns and questions, Mr Beattie further outlined the following points:
RESOLVED:
That the presentation be noted.
|
|
AUDIT COMMITTEE TERMS OF REFERENCE AND MEMBERSHIP PDF 54 KB Additional documents:
Minutes: Simone Scott-Sawyer, Senior Committee Officer, Democratic Services introduced the report.
Simone Scott-Sawyer, Democratic Services, highlighted the main issues for Members to note as follows:
RESOLVED
That the Audit Committee’s Terms of Reference, Membership and meeting dates for the 2012/13 municipal year be noted. |
|
UNRESTRICTED AUDIT COMMISSION REPORTS FOR CONSIDERATION |
|
Minutes: Jon Hayes, District Auditor, Audit Commission introduced the report. He highlighted the salient points on pages 26 – 30 and informed Members that another report would be submitted to the Committee in September.
RESOLVED:
That the report be noted. |
|
UNRESTRICTED TOWER HAMLETS REPORTS FOR CONSIDERATION |
|
INTERNAL AUDIT REPORT PDF 356 KB Minutes: Minesh Jani, Head of Risk Management and Audit, introduced the report. He pointed out to Members that Appendix 4 contained a list of the pieces of work which had been carried out by the Audit department last year. 77% were classified as substantial or full assurances and 23% were classified as limited or nil assurances.
Officers outlined the following additional points for Members:
MELA – human trafficking issues
Minesh Jani stated that this was an area of concern for officers in the Communities, Localities and Culture department. A new Governance system had been set up at the British Mela and the intention was to share information with Tower Hamlets Council. A risk analysis was due to be carried out by the British Trust to look at how they would deliver the MELA.
Limited Assurance - management of asbestos and legionella
Ann Sutcliffe, Head of Building Schools for the Future, state that one of the areas of concern at present was asbestos certificates were not immediately visible to operatives. Therefore a “gap” analysis was being carried out to identify where work needs to be done and the Council was considering implementing new software to store all certificates centrally.
Management of voids [limited assurances]
Minesh Jani stated that there was an area of concern regarding the accuracy of information. It was often difficult to ascertain when a property becomes void and it was often not clear when a tenant surrendered his tenancy. Occasionally, there was a discrepancy between the actual surrender date and the date on the form.
Vehicle removal contract
Minesh Jani stated that this was an area which officers were keen to improve and the methodology was now in place to ensure that checks and balances were carried out. Six monthly reviews had also been implemented.
RESOLVED:
That the Internal Audit Annual Report be noted. |
|
ANNUAL GOVERNANCE STATEMENT 2011/12 PDF 242 KB Minutes: Minesh Jani, Head of Risk Management and Audit, introduced the report. He informed Members that this was a statutory document which must accompany the statement of accounts. The guidance and guidelines were obtained from the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accounting [CIPFA].
RESOLVED:
That the Annual Governance Statement 2011 – 12 be noted. |
|
ANNUAL FINANCIAL REPORT 2011/12 PDF 108 KB Additional documents: Minutes: Alan Finch, Service Head, Finance, tabled some additional information for Members and gave them an update on the figures.
In response to a question by the Chair, Minesh Jani stated that an officer from the DNR [??] was charged with scrutinising the work of Tower Hamlets homes.
It was agreed that the DNR would attend a committee meeting to give an account to Members.
RESOLVED:
That the Annual Financial report 2011 – 12 be noted. |
|
2011/12 TREASURY MANAGEMENT OUT-TURN REPORT - UPDATE TO 31ST MAY 2012 PDF 368 KB Minutes: Alan Finch, Service Head, Finance, introduced the report and highlighted the following points:
RESOLVED:
That report be noted. |