Meeting documents

Audit Committee
Tuesday, 21st March, 2006 7.00 pm

Date:
Tuesday, 21st March, 2006
Time:
7.00pm
Place:
Committee Room A, Town Hall, Bury
 

Attendance Details

Present:
Councillor J P Costello (in the Chair);
Councillors K Audin, R A Bibby, I B Gartside,
A Matthews, K Rothwell, G Sharkey and B Vincent

Co-opted:
No members of the public attended the meeting
Apologies for absence:
Councillor A J Garner and Mr A Withington (Independent Member)
Buttons
Item Description Decision
Open
AU.1241 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
Preamble for item AU.1241
 
AU.1242 PUBLIC QUESTION TIME
Preamble for item AU.1242
 
AU.1243 Minutes of the Meeting held on Wednesday, 25th January, 2006 6.00pm
 Delegated decision:

That the minutes of the last meeting held on 25 January 2006 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.
AU.1244 MATTERS ARISING
Preamble for item AU.1244
 
AU.1245 Minutes of the Meeting held on Tuesday, 31st January, 2006 7.00pm
 It was agreed:

That the Minutes of the meeting held on 31 January 2006 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.
AU.1246 EXTERNAL AUDIT PROGRESS REPORT
Preamble for item AU.1246
Delegated decision:

That the contents of the report be noted.
AU.1247 REVIEW OF INTERNAL AUDIT
Preamble for item AU.1247
Delegated decisions:

1. That the contents of the report be noted.

2. That Jillian Burrows and KPMG be thanked for their positive report.

3. That the Audit and Risk Management Section be congratulated on the possible outcome of the review.
AU.1248 REVIEW OF THE MEDIUM TERM FINANCIAL STRATEGY
Preamble for item AU.1248
Delegated decisions:

1. That the contents of the report be noted.

2. That Adrian Lythgoe and KPMG be thanked for their report.
AU.1249 EXCLUSION OF PRESS AND PUBLIC
 Delegated decision:

That in accordance with Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item of business since it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information relating to any action taken, or to be taken in connection with the prevention, investigation and prosecution of crime.
Exempt
AU.1250 INTERNAL AUDIT ANNUAL PLAN 2006/2007
  • (Attachment: 6)A report from the Head of Audit and Risk Management
  • |
    (Attachment: 7)Appendix A
  • |
    (Attachment: 8)Appendix B
 
AU.1251 INTERNAL AUDIT PROGRESS REPORT
  • (Attachment: 9)A report from the Head of Audit and Risk Management
  • |
    (Attachment: 10)Appendix A
  • |
    (Attachment: 11)Appendix B
  • |
    (Attachment: 12)Appendix C
  
AU.1252 CLOSING STATEMENT
  
The meeting started at 7.00 pm and ended at 7.50pm

Preamble

Preamble
ItemPreamble
AU.1241There were no declarations of interest made at the meeting.
AU.1242There were no members of the public present to ask questions at the meeting.
AU.1244The Director of Finance and E-Government reported that the Authority had received an unqualified opinion on the 2004/2005 Accounts from the Audit Commission. The Accounts had now been signed and passed to External Audit.
AU.1246Jillian Burrows representing the External Auditors, KPMG, presented a report setting out the External Audit Progress Statement.
AU.1247Jillian Burrows representing the External Auditors presented a report setting out the findings and conclusions from a recent review of the Audit and Risk Management Section.

The review had covered ten areas and assessed whether Internal Audit had met the standards in CIPFA’s Code of Practice for Internal Audit. It was reported that the standard had been achieved in nine areas and partly achieved in the remaining one.

Appended to the report was a Management Action Plan which contained fourteen recommendations from External Audit, which would strengthen the procedures already in place.

The recommendations had been agreed by the Authority and were being adopted by the Audit and Risk Management Section.
AU.1248Adrian Lythgoe of KPMG presented a report setting out the review of the Authority’s Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS). It was explained that the MTFS was the key mechanism for deciding the priorities for the organisation and reviewing the resourcing of those priorities. Adrian explained that the MTFS report was being finalised at the same time that the Authority’s budget was being finalised.

The report set out the findings of the review and contained twelve recommendations and an action plan. Seven of the recommendations had been agreed and the remaining five had already been implemented.

The Director of Finance and E-Government thanked External Audit for their report. It was explained that the Authority had accepted all of the recommendations that had been put forward by KPMG. The Authority would also be reviewing the strategy on a regular basis.