| AU.286 | Councillor Rothwell declared a personal interest in item 11 - Final Statement of Accounts.
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| AU.289 | David Hipkiss, the Risk and Special Projects Manager gave a presentation explaining the role and purpose of risk management within Bury MBC.
The presentation set out the following:-
1. What is Risk Management?
2. Why is Risk Management Important?
3. What steps have Bury taken?
4. How does Risk Management work in practice?
5. Where do Councillors fit into Risk Management?
Members were given the opportunity to comment and ask questions on the area of Risk Management and some Members referred to specific areas of risk throughout the organisation and asked for confirmation that those were included within the risk register.
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| AU.290 | The Head of Strategic Finance presented a report giving Members an update on the system to declare, monitor and report gifts and hospitality offered to or received by staff.
The report presented a summary of declarations made for the period March to July 2007.
It was explained that the system was web based and allowed employees to declare offers of and receipt of gifts and hospitality. It was reported that there was also a web based system that allowed Members to declare gifts and hospitality.
A breakdown of the declarations made between March and July 2007 was included within the report and showed that there had been a total of 46 declarations made with an average value of £21.
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| AU.291 | The Head of Strategic Finance presented a report updating Members on issues relevant to the 2006/2007 Governance / Statement on Internal Control which had been accepted at the last meeting of the Audit Committee on 28 June 2007.
It was explained that the purpose of the statement was to provide a continuous review of the effectiveness of the authorities’ internal control and risk management systems, so as to give an assurance on their effectiveness.
The report followed up specific actions highlighted within the Statement presented to Members in June, it detailed the continuous monitoring that had taken place and highlighted any relevant issues.
The report gave an assurance and provided evidence that the Council reviewed its internal control/governance mechanisms on a continuous basis.
It was explained that no significant control weaknesses had been identified in the year to date and that the control environment would continue to be monitored throughout the year with the Audit Committee receiving regular updates.
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| AU.292 | The Director of Finance and E- Government presented a report updating Members of the Audit Committee on the authority’s financial and performance position in line with the Committee’s Statement of Purpose to ‘provide independent scrutiny of the authority’s financial and non-financial performance to the extent that it affects the authority’s exposure to risk and weakens the control environment’.
The report showed that the authority was projecting an overspend of £593,000 for the year based on spending and income information at 30 June 2007, however, the overspend could be accommodated within General Fund balances without breaching the Golden Rules, it was explained that therefore the position was not seen as a major risk to the achievement of the authority’s ambitions and priorities.
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| AU.293 | Heather Thornton representing KPMG presented a report updating Members on the ongoing work of KPMG.
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| AU.294 | Heather Thornton and Jillian Burrows presented a report (Audit Memorandum) setting out the key issues identified during the course of their audit of the financial statements of the year ended 31 March 2007. The findings were divided into three parts:-
•Use of Resources
•Accounts and Statement on Internal Control
Appended to the report were the proposed audit report, proposed value for money opinion, audit differences, 2006/07 performance improvements observations, follow-up of 2005/06 performance improvement observations, audit reports produced in 2006/07, ISA 260 Declaration of independence and objectivity, the audit fee and Whole of Government -proposed audit report.
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| AU.295 | Andrew Baldwin presented a report outlining the 2006/2007 Statement of Accounts which had been approved by the Audit Committee at its meeting on 28 June 2007.
The accounts had been updated to reflect a number of amendments that had been made following the completion of the audit by KPMG. The relevant pages reflecting the amendments were appended to the report.
Once approved, the updated Statement of Accounts would be posted on the Council's website, together with a summary report of the Council's financial and performance results, and feedback questionnaire. A notice would be placed in the Bury Times and printed copies of the accounts would be available from libraries and Council offices.
The Director of Finance and E-Government thanked all staff involved with the preparation of the accounts and also thanked KPMG for the diligent and courteous manner in which they had discharged their duties.
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| AU.296 | It was explained that the January 2008 meeting needed to be moved to a date in December 2007.
Members were asked to discuss alternative dates for the meeting to be moved to.
Following the relevant consultation, the Democratic Services Officer would contact all relevant Members once a suitable date had been identified.
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