| AU.54 | Councillor Rothwell declared a personal interest in item 7 - Statement of Accounts 2009/2010 as he was a tenant of Six Town Housing.
Councillor Wiseman declared a personal interest in item 7 - Statement of Accounts 2009/2010 as the Day Care Centre that she is Chief Executive of was mentioned within the Statement.
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| AU.55 | There were no members of the public present to ask questions at the meeting.
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| AU.57 | Steve Kenyon, Head of Strategic Finance introduced a presentation explaining the Governance Framework within the Council.
The presentation gave an overview of governance within the Council, explained who the principal Officers and Members were in relation to governance and the roles and responsibilities of those Officers and Members.
It was explained that governance ensured that the Council delivers services which:-
• Are compliant with the Law
• Are in accordance with professional standards
• Safeguard and properly account for public money
• Ensure Economy, Efficiency and Effectiveness
• Ensure continuous improvement
• Effectively manage Risk
• Have robust Internal Controls
• Have transparent decision making processes
• Promote high standards of behaviour
Steve explained that the Council had implemented a Local Code of Corporate Governance which set out six key elements to providing high standards of governance across the borough.
The Council produced an Annual Governance Statement as part of the statutory accounts which provided evidence/assurance that an effective Governance Framework had been applied. It was also explained that the Audit Committee received an updated quarterly Governance report at each meeting.
Steve explained the role of the Chief Finance Officer as set out by CIPFA and the 5 principles that define their core activities/behaviour. It was reported that these were fulfilled in Bury.
Barrie Strothers, Head of Internal Audit explained the role of the Head of Internal Audit and the 5 Core Principles set out by CIPFA which the Head of Internal Audit fulfilled. The work of Internal Audit was also explained.
The presentation also set out the work of the Governance Panel which met quarterly and the role of the Audit Committee.
Gemma Douse from KPMG gave a brief overview of the work of the External Auditors.
Members of the Committee were given the opportunity to ask questions and comment and the following points were raised:-
• Councillor O’Hanlon asked what standards the Council were currently working to since it had been announced that the Corporate Area Assessment (CAA) was to be abolished?
Trevor Rees from KPMG explained that most of the work in relation to the CAA for 2009/2010 had been completed but as yet there was no framework in place for the 2010/2011 assessment. It was expected that the Audit Commission would ask for work around efficiency of resources.
• Councillor Rothwell asked whether the charges for services from Adult Care and Environmental Services were appropriate.
Steve explained that prices were reviewed annually and benchmarking with other local authorities was undertaken to ensure that price rates were appropriate.
• Councillor Harris referred to the RAISE system and asked what the future plans were regarding the system.
Mike Owen explained that the system had reached the end of its useful life and could become a risk. The system would need to be replaced.
• Councillor O’Hanlon suggested that all Councillors skills should be identified and utilised. Members could register their qualifications and skills so that they could be called upon if it was felt their skills could add value to a piece of work.
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| AU.58 | Stephen Kenyon, Head of Strategic Finance presented a report introducing the 2009/2010 Governance Statement. It was explained that under the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2003, the Council was required to produce a Governance Statement which is one of the documents supporting the Annual Statement of Accounts.
Appended to the report was the Governance Statement 2009/2010 which set out the scope of responsibility, the purpose of the Governance Framework, the Governance Framework, Risk Management, efficiency/value for money, Use of Resources Auditor Judgement, group activities, significant governance issues and looking ahead to 2010/2011. New features within the Statement were sections on the role of the Chief Finance Officer and the Head of Internal Audit in line with the CIPFA requirements.
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| AU.59 | The Director of Finance and E-Government presented a report submitted by the Cabinet Member for Resource, Human Resource and Performance on the Statement of Accounts 2009/2010. A presentation was given at the meeting setting out the key messages from the Statement of Accounts.
It was explained that the Accounts, once approved, would be subject to audit by KPMG. During the audit process the Accounts would be placed on deposit for 20 working days and would be available for inspection by members of the public. Following the conclusion of the audit the Accounts would be brought back to the Committee in August for final approval. This timescale would mean that the authority is amongst the best performing in the country.
The Statement of Accounts 2009/2010 was appended to the report and contained the Income and Expenditure Account, the Statement of the Movement on the General Fund Balance, the Statement of Total Recognised Gains and Losses, the Balance Sheet and the Cash Flow Statement.
In line with best practice, an aide memoire for Members providing evidence of a robust review of both the accounts closedown process and the final Statement of Accounts was presented with the report.
Members were given the opportunity to ask questions and make comments and the following points were raised:-
• Councillor Harris referred to depreciation of Council owned properties and whether this was standard practice.
It was explained that depreciation was standard practice but that a re-evaluation process was also carried out which would reinstate the cost of any repairs and maintenance that had been carried out.
• Councillor Wiseman referred to the salaries paid to Chief Officers and Directors and asked how the salaries were decided and whether an evaluation of these posts was undertaken.
It was explained that all Chief Officers posts had been through an evaluation process.
• Members of the Audit Committee asked that a report setting out the evaluation process be brought to a future meeting of the Committee.
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| AU.60 | Steve Kenyon, Head of Strategic Finance presented a report giving Members an update on the system to declare, monitor and report gifts and hospitality offered to and received by staff.
The report set out a summary of declarations made for the financial year 2009/2010.
Paragraph 2.6 of the report included an analysis of the declarations by Department of the Council and gave the lowest, highest and the average value of the gifts or hospitality.
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| AU.61 | The Head of Internal Audit submitted a report summarising the work undertaken by the Internal Audit Section in the financial year 2009/2010 and comparing it to the Audit Plan for the same period.
The report contained the Audit Opinion which assessed the Authority’s control framework as “robust” and updated the Members on some of the issues facing the Internal Audit Service.
Appended to the report was a Review of the Effectiveness of Internal Audit, the Annual Report and Opinion for 2009/2010, the Internal Audit Plan 2009/2010 and Internal Audit Performance Indicators.
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| AU.62 | Stephen Kenyon, Head of Strategic Finance presented a report setting out details of the Risk Management activity that had taken place over the previous 12 months and outlined the risk management policies and practices in place and the key issues that would be addressed during the coming financial year.
The report had been presented to the Management Board on 14 June 2010 and was due to be presented to the Council on 15 September 2010.
Appended to the report were diagrams setting out the Financial and Corporate Planning Cycle and the Annual Forward Planning Events, tables summarising the progress made by departments and a table aligning the Council’s most significant risks against the Council’s Priorities and Team Bury Ambitions.
Members referred to the table setting out the Corporate Risks and asked specifically about risk ref 3 and 7 which had both been identified as medium risks for some time. Members asked what work was being done to lower the status of the risks.
It was explained that risks 3 and 7 were related to Human Resources, there would be an action plan relating to each risk. Members of the Audit Committee could request an update on these plans be provided at a future meeting of the Committee.
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| AU.63 | Heather Garrett, representing KPMG presented the Committee with the Progress Statement for the External Audit Programme 2009/2010.
Details of the ongoing work and when that work would be completed and reported to the Committee were included in the report with comments on progress.
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| AU.64 | Heather Garrett, representing KPMG, presented the Committee with the Audit Plan which contained the Annual Audit Fee Letter 2010/2011 and gave a breakdown of the work to be carried out by KPMG. |