Agenda and decisions

Members are required to notify any substitutions by midday on the day of the meeting.

Late substitutions will not be accepted and Members attending as a substitute without having given the due notice will not be able to take part in the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Sean Nolan.

Having given due notice Councillor Daniel Wright-Mason substituted for Councillor Nolan.

To take as read and approve as a true record the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on the 4 September 2024.

RESOLVED:That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 4 September 2024 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chair.

Members should notify the Chair of other business which they wish to be discussed at the end of either Part I or Part II business set out in the agenda. They must state the circumstances which they consider justify the business being considered as a matter of urgency.

The Chair will decide whether any item(s) raised will be considered.

There was no other business notified.

Members are reminded that any declarations of interest in respect of any business set out in the agenda, should be declared as either a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest or Declarable Interest and are required to notify the Chair of the nature of any interest declared at the commencement of the relevant item on the agenda.  Members declaring a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest must withdraw from the meeting for the duration of the item. Members declaring a Declarable Interest, wishing to exercise a ‘Councillor Speaking Right’, must declare this at the same time as the interest, move to the public area before speaking to the item and then must leave the room before the debate and vote.

(1)        The Chair advised that, in accordance with Council Policy, the meeting would be recorded.

(2)        The Chair drew attention to the item on the agenda front pages regarding Declarations of Interest and reminded Members that, in line with the Code of Conduct, any Declarations of Interest needed to be declared immediately prior to the item in question.

(3)        The Chair advised that section 4.8.23(a) of the Constitution did not apply to this meeting.

To receive petitions, comments and questions from the public.

There was no public participation at this meeting.

REPORT OF THE SHARED ANTI-FRAUD SERVICE (SAFS)

To review the progress and delivery of the Anti-Fraud plan 2024-25.

RESOLVED: That the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee noted the progress by Officers and the Shared Anti-Fraud Service to deliver the Anti-Fraud Plan for the Council.

REPORT OF THE SHARED INTERNAL AUDIT SERVICE

To receive the Internal Audit Service progress report 2024-25 of the SIAS.

RESOLVED: That the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee noted:

(1) The SIAS Progress Report for the period to 25 October 2024.

(2) The implementation status of the reported high priority recommendations.

(3) The plan amendments to the 2024/25 Annual Audit Plan.

REPORT OF THE SERVICE DIRECTOR – RESOURCES

To approve the current status of the audited Statement of Accounts for 2022/23, a draft is enclosed with the report as Appendix B and to note the progress made in the audit of the 2023/24 Annual Statement of Accounts.

RESOLVED: That the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee:

(1)   Noted the 2022/23 Annual Statement of Accounts as set out in Appendix B.

(2)   Delegated to the Chair of the Committee the final approval of the 2022/23 Annual Statement of Accounts. This would include confirming that the Chair of the Committee can sign the Statement of Accounts to confirm that they have been approved by the Committee.

(3)   Noted that the Annual Governance Statement for 2022/23 was approved by the Committee in September 2023, and that nothing has been identified since that date that would require a change to that Annual Governance Statement.

(4)   Noted the progress made in the audit of the 2023/24 Annual Statement of Accounts.

(5)   Noted the additional audit fees that have been notified by KPMG in relation to ISA315r of £11,597, which will be subject to approval by PSAA.

(6)   Noted the completion report and the process that would be followed for the approval of the 2022/23 Accounts as detailed in paragraph 8.13 of the supplementary report.

(7)   Formally thanked to Ernst and Young for their work and support to the Committee over the last eight years.

REASON FOR DECISIONS:

To ensure that the Council abides by the Audit and Account Regulations 2015, which require the approval and publication of audited Statement of Accounts. Furthermore, to meet the back-stop deadlines set out in the Accounts and Audit (Amendment) Regulations 2024.

REPORT OF THE LEGAL MANAGER / DEPUTY MONITORING OFFICER.

The report updates Members of the Committee on the LLG Code of Practice on Good Governance for Local Authority Statutory Officers. It contains a summary of the key objectives, roles and responsibilities.

RESOLVED:

(1)   That the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee noted the content of the report and Appendix A, and make any suggestions on future actions, particularly with reference to 7.6 and 7.7 of this report.

(2)   That the Code would be circulated as proposed under section 7.7 of the report.

(3)   That the Committee supported that the Council should formally adopt the Code as proposed.

REASON FOR DECISION: To ensure good governance within the Council.

The Chair to lead a discussion regarding possible agenda items for future meetings.

The Service Director – Resources confirmed that the Half Year Risk Report would be brought to the next Committee meeting and that risk training would take place prior to that meeting.