Agenda item

Report of the Head of Audit and Risk Management to inform the Audit Committee of the requirements of the statutory Annual Governance Statement (AGS) and provide a draft statement relating to 2009/10 for review and approval.

Anne Woods, Head of Audit and Risk Management, presented the report on the requirements of the statutory Annual Governance Statement (AGS) and the draft AGS relating to 2009/10. In accordance with the terms of reference of the Audit Committee, the Committee was asked to review and approve the draft AGS. It was reported that the format of the document was prescribed by CIPFA, with the detailed content provided by the local authority. The statement should include significant governance and control issues identified during 2009/10, and any outstanding issues from the previous year. The report included recommendations arising from external inspections. It was reported that it was important that governance and control procedures were embedded, as the external inspection arrangements were changing in 2010/11.

The Chair advised Members that it was the responsibility of the Audit Committee to approve the draft statement before it was presented to the General Purposes Committee with the Statement of Accounts.

The Committee asked about the Data Quality issues identified, and whether any work had been undertaken to establish how the situation had developed in the first place. The Head of Audit and Risk Management reported that the issues had been identified as part of the Joint Area Review, which had looked at the processes from beginning to end as well as the individual actions carried out. The Committee asked about the data quality issues identified in Benefits, in response to which it was reported that these had been identified by the Council’s external auditors and as part of the National Indicator audit work, and that officers had been working to identify and address the fundamental causes of these issues.

The Committee noted the recent ruling against the Council in respect of the equalities impact assessment issues with the Ward’s Corner planning application, as this had highlighted issues in respect of the Council’s equalities impact assessment. Officers agreed to reflect the issue in the AGS.

The Chair asked what steps were being taken in order to confirm that the Council was complying with the relevant guidelines and legislation, in response to which the Head of Audit and Risk Management reported that this was confirmed by the work of internal audit and the external auditors. The Chair asked whether the Head of Audit and Risk Management had looked into the relevant standing orders, standing financial instructions, scheme of delegation and supporting procedure notes and manuals, and the Head of Audit and Risk Management confirmed that this had been done.

The Chair reported that the Audit Committee had received reports on 28 October 2009 and 5 November 2009 regarding the Alexandra Palace and Park governance issues and the Committee had agreed that all the recommendations relating to the APP should be implemented by set deadlines, the final date of which was 31 March 2010. As advice had previously been received from the Head of Legal Services that the Section 151 Officer was responsible for the effective financial management of the Council including the Alexandra Palace and Park, the Chair requested a report from the Section 151 Officer, updating the Committee on the quality of compliance with the deadlines set by the Committee in implementing the recommendations relating to Alexandra Palace and Park.

In response to a question from the Chair regarding who had made the judgement set out in paragraph 4.9 of the statement that no gaps in compliance had been identified in relation to the fulfilment of all the requirements set out in the CIPFA statement by the CFO, it was confirmed that this was the judgement of the Head of Audit and Risk Management. In relation to section i) of the governance framework, ensuring compliance with relevant laws and regulations, internal policies and procedures and that expenditure is lawful, the Chair asked who assessed this, in response to which it was confirmed that this was determined by internal audit, the external auditors, the Chief Financial Officer and the Monitoring Officer.

The Chair asked if there were any other governance issues besides those included in the draft AGS which should be included, in response to which the Head of Audit and Risk Management confirmed that the draft statement was comprehensive and there were no further issues to be reported. The Chair asked the external auditors whether they felt that there were any other governance issues to be reported, in response to which Paul Dossett, Grant Thornton, reported that there were no outstanding issues that they felt should be reflected in the AGS. Mr Dosset reported that spot checks on data quality were being carried out and if any issues were identified as a result of these, the question of whether these should be included would be considered, although at present no significant control issues had been identified.

The Chief Financial Officer confirmed that she was satisfied with the content of the draft AGS.

Taking into account the comments made in discussion, the assurances of internal and external audit and the Chief Financial Officer, it was:

RESOLVED

i)                    That the draft AGS for 2009/10 be approved

ii)                  That the approval timescale and processes for the draft AGS be noted.

iii)                That a report from the Section 151 Officer be presented to the Committee in due course, updating on the quality of compliance (with the deadlines set by the Committee) in implementing the recommendations relating to the governance issues of the Alexandra Palace and Park.