Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed attendees to the meeting and an apology for absence was received from County Borough Councillor M. Powell.

To receive disclosures of personal interest from Members in accordance with the Code of Conduct

Note:

1.     Members are requested to identify the item number and subject matter that their interest relates to and signify the nature of the personal interest: and

2.   Where Members withdraw from a meeting as a consequence of the disclosure of a prejudicial interest they must notify the Chairman when they leave.

In accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct, there were no declarations made pertaining to the agenda.

To receive the minutes of the previous meeting of the Audit Committee held on 2^nd November 2020.

It was RESOLVED to approve the minutes of the 2^nd November 2020 as an accurate reflection of the meeting.

Minute No. 16 – The Audit Committee resolved to to refer the matter of school attendance and 6th form attendance to the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee to consider in greater detail and receive feedback in due course.

The Service Director for Performance and Improvement informed the Audit Committee that the matter would be considered by the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee at its meeting on 24^th March 2021, with the findings and conclusions reported back to the Audit Committee at a future meeting.

To receive a presentation from the Director of Corporate Estates.

Following the Audit Committee’s approval of the Annual Governance Statement (AGS) relating to the 2019/20 financial year and the recommendation to strengthen the Committee’s visibility of the Council’s risk profile, the Director of  Corporate Estates was present to provide the Committee with information on the delivery of the 21^st Century Schools Programme.

With the aid of a PowerPoint presentation, the Director of Corporate Estates and the Head of Corporate Design provided the Committee with a detailed overview of the risks and subsequent actions in place to ensure the successful and timely delivery of the 21^st Century Schools Programme. Members learned of Risk 23 of the Register, which stated the risk to the Council, should projects not be delivered on time and/or on budget and the possible negative impact this could have the delivery and intended (positive) impact of the 21st Century Schools Band B Programme within the Council. Members were informed that the rating of 5x3=15 (impact x likelihood) of Risk 23 would not change in the Quarter 3 update, due to the programme being in early stages of development.

During the presentation, the officers sought to assure Members of the good governance arrangements in place, the strong communication adopted by officers and stressed that officers are highly knowledgeable in their fields of expertise. Members were informed that each 21^st Century Schools Project Team includes officers from various areas of the Council such as Procurement, Drainage, Education, Legal and Energy/Maintenance to pull together a plethora of knowledge. It was explained that, dependent on the project value, duration and complexity, various approaches were adopted, with external project officers used for major capital projects.

The Director spoke of the robust process in place to pull together a business case, in advance of final Cabinet approval and the construction phase.

Members were informed of the typical employer risks during project delivery and the mitigations in place to eliminate such risks, such as risk workshops, risk management tools, issue logs and the RAG (Red, Amber, Green) system, which project progress was regularly reported through. The officer explained that the Project Team meet on a regular basis to share knowledge and experience throughout in order to remain on task.

In addition to the PowerPoint presentation, the Audit Committee were able to view video footage of a ‘walk-through’ of the new Hirwaun Primary School, which was the first completed project from Band B. The next phase of the project would be to demolish the former building, in order to create the external space for the pupils. Members were able to view the modern and well-lit, spacious facilities, with new fitted kitchen, toilet facilities and new IT and whiteboard equipment.

The Chair thanked the officers for the detailed presentation and acknowledged the amount of work undertaken to mitigate risks and ensure successful project delivery.

The Chair questioned if there was one particular risk associated with the delivery of the 21^st Century School Programme, which the Project Team have to be aware of. Both  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25.

Audit Wales provided the Audit Committee with its Management Letter for the audit of Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council’s 2019/20 accounts. Members were informed that the report before them was an addendum to the Audit of Accounts report, which was presented to Council on the 25^th November 2020.

The report set out the following recommendations to improve procedures, which had arisen from the audit of the 2019/20 Accounts:

·         Confirmation of Interests for Members and Officers who are leaving the Council; and

·         Incomplete Declarations of Interests for Members.

Audit Wales noted that, overall, the findings were positive and took the opportunity to thank the Council’s financial team for their work and co-operation during the challenging year.

The Service Director for Performance and Improvement echoed the comments of Audit Wales and informed Members that the recommendations had been reviewed and accepted by the Council’s Section 151 Officer, in order for the Council to further approve upon its robust arrangements already in place and to implement the recommendations in line with the timescales.

One Member noted that the process of declaring an interest is subject to the individual Member’s opinion on whether its pertinent and questioned how the Council can be held accountable. The Service Director for Performance and Improvement acknowledged the Member’s comment and explained that from an officer perspective, the advice and guidance provided to Elected Members in relation to the declaration process should be clear and concise. The officer added that should an issue be highlighted as part of the review process of Companies House records, officers would seek to engage with and provide additional support to the Elected Member.

One Member noted the requirement for Elected Members to update any changes to their declarations of personal interests, for inclusion in the public Register of Members’ Interests, within 28 days of any change and questioned the implications of a Member not complying. The Director for Legal Services commented that it is incumbent of the Member to update any declarations in accordance with the timescales and explained that should an incident occur, the evidence would be reported to the Ombudsman for investigation.

The Chair thanked Audit Wales for the update and was pleased to note the positive audit, despite the challenges presented through the year.

The Group Audit Manager presented the Internal Audit Performance as at 18^th January 2021.

The officer spoke of the additional pressures placed upon Council services through the financial year, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and explained that the Audit Service had undertaken a more flexible approach and adapted to new ways of working. Members were informed that the Audit Service had adapted to remote working via Microsoft Teams in order to undertake Internal Audit testing and were reliant on digital documentation sharing, to provide the level of assurance needed. As such, Members learned that there were more audit assignments that were in progress stage, which were taking longer to progress than usual.

The officer went on to highlight the unprecedented challenges and pressures the pandemic had had on the Internal Audit Service. Members were informed that one member of the team had been seconded to work within the TTP team until April 2021 and a further two staff members had been absent from work for a significant part of the year due to long term sickness. However, the officer assured the Committee that, through the Regional Audit Service, additional external capacity had been secured to undertake a small number of audits.

The officer spoke of the new audit software system (MK Insight), which had been procured for the Regional Service and would become operational in April 2021. It was explained that whilst the system was already in place within RCT, it would allow for a more consistent approach across the Regional Audit Service.

It was reported that the Internal Audit Plan currently includes 27 individual audit assignments and that 6 had been completed to report stage.

One Member took the opportunity to thank officers and acknowledged the challenges placed upon the service as a result of the pandemic.

Following consideration of the report, it was RESOLVED to acknowledge the information provided.

The Service Director for Performance and Improvement Services provided the Audit Committee with an update on the status of the recommendations that were made within the 2019/20 Annual Governance Statement. Members were reminded that the Annual Governance Statement (AGS) relating to the 2019/20 financial year was reported to and approved by Audit Committee at its meeting held on 20^th July 2020.

The Service Director referred Members to the progress of each of the recommendations, which were detailed at Appendix A of the report and provided a brief update:

Recommendation 1 in relation to Whistleblowing – Members were informed that a review of the Whistle-Blowing Policy document had commenced; however, due to the need to reprioritise resources to support Track Trace Protect arrangements, the timescale for completion of the review had been revised from December 2020 to April 2021, which was deemed a low risk.

Recommendation 2 in relation to Audit Committee Risk Management – Members were informed that Strategic Risk Register updates had been scheduled within the Audit Committee Work Programme for 2020/21 to ensure the Audit Committee have full visibility of all risks outlined within the Council’s Strategic Risk Register.

Recommendation 3 in relation to Audit Committee Development and Support – A questionnaire had been compiled by officers and circulated and completed by Audit Committee Members. The results of which would be considered by the Committee as the next item on the agenda.

Recommendation 4 in relation to the Council’s Operational Risk Management Arrangements -  Members were informed that, to date, operational risk management arrangements had been primarily focussed on ensuring key frontline service delivery had been maintained to communities across the County Borough during the pandemic. The Service Director stated that the arrangements had informed the reporting of Covid-19 updates to Cabinet, Council and the Overview and Scrutiny Committee. Furthermore, the Service Director explained that a risk management audit assignment had been included within the 2020/21. Members were informed that the audit assignment had been scheduled to be undertaken in quarter 4 of the current year and thereafter the findings would be reported to Audit Committee to provide Members with assurance in terms of the adequacy of the arrangements.

Following consideration of the report, it was RESOLVED to acknowledge the information provided.

The Service Director for Performance and Improvement Services provided the Audit Committee with the report, which set out the questionnaire feedback provided by Audit Committee Members to inform the development of a learning and development plan for the Committee.

The Service Director reminded the Audit Committee of its decision to approve an action plan to support the ongoing development and effectiveness of the Committee, at its last meeting held on 2^nd November 2020. Members were informed that following the last meeting, officers had engaged with the Chair

and Vice-Chair of the Audit Committee to develop a training needs analysis questionnaire that took account of both the CIPFA publication ‘Audit Committees – Practical Guidance Note for Local Authorities & Police, 2018 Edition’ and the Committee’s Terms of Reference.

The Service Director drew Members’ attention to Appendix 1 of the report, which detailed the feedback received from twelve Members following their completion of an on-line training needs analysis questionnaire, which had been made available to the Audit Committee between 23rd December 2020 and 15^th January 2021.

The Service Director was pleased to note that the Audit Committee had indicated an overall sound base of knowledge and proposed the following areas to form the basis of a learning and development programme moving forward:

• Audit Committee Role and Functions;

• Internal Audit;

• External Audit;

• Financial Management and Accounting;

• Risk Management;

• Counter Fraud; and

• Values of Good Governance.

The Service Director advised that subject to the Committee‘s approval, Officers would begin to draft a learning and development plan for consideration at the next meeting of the Audit Committee. It was explained that officers would be flexible with the programme and consider whether elements of the training would be delivered internally or externally; and dependent on Member needs, consider whether to deliver elements of the training in short summarised sessions, detailed overviews or one to one support sessions. The Service Director added that it would be beneficial to firstly prioritise those areas where Members had indicated little or no knowledge.

One Member proposed that it would be beneficial for training on areas such as Financial Management and Accounting, Risk Management, Counter Fraud, and Values of Good Governance to be open to the Finance and Performance Scrutiny Committee for good practice, to which the Service Director agreed.

The Audit Committee RESOLVED to approve learning and development areas and instruct officers to draft a learning and development plan for consideration by Audit Committee at its next meeting.