Agenda and minutes
Venue: Civic Centre, Windmill Street, Gravesend, Kent
Contact: Committee Section
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Apologies for absence Minutes: An apology of absence was received from Cllr Colin Caller. Cllr Rob Halpin substituted.
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Minutes: The minutes of the meeting on the Wednesday, 15 November 2017 were signed by the Chair.
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Declarations of Interest Minutes: Cllr John Burden declared two interests with regard to the item Budget Monitoring Report 2017/18 – Quarter Three:
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Presentation from Property Fund Managers Minutes: Members of the Committee were provided with a presentation that detailed an overview of the Property Fund market and gave them the opportunity to ask questions of one of the Council’s Fund Managers, Hermes. (A presentation booklet was handed out to each Committee Member).
The Chair thanked Gareth Davies for his informative presentation.
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Budget Monitoring Report 2017/18 - Quarter Three Additional documents:
Minutes: Members were provided with information on actual performance against the approved Revenue and Capital budgets for 2017/18, including known variances agreed or identified through budgetary control activity. Members were also updated on other key areas of financial performance that may impact on the Council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy, Medium Term Financial Plan, HRA Business Plan or Financial Statements.
The Principal Accountant (General Fund) and the Principal Accountant (Housing & Exchequer) elaborated further on their respective fields outlined in the executive summary on page 12 of the report. Key points from the report were outlined to Members as follows:
General Fund
Housing Revenue Account
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Treasury Management Strategy Statement 2018-19 Additional documents: Minutes: Members considered the Treasury Management Strategy 2018/19, the Annual Investment Strategy and the Minimum Revenue Provision Policy.
The Principal Accountant highlighted the following key points from the report:
· For the same period, the actual debt is less than the Capital Finance Requirement which means we have an under borrowed position. You will see that the under borrowing position is increasing, this reflects the internal borrowing that we have undertaken for the Commercial Property Acquisition within the capital · At 18.3, the report was prepared prior to the Bank of England’s most recent guidance on interest rates. As a result Link have also revised their interest rate forecast to the following:
- 2018/19 0.80% - 2019/20 1.25% - 2020/21 1.50% - 2021/22 1.65% - Rates remain the same for years 2022/23 onwards.
· As with the 2017/18 Treasury Management Strategy we have included two cash flow graphs for Member information which can be found at appendix 7 and 8 of the document.
Resolved that Members recommend to Full Council that:
1) The Treasury Management Strategy for 2018/19 be agreed
2) The Authority’s Prudential & Treasury Indicators be determined as set out in the report
3) Delegated authority be given to the Director of Corporate Services, in consultation with the Chair of the Finance and Audit Committee, to amend the prudential and treasury indicators as necessary as a result of the budget approved by Full Council on 27th February 2018
4) The Annual Investment Strategy (AIS) for 2018/19 be agreed
5) The application of the Asset Life (Equal Instalments Methodology) for Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) calculation on all new capital expenditure be approved for 2018/19 and beyond in accordance with the Authority’s Capital Programme
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Corporate Risk Register 2018-19 Additional documents:
Minutes:
Members of the Finance and Audit Committee were informed of the outcomes from Gravesham Borough Council's annual risk identification and analysis exercise and were presented with a draft copy of the Corporate Risk Register for 2018-2019. The report confirmed that there were no material changes required to the Corporate Risk Management Strategy.
The Assistant Director (Corporate Services) advised that following assessment of the potential strategic risks identified, those assessed as being above the council’s risk tolerance threshold and therefore proposed for inclusion in the 2018-19 Corporate Risk Register were identified as being:
Resolved that Members were in agreement with the inclusion of the above seven risks for the Corporate Risk Register 2018-2019.
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Audit & Counter Fraud Update - Q3 2017-18 Additional documents: Minutes: Members were provided with an update on the work, outputs and performance of the Audit & Counter Fraud Team for the period 1 October 2017 to 31 December 2017.
The Head of Audit & Counter Fraud Shared Service stated that:
Section 6 outlines a formal recommendation to remove one review from the plan and defer a second to 2018-19:
Resolved that Members:
1) Noted the outputs and performance of the Audit & Counter Fraud Plan for Gravesham for the period 1 October 2017 to 31 December 2017 as detailed at Appendix two.
2) Approved the amendments to the 2017-18 work plan as detailed in section 6 of the report at Appendix two.
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Audit & Counter Fraud Strategy Review Additional documents: Minutes: The Head of Audit & Counter Fraud Shared Service gave an update on progress against the Audit & Counter Fraud Strategy 2016-2020 made by the team during 2017-18 to date.
A review of the strategy and of action carried out to date against the three objectives listed in pages 183/4 of the report has been carried out. The Strategy is considered to remain appropriate with good progress made as shown by the positive trends in the team’s performance reported through the Finance & Audit Committee; there are no changes proposed to the objectives.
Resolved that Members noted the progress made by the Audit & Counter Fraud Team towards delivering its strategic objectives during the 2017-18 year to date.
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Audit & Counter Fraud Quality Assurance & Improvement Programme Review Additional documents: Minutes: The Audit & Counter Fraud Shared Service Quality Assurance & Improvement Programme 2018-19 was presented to Members for approval.
The Public Sector Internal Audit Standards (Standards) require that the chief audit executive must develop and maintain a quality assurance and improvement programme that covers all aspects of the internal audit activity.
On 14 March 2017, the Finance & Audit Committee approved the Quality Assurance & Improvement Programme (QAIP) prepared to meet this requirement. The main change is the layout of the table containing the performance measures. It is still based on a balanced scorecard approach, however the performance indicators are now grouped under to reflect those that relate to the service as a whole and those that relate to the individual authorities.
The Standards require an external assessment to be carried out at least once every five years by a qualified assessor or assessment team from outside the organisation. Gateway Assure visited both GBC and Medway in January for site visits as part of their assessment, which is now complete in compliance with the deadline set for 31 March 2018. A draft report will be received in the coming weeks with the findings presented at the next Finance & Audit Committee.
Resolved that Members approved the revised Audit & Counter Fraud Shared Service Quality Assurance & Improvement Programme 2018-19.
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Additional documents: Minutes: Members were informed of the planned work of the external auditor in conducting their audit of the council’s Statement of Accounts 2017-18.
The External Auditor, Grant Thornton advised that the report is in a slightly different format than previously but Members will be familiar with the content; on page 211 it snapshots the key elements of the work plan and it confirms the outcome of the risk assessment for value of money, the conclusion being that no VFM significant risks have been identified. The final paragraph of the report explains the independence of the external auditors and their ability to express an objective opinion on the financial statements.
Following a question regarding the risks contained within the Audit Plan and Medway privatising their shared service without GBC knowing, the External Auditor responded that there should be transparent communication between the two authorities and it was unusual, but this was not classified as a significant risk for the type of audit that is carried out.
Resolved that Members noted the audit plan for 2017-18.
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