Agenda and minutes
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Venue: Council Chamber, Civic Centre, Windmill Street, Gravesend DA12 1AU. View directions
Contact: Committee Section
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Apologies for absence Minutes:
Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Dibben (Cllr Hoskins substituted) and Cllr Jassal.
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To sign the minutes of the previous meeting. PDF 152 KB Minutes: The minutes of the meeting on Tuesday, 08 March 2022 were signed by the Chair.
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Declarations of Interest Minutes:
Cllr Gow declared an Other Significant Interest as an appointed Board Member of Rosherville Limited, the Council’s Local Authority Trading Company.
Cllr Hoskins declared an interest as his daughter was a lead officer at the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and was working on the Traveller Site Fund.
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General Fund Provisional Outturn Report PDF 410 KB Minutes: The Committee were presented with:
· The 2021/22 provisional General Fund Outturn Report, including movements in the General Fund working balances and earmarked reserves
· The 2021/22 provisional General Fund Capital Outturn
The Principal Accountant (General Fund) advised that the report was labelled as provisional as it was still subject to the external audit process and the receipt of the final audit opinion; any material changes made to the report that stemmed from that process would be brought to a future meeting of the Finance & Audit Committee.
The Principal Accountant (General Fund) drew Members attention to page 10 of the report which held an Executive Summary of the information in the report pertaining to the:
Members noted that the provisional outturn position for the year was an underspend of £256,690.
Members were taken through the report and updated on other key areas of financial performance that may impact on the Council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy, Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP), or Financial Statements.
The Committee noted the report.
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Housing Revenue Account Provisional Outturn Report PDF 545 KB Minutes: The Committee were presented with:
· The 2021/22 provisional Housing Revenue Account Outturn, including movements in the Housing Revenue Account working balances and earmarked reserves
· The 2021/22 provisional Housing Revenue Account Capital Outturn
The Principal Accountant (HRA & Exchequer) advised that the report was labelled as provisional as it was still subject to the external audit process and the receipt of the final audit opinion, any material changes made to the report that stemmed from that process would be brought to a future meeting of the Finance & Audit Committee.
The Principal Accountant (Housing & Exchequer) directed Members to page 32 of the report which held an Executive Summary of the information in the report pertaining to the:
Members noted that at the end of the financial year, income and expenditure for the year was balanced albeit with a contribution of £2.034m from reserves to fund revenue expenditure for the year.
Members were taken through the report and updated on other key areas of financial performance that may impact on the Councils HRA Business Plan.
The Principal Accountant (Housing & Exchequer) fielded questions from Members and explained that:
The Committee noted the report. |
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Annual Treasury Management Review 2021/22 PDF 609 KB Additional documents:
Minutes: The Committee received a report that informed them of treasury management activity during 2021-22 in accordance with the requirements of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA’s) revised code on Treasury Management.
The Principal Accountant (Housing & Exchequer) guided Members through each section of the report and outlined key information that pertained to treasury management activity during 2021/22.
The Principal Accountant (Housing & Exchequer) fielded questions from Members and explained that:
Resolved that Members:
the Chair of the Finance and Audit Committee, to amend the figures in the report, as necessary following successful completion of the final accounts process
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Annual Governance Statement 2021/22 PDF 384 KB Additional documents:
Minutes: The Committees approval was sought for the Councils Annual Governance Statement for the 2021-22 financial year.
The Assistant Director (Corporate Services) advised that Members were asked to note the findings of the review of the council’s governance arrangements for 2021-22. The review of the council’s governance framework and system of internal control for 2021-22 was conducted by the Strategic Policy Manager, in full consultation with the council’s AGS Assurance Group.The review was undertaken in accordance with the principles adopted by the council’s Code of Corporate Governance.
The Assistant Director (Corporate Services) explained that the Annual Governance Statement for 2021-22 was prepared against the findings of the annual review of governance and a copy of the statement, including a relevant action plan for consideration was attached in the appendices to the report.
The Assistant Director (Corporate Services) fielded questions from Members and explained that:
Resolved that Members:
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Internal Audit & Counter Fraud Annual Report PDF 204 KB Additional documents: Minutes: The Committee were provided with a report that informed them of the work completed during 2021-22 and were presented with the opinion of the Head of Internal Audit & Counter Fraud Shared Service, as Chief Audit Executive, on the council’s internal control environment.
The Head of Internal Audit & Counter Fraud advised that the Annual Report reproduced the findings detailed in the three update reports taken to previous F&A Committee meetings along with the results of work finalised since the last update, which provided Members with a summary of all work delivered by the team in the year.
The Head of Internal Audit & Counter Fraud guided Members through each section of the report and outlined key aspects of Internal Audit & Counter Fraud Teams work over the last year.
Members were directed to page 124 of the report which outlined Gravesham’s audit opinion by the Chief Audit Executive:
’It is my opinion that during the year ended 31 March 2022, Gravesham Borough Council’s risk management, system of internal control, and framework of governance, were sufficient and effective, and contributed to the proper, economic, efficient, and effective use of resources in achieving the council’s objectives.’
The Committee expressed their thanks to Head of Internal Audit & Counter Fraud for the comprehensive report and asked that their thanks be passed to the Internal Audit & Counter Fraud teams for their excellent work.
Resolved that Members:
Service for Gravesham during 2021-22 in providing an effective service to the council.
provided by the Head of Internal Audit & Counter Fraud Shared Service.
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Internal Audit & Counter Fraud Survey results PDF 221 KB Additional documents:
Minutes: The Committee were provided with a report that informed them of the results of the surveys aimed at identifying the level of satisfaction with the services provided by the Internal Audit & Counter Fraud Teams.
The Head of Internal Audit & Counter Fraud advised that the surveys were sent out to gauge satisfaction of the services, and they should be undertaken annually but the last survey was conducted at the end of 2018-19. Due to the impact of the covid pandemic, it was not possible to conduct the surveys at the end of 2019-20 and 2020-21.
The Head of Internal Audit & Counter Fraud directed Members to appendix two and three of the report which held the results satisfaction surveys for Internal Audit and Counter Fraud. The results of both surveys would form the baseline for future surveys.
The Head of Internal Audit & Counter Fraud asked Members to look at appendix two and outlined key points from the Internal Audit survey results.
The Head of Internal Audit & Counter Fraud fielded questions from Members and explained that:
The Head of Internal Audit & Counter Fraud asked Members to look at appendix three and outlined key points from the Counter Fraud survey results.
The Head of Internal Audit & Counter Fraud fielded questions from Members and explained that:
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Annual Report of the Audit Committee Chair PDF 211 KB Additional documents: Minutes: The Committee was provided with a report that gave Members information on the work of the Finance and Audit Committee during the year 2021/22.
The Chair advised that the report included testimony of officers and Members from the Committee, summaries of the items that were submitted to Committee meetings over the year, Member training and other key aspects.
The Chair thanked the Members and officers for their participation in the Finance & Audit Committee in 2021/22.
Resolved that Members:
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