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Council and councillors

Agenda and minutes

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Items
No. Item

544.

MINUTES

To confirm the minutes of the Audit and Risk Committee held on 20th September 2016.

Minutes:

The minutes of the Audit and Risk Committee held on 20th September 2016 were confirmed and signed by the Chairman.

 

MATTERS ARISING

 

Minute number 288 – The Director for Places addressed the questions raised at the previous meeting regarding Taxi Driver licensing.

 

a)  Convictions of Indecency Offences – If a taxi driver licence application comes through with an indecency conviction the application would go before the Development Control & Licensing Committee for consideration as each application has to be considered on its own merits. If an existing taxi driver licence holder is convicted of an indecency offence a multi-agency approach is already in place and the Council should be informed. The information would flow to the designated officer and again would go before the Development Control & Licensing Committee for consideration.

 

b)  Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) Training for drivers – It is a requirement for new drivers to undertake the CSE training, however Rutland County Council cannot withhold a licence if the applicant fails to complete the CSE training as the advice was that the test is not relevant to the ‘fit and proper’ person test. The Director for Places will be entering into discussions with the new Portfolio Holder for Transport regarding driver’s engagement in CSE training.

 

 

545.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

In accordance with the Regulations, Members are invited to declare any disclosable interests under the Code of Conduct and the nature of those interests in respect of items on this Agenda and/or indicate if Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 applies to them.

Minutes:

There were no Declarations of Interest in respect of items on the agenda.

 

546.

PETITIONS, DEPUTATIONS AND QUESTIONS

To receive any petitions, deputations and questions received from Members of the Public in accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rule 217.

 

The total time allowed for this item shall be 30 minutes. Petitions, declarations and questions shall be dealt with in the order in which they are received. Questions may also be submitted at short notice by giving a written copy to the Committee Administrator 15 minutes before the start of the meeting.

 

The total time allowed for questions at short notice is 15 minutes out of the total time of 30 minutes. Any petitions, deputations and questions that have been submitted with prior formal notice will take precedence over questions submitted at short notice. Any questions that are not considered within the time limit shall receive a written response after the meeting and be the subject of a report to the next meeting.

Minutes:

No Petitions, Deputations or Questions had been received from members of the public.

 

547.

External Audit Update pdf icon PDF 58 KB

To receive Report No. 21/2017 from the Director for Resources

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Report No. 21/2017 was received from the Assistant Director (Finance). The purpose of which was to update the Committee on the outcome of grants certification work for 2015/16 and to outline the approach to the external audit for 2016/17.

 

During the discussion the following points were noted

 

      i.        Clarification was given that the Medium Term Financial Plan was highlighted as an area of focus at all local authorities rather than just Rutland given the financial pressures and uncertainties facing the local government sector.

 

RESOLVED

 

The Committee NOTED the update from the external auditors, KPMG LLP

 

548.

Internal Audit Update pdf icon PDF 73 KB

To receive Report No. 27/2017 from the Head of Internal Audit

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Report No. 27/2017 was received from the Head of Internal Audit. The purpose of the report was to update Members on the progress made in delivering the 2016/17 Annual Audit Plan and key findings arising from the audit assignments completed since the last Committee meeting.

 

During the discussion the following points were noted

 

      i.        Both schools visited for audits of financial management were maintained schools, including community or voluntary aided schools, as Internal Audit were unable to assess academies.

 

a) Fostering – Limited Assurance

      i.        It was confirmed that the use of the term ‘illegal placement’ was made as specific timescales and processes had not been followed.  It did denote that that the child placed was at significant risk.

    ii.        It was clarified that following the Internal Audit review and the process failures noted, the Head of Service had since reviewed the remaining 31 foster carer’s cases (outside of those tested by audit). 

   iii.        Regular multi agency meetings were being held to monitor processes surrounding Children Looked After (CLA).

   iv.        The recruitment process was working and the team are consistently replacing agency posts with permanent placements.

    v.        Ofsted report was due to be published on 13 February 2017. A more comprehensive plan that sat under the 6 recommendations and also incorporated the Ofsted recommendations had been prepared and would be brought to the next meeting of the Audit & Risk Committee.

   vi.        Members agreed the report would be shared with the Chair of the Local Children’s Safeguarding Board and Children’s Scrutiny Panel due to the element of children’s safeguarding contained in the report, and that a draft action plan would be considered together.

  vii.        It was confirmed that the action points due to be completed by the end of January 2017 would be completed by the end of February 2017.

viii.        Members were assured that Liquidlogic was now in place, processes were being followed and the management team were able to review reports.

 

ACTIONS

 

It was AGREED that Dr T O’Neill - Director for People and Deputy Chief Executive would take the report and proposal to the Chair of the Local Children’s Safeguarding Board and Children’s Scrutiny Panel; and Dr T O’Neill would attend the next Audit & Risk Committee meeting to provide an update and the action plan.

 

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Mr J Lammie left the meeting at 8.30pm

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b)  Development Control – Substantial Assurance

    i.          Members raised concerns that there was not a Conservation Officer in post.  Various comments not related to the internal audit review were made regarding the Planning Service. The Chair indicated that she would raise these with the Chair of the Places Scrutiny Panel.

 

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Ms R Wilshire left the meeting at 8.45pm

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a)  SEN Transport – Sufficient Assurance

    i.          Members raised concerns that discussions with parents and schools had not been consistently completed before changes effected.

   ii.          A detailed transformation for the SEN team had commenced with every area of work under review and the results would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 548.

549.

Internal Audit Planning 2017/18 pdf icon PDF 79 KB

To receive Report No. 26/2017 from the Head of Internal Audit

Minutes:

Report No. 26/2017 was received from the Head of Internal Audit. The purpose of the report was to advise Members on the process being followed to develop the Internal Audit Plan for 2017/18 and listed the initial areas proposed for consideration subject to risk assessment and prioritisation. Members were also invited to highlight any areas where they required assurance from the Internal Audit team during the next financial year.

The report asked that Members delegated authority to the Assistant Director (Finance) in consultation with the Chair of the Committee to approve the audit plan for 2017/18 prior to 1 April 2017. Changes to the audit plan could still be made throughout the year as the need arose.

 

Following discussion, a potential review of affordable housing was agreed to be added for consideration.  Consultancy support on the establishment of the Barleythorpe business centre was also added, in light of recommendations made on the Oakham Enterprise Park in 2015/16.

 

AGREED

 

Members agreed to review the list of initial areas highlighted for potential coverage in the Internal Audit Plan 2017/18 and email suggestions to the Chair to provide a consolidated list of areas to Internal Audit.

 

RESOLVED

 

a)    The Committee NOTED the process being followed to develop the risk based Audit Plan for 2017/18

 

b)    The Committee NOTED the initial areas highlighted for potential coverage in the Internal Audit Plan 2017/18 and advised on any areas where the Committee sought assurance from the Internal Audit team during the year ahead.

 

c)    The Committee AGREED to delegate authority to the Assistant Director (Finance) in consultation with the Chair of the Committee to approve the Initial Audit Plan for 2017/18

 

550.

ANY OTHER URGENT BUSINESS

To receive items of urgent business which have previously been notified to the person presiding.

Minutes:

The Committee agreed training on Public Sector Network Compliance would be included at a future pre-meeting training session.