To confirm the minutes of the Audit and Risk Committee held on 11 July 2017 and the special meeting held on 30 August 2017.

The minutes of the Audit and Risk Committee held on 11 July 2017 and the special meeting held on 30 August 2017 were confirmed and signed by the Chairman.

There were no matters arising.

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.

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

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.

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

To consider any questions received from Members of the Council in accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rule 95.

There were no questions received from Members.

To consider any Notices of Motion from Members submitted under Procedure Rule 97.

There were no notices of motion received from Members.

To receive Report No. 157/2017 from the Director for Resources

NOTE: The Accounts and Audit (England) Regulations 2015 require the approval of the Statement of Accounts by 30 September. This date falls within the period normally allowed for Members to refer a committee decision to the Council. In accordance with Procedure Rule 110(7), the Committee will be asked to decide that the matter is of such urgency that no referral of the Committee’s decision should be allowed.

Report No. 157/2017 was received from Mr Della Rocca. The report presented the statutory Statement of Accounts (SoA) 2016/17 in the form prescribed by regulation (Appendix A) to meet the statutory requirement for the Council to approve and publish its annual statement of accounts by 30 September 2017.

During discussion the following points were noted:

a)    No requests were received from the public to view or comment on the accounts by either the Council or the Auditors.

b)    Members were reminded that these accounts were for the 2016/17 year not the current year..

c)    Note 32. Contingent Liabilities referred to an ongoing compensation claim. Since the draft statements were published the Council had agreed to settle the claim and payment would be made in September 2017. In accounting terms, the change in circumstances means that the Statement of Accounts could be adjusted to reflect the latest position.  The Assistant Director – Finance proposed not to amend the Statement of Accounts principally on the grounds of materiality but that the settlement of this case would be shown in the 2017/18 management and statutory accounts.  The Committee agreed this position and noted the issue on a list of uncorrected misstatements to be attached to the Management Representation letter. 

RESOLVED

The Committee APPROVED the Statement of Accounts for 2016/17 at Appendix A including the Annual Governance Statement.

To receive Report No. 178/2017 from the Director for Resources.

Report No. 178/2017 was received from Mr Della Rocca. The external auditors report to those charged with governance was appended to this report. The report informed the Committee on matters arising from the audit of the financial statements and the results of the work undertaken to assess the Council’s arrangements to secure value for money in its use of resources.

During discussion the following points were noted:

a)    Publication date for the 2017/18 financial statements had been brought forward from 30 September to 31 July 2018.

b)    A revised Appendix A - Letter of Representation which listed the uncorrected misstatements was circulated for approval by the Committee.

RESOLVED

1. The Committee RECEIVED the External Auditors Report and CONSIDERED any issues arising; and
2. APPROVED the revised letter of representation (attached) which was signed by the Chair of the Committee and the S151 Officer (Assistance Director – Finance).
3. The Committee DELEGATED power to the S151 Officer and Chairman to sign the accounts in the event that there were further minor adjustments due to external circumstances.

To receive Report No 161/2017 from the Director for Resources.

Report No. 161/2017 was received from Mr Della Rocca. The report provided an overview of any fraud related activity, which had affected Rutland County Council during the period 2016/17. The report also sought to provide assurance regarding the Council’s resilience against the risk of fraud. The report was provided in accordance with the Committee’s Terms of Reference to provide assurance of the adequacy of the risk management framework and control environment.

During discussion the following points were noted:

a)    Mr Della Rocca confirmed the risks were reviewed regularly and those with review dates of the end of August had been reviewed since the report was created.

b)    Members sought clarification that robust controls/audits were in place surrounding the external hosting of the Agresso system.  Mr Della Rocca confirmed the Council received quarterly assurance statements which were periodically reviewed.

c)    Mr Merry confirmed that the Council did carry out payroll functions for the parishes and that any changes were notified from the chairman of the parish with signed minutes to support the change.

RESOLVED

1. The Committee ENDORSED the content of the annual fraud report; and
2. NOTED the arrangements in pace to mitigate the risk of fraud against Rutland County Council.

To receive Report No. 177/2017 from the Head of Internal Audit.

Report No. 177/2017 was received from Mrs Epps. The purpose of the report was to update Members on the progress made in delivering the 2017/18 Annual Audit Plan and outcomes from audit assignments completed since the last Committee meeting.

During discussion the following points were noted:

a)    Members requested the Annual Audit Plan recommendations table be separated by directorate.

RESOLVED

The Committee NOTED the Internal Audit Update report (Appendix A)

To receive a verbal update from the Director for Resources.

Mr Della Rocca confirmed there had been no use of the regulation of investigatory powers since the last committee meeting.

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

The Chair confirmed the next training session would take place before the meeting of the Committee in January at 6pm. The Committee agreed to take a further training session before the April Meeting on the subject of risk.

Invites for both of the training session in January and April would be extended to all Council Members.