Agenda and minutes

Special Meeting, Audit and Governance Committee - Tuesday, 26th February 2013 6.30 pm

Venue: Education Centre, Folk Museum, Gloucester GL1 2JS (please access via rear entrance on Quay Street). View directions

Contact: Parvi Diyar Democratic Services Officer

Items
No.	Item
1.	Declarations of Interest View the background to item 1. To receive from Members, declarations of the existence of any disclosable pecuniary, or non-pecuniary, interests and the nature of those interests in relation to any agenda item. Please see Agenda Notes. Minutes: There were no declarations of interest.
2.	Public Question Time (15 minutes) View the background to item 2. To receive any questions from members of the public provided that a question does not relate to: · Matters which are the subject of current or pending legal proceedings, or · Matters relating to employees or former employees of the Council or comments in respect of individual Council Officers Minutes: There were no questions from members of the public.
3.	Petitions and Deputations (15 minutes) View the background to item 3. To receive any petitions and deputations provided that no such petition is in relation to: · Matters relating to individual Council Officers, or · Matters relating to current or pending legal proceedings Minutes: There were no petitions or deputations.
4.	Report by KPMG to those charged with Governance (ISA 260) View the background to item 4. Verbal report Minutes: The Corporate Director of Resources provided an update on the Statement of Accounts 2011/12 and the Council’s response to the ISA 260 report. The Director reminded members about the genesis of the situation, based on his review of the draft financial statements in June and his decision not to sign the draft accounts off following that review until he was satisfied that the accounts had been adequately prepared and corrected and to inform the external audit team. Members would recall the previous report by KPMG, which outlined that the committee members had been misled as to the level of preparedness of the annual statement, and the prompt action that had been taken by the Director to rectify this situation. This action included instigating disciplinary processes and ensuring an interim team be properly established. The Corporate Director of Resources reminded members of his statutory and professional responsibilities to ensure that if issues are indentified, it is essential that they are corrected and processes put right for the future, which was the task given to the interim team. He explained that it has been essential that the team deliver those corrections, and take the appropriate time to do so, rather than rushing to produce a statement. The interim team had been tasked with reviewing all processes and ‘lifting every stone’ to ensure that the year-end routines were carried out thoroughly in partnership with the external audit team at KPMG. In doing so, this resulted in adjustments not just to 2011/12, but also to prior years including 2009/10 and 2010/11. Whilst this process inevitably therefore took longer to conclude, the Director stressed the importance of ensuring the timescale was secondary to ensuring that the tasks were completed thoroughly and properly. Having gone through such a comprehensive process, he explained it was now crucial for the council to benefit from all the recent work, to ensure that there are improved processes and procedures going forwards. This was essential to ensure that the council is able to move forward with confidence in terms of both financial planning and accounting, to ensure there is a better base to work from than ever before. He explained that this would continue to take more work by the interim team, which would be maintained and overlapped with recruitment to the currently vacant posts within financial services. He outlined the responses to the issues raised in the ISA 260 report, which included all of the issues that had been identified during the audit process, many of which were either identified by the interim team, by the team in conjunction with KPMG and by KPMG themselves. The comprehensive responses would provide members with some assurance that many of the recommendations are either already in place or actions are underway to complete them. The Director explained that an action plan was already being produced, based on the ISA 260 recommendations and the management responses - and that Audit and Governance committee members may wish to monitor the implementation of that action plan ... view the full minutes text for item 4.
5.	2011/12 Statement of Accounts PDF 107 KB View the background to item 5. To consider a report of the Corporate Director of Resources Additional documents: Appendix 1 , item 5. PDF 2 MB Appendix 2 , item 5. PDF 113 KB Minutes: The Audit and Governance Committee were presented with a report from the external auditors, KPMG, and their opinion on the Council’s Statement of Accounts and were asked to approve the final version of the Statement of Accounts 2011/12, including changes arising as a result of the audit process. The covering report outlined the Council’s key accounts and balances and the ISA 260 report highlighted the audit adjustments in item 3 of the agenda. RESOLVED (1) That subject to the minor adjustments discussed at the meeting, the audited Statement of Accounts for the year ending 31 March 2012 is approved. (2) That the Corporate Director of Resources and the Chair of the Audit and Governance Committee be authorised to sign a letter of representation on behalf of the Committee and Council to KPMG, to enable the audit opinion to be issued.