Agenda item

To consider the report of the Head of Audit Risk Assurance updating Members of the Internal Audit activity progress in relation to the approved Internal Audit Plan 2016/17.

PLEASE NOTE:  Appendix 2 contains exempt information as defined in paragraph 2 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act (as amended).  If Members wish to discuss material contained within this appendix it will be necessary to notify the Chair to enable a resolution to be passed to exclude the press and public.

The Committee considered the report of the Head of Audit Risk Assurance updating Members of the Internal Audit activity progress in relation to the approved Internal Audit Plan 2016/17.

In response to Councillor Stephen’s query regarding appendix 2 of the report being classified as exempt, the Head of Audit Risk Assurance advised Members that the report had been deemed to be exempt as it contained information relating to staff that would make it possible for individuals to be identified.

Councillor Stephens expressed concern that members of the public were being excluded from discussions relating to Marketing Gloucester Limited (MGL) that were of public interest and queried whether a revised version of appendix 2, excluding information relating to staff could be made public.

The Council Solicitor and Deputy Monitoring Officer confirmed that the Committee were able to debate the content of Appendix 2 of the report in public session provided that information relating to staff was not disclosed. She reported that a public version of Appendix 2 would be appended to the minutes of the meeting.

Councillor Stephens expressed disappointment at the lack of progress made with implementing the recommendations as set out in the original MGL audit. Referencing the loan of £97,000, Councillor Stephens queried the purpose and terms of agreement for the loan and questioned whether it was appropriate for the Council to subsidise a private company.

The Head of Audit Risk Assurance advised Members that since the publication of the agenda the Memorandum of Articles of Association, Members Agreement and the Contract for Services had been signed and sealed by both parties. She commented that the secondment agreement for the relevant staff members was currently being drafted and results of the MGL Value for Money (VFM) would aim to be shared with the Committee at the September 2017 meeting.

The Management Accountant confirmed that MGL had access to external funding generated from a number of sources, including entry fees for events like the Tall Ships Festival. He noted that the loan to MGL had been granted to help cover the company’s initial start-up costs.

In response to Councillor Stephens’ query, the Management Accountant and Council Solicitor confirmed that formal clarification on the purpose and terms of agreement for the loan to MGL would be provided to the Committee.

The Chair noting the Head of Audit Risk Assurance’s comments, requested that the MGL VFM Audit be scheduled into the Audit and Governance Work Programme for the September 17 Committee meeting.  The Head of Audit Risk Assurance reported that Internal Audit team aimed to report back to the Committee at September 2017 meeting but acknowledged that appropriate time needed to have passed, post implementation of the recommendations, before the audit could be conducted.

Councillor Wilson expressed disappointment that the Memorandum of Articles of Association and other agreements had only been agreed and signed the previous week. Referencing performance monitoring of the MGL governance arrangements within the report, he queried whether the VFM audit would also review progress in relation to this.  The Head of Audit Risk Assurance advised that the VFM audit would review progress against all the recommendations put forward within the original audit report.

The Chair requested that the Committee’s request for a review of the MGL governance arrangements as part of the MGL VFM audit be recorded in the Audit and Governance Committee Work Programme.

RESOLVED:

1.    Progress against the Internal Audit Plan 2016/17 be accepted;

2.    Current progress taken to date in relation to the recommendations made within the Marketing Gloucester Ltd audit review (Appendix 2) be noted; and

3.    Assurance opinions provided in relation to the effectiveness of the Council’s control environment comprising risk management, control and governance arrangements as a result of the Internal Audit activity completed to date be noted.