Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 23 November 2011, which was open to the press and public, be confirmed and signed as a true record of the proceedings.

Councillor Mallory declared a personal non prejudicial interest as the Chair of the Management Committee of Abbey Manor College.

The Chair declared a personal non prejudicial interest as the Director of a Limited Company.

Richard King declared a personal non prejudicial interest as the Director of a Limited Company.

Sue Exton, District Auditor, Audit Commission introduced the report. She said that members had requested to be informed of the arrangements that would be put in place to ensure that the 2011/12 Audit report would be delivered on time. She drew members attention to a list of things the Executive Director for Resources and Regeneration and her team, and the External Auditors had agreed following a meeting to ensure the process goes smoothly.

Sue Exton added that as a result of additional work that the External Auditors had to do the Council was charged extra fees. She said the Interim Audit was underway and would be completed by the next Audit Panel meeting. Sue Exton said that they were meeting with the Resources team regularly to monitor progress against the final accounts closedown plan. These meetings would ensure that potential problems would be flagged up earlier in the process, and would give parties time to deal with them. It was noted that the value for money conclusion should be completed within the next few months. 

Geoffrey Banister, Audit Manager informed members that Lewisham received income from grant paying Departments and the Audit Commission had to review and certify  them. He added that there were conditions attached to these grants and the Council has to show that they have met these conditions otherwise the funding would be at risk. He informed the Panel that there had been some reduction in the number of grant claims that needed to be certified for the Council.

Councillor Mallory asked why the fees charged for this year’s grant claims were £30k higher than last year’s even though the number of claims had dropped. It was noted that there were a number of slippages and delays in the paperwork, caused by  government departments. Geoffrey Banister informed members Geoffrey Banister, Audit Manager informed members that Lewisham received income from grant paying Departments and the Audit Commission had to review and certify  them. He added that there were conditions attached to these grants and the Council has to show that they have met these conditions otherwise the funding would be at risk. He informed the Panel that there had been some reduction in the number of grant claims that needed to be certified for the Council.

Councillor Mallory asked why the fees charged for this year’s grant claims were £30k higher than last year’s even though the number of claims had dropped. It was noted that there were a number of slippages and delays in the paperwork, caused by  government departments. Geoffrey Banister informed members that he had done a successful workshop for grant officers last Spring and would be doing the same this year.

Sue Exton informed the Panel that following plans for the Audit Commission’s work to be externalised, they would be transferring to Grant Thornton (UK) LLP, from 1 November 2012. She added that the Code of Practice would remain the same and the 2011/12 accounts would be completed under the current Audit  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

The Head of Business Management and Service Support introduced the report. Councillor Mallory raised concerns about some of the areas which had been brought forward in the timetable especially for schools. The Head of Business Management and Service Support informed the Panel that officers have a very good working relationship with the schools and they would try to keep within the timetable. Councillor Mallory asked what would be done about the review of PFI schools and was told that the information would be sent to the Auditors sooner to make them aware of what would be going into the accounts. The Head of Business Management and Service Support said that this was a complex area but officers  intended to  prepare the accounts before the June Panel meeting.              

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

The Interim Head of Audit & Risk introduced a report of three parts; the progress report, the performance of the Internal Audit Contractor and the Audit Plan for 2012/13. Councillor Mallory said that he was concerned that the Internal Audit contractors were not meeting the agreed targets. He added that earlier in the financial year the situation had been the same and it seemed as if the service was getting worse instead of improving. Councillor Mallory said that he was concerned that the shortfall would never be addressed in time for the deadline. He enquired whether a penalty would be levied. The Interim Head of Audit & Risk said that the Council had not yet considered penalties, but would be putting down clear ultimatums in April and discussing priorities of the remaining plan that were to be delivered. 

The Chair said he understood the contract was renewed recently and sometimes slippages could occur during renewals. Councillor Mallory said if there was not any immediate sanctions then an improvement plan should be put in place. The Interim Head of Audit & Risk said that monitoring was ongoing, and an annual improvement plan is a condition of the contract and would be put into place before the next report to the Panel. Mike Robinson said that although he recognised that the Director of Internal Audit (Contractor) had assured members that he would put things right, the performance was still poor. He added that there were assurances earlier in the financial year that things would be put right by the year end, but improvement had not been made. Mike Robinson said that with the impending budget cuts over the next 2 years it was doubtful how improvement would be made.

The Chair said that he had also noted that the figures were worse than the previous year, with a lower standard achieved. The Director of Internal Audit (Contractor) said it was his responsibility to deliver the plan and he would work on this. The Executive Director for Resources and Regeneration said that a similar discussion had been held with the contractor prior to the Audit Panel and she had raised similar concerns with the Director of Internal Audit (Contractor), and to his credit he had not made any excuses but had given assurances that their performance would improve in the coming year and they aimed to deliver the plan. The Chair said although the Panel had been assured that additional resources have been provided to ensure the plan was delivered, something unexpected could happen which might delay things, as in the past.

The Director of Internal Audit (Contractor) said that he was aware that they needed to plan better for the future, but because there have been a lot of restructuring within the organisation, this had impacted on the plan. Following further discussion the Executive Director for Resources and Regeneration said she understood members’ concerns, and highlighted that over the last year, officers had to deal with both internal organisational changes, plus the new IFRS systems  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

The Interim Head of Audit & Risk introduced the report. He highlighted that that work was ongoing and to date the team had more referrals and cases than the previous year. The team was concentrating on more serious cases rather than volume, and this was putting more demands on staff in the Legal Section. The Interim Head of Audit & Risk informed members that there was no current urgency for transfer of staff as the Department for Works and Pensions has confirmed that Benefit Investigators would continue to be employed by local authorities beyond 2013.

The Interim Head of Audit & Risk said that officers were being proactive rather than reactive and although more training would be necessary, the Council was getting value for money. Councillor Mallory said that some of these success stories outlined in the report should be communicated to the public. The Interim Head of Audit & Risk said that all successful prosecutions are reported on the Council’s website and there was an ongoing poster campaign. The Chair said that Panel members were expecting to see a report from Lewisham Homes at the next Panel meeting.

RESOLVED that;

i.                    that the report be noted.

ii.                  that a report from Lewisham Homes be brought to the next Audit Panel.

RESOLVED that under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local

Government Act 1972, the press and public be

excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 3, 4 and 5 of Part 1 of Schedule 12(A) of the Act as amended by the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements)(Access to Information) Amendments (England) Regulations  2006:-

The following is a summary of the items considered in the closed part of the meeting:

The Minutes of the last closed meeting was agreed.

Update Report to the Audit Panel on the payment of Consultants & Senior Interims

RESOLVED that:

i.    the report be noted.                                          

ii.   an open update be brought to the Panel in November.

Meeting ended: 9:30pm.