Budget & Audit Scrutiny - Audit Sub - Committee

Action Sheet – 13th June 2005

Councillor J. Dawson (Chair) /  / Councillor R Lightup / A
Councillor K. Garrido /  / Councillor B. Pennington / A
Councillor J. Holt /  / Councillor J. Pooley / 
Councillor D. Jolley /  / Councillor A. Smyth / 

PresentApologies received A

Invitees and Officers: Nigel England and Clive Portman (Audit Commission) Russell Bernstein and Peter Kidd (Scrutiny Support) Don Simpson Andy Waine, (Audit & Risk Mgt.)

Item
Responsible Member
Officer / Discussion / Action
Required By / Timescale
Matters arising from the previous meeting / Following the last meeting the BVPI’s referred to Customer and Support Services Scrutiny have been considered satisfactorily. / June
Reports of the Audit Commission
Presented byClive Portman and Nigel England
The Audit & Inspection progress report June 2005 / The report updated members on progress against the 2004/2005 Inspection Plan.
The Plan is progressing well, a draft report on the review of internal audit is currently under discussion, fieldwork on the financial aspects of corporate governance is in progress, fieldwork on the Final Accounts commences in July and the opinion is due in October. / Nigel England / Regular reporting item
The Audit and Inspection Plan 2005/2006 / Clive introduced the recently agreed Plan for 2005/2006. Members were also updated on the consultation over the new methodology for the Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA).
Members challenged the fee and were reassured that the independent opinion on accounts and the review of use of resources were crucial to ensure Salford maintains its continuous improvement. The Audit Commission (AC) will continue to challenge the council, identify risks and provide advice to ensure that Salford is moving in the right direction.
The Corporate Assessment and the Joint Area Review of Children’s Services are taking place at the same time, in the first quarter of 2006.
The Direction of Travel Statement will be reported in December 2005 this will indicate the progress being made towards improvement.
The annual use of resources assessment, part of the revised CPA framework now has five elements. The council’s self-assessment of the Value For Money (VFM) element has to be completed by the end of July 2005. Audit fieldwork begins on the other elements namely, financial reporting, financial management, financial standing and internal control, in August. Draft scores will be available in November. The use of resources scores combines with the annual service assessments and the Corporate Assessment to give the CPA category.
The AC begin work with the council in September to review the introduction of the balanced scorecard approach to performance management to support and advise, to make sure improvements are secured.
The AC will give its opinion on the Best Value Performance Plan in Dec. / Nigel England / Regular reporting item
Reports of the Strategic Director of Customer & Support Services
Energy Management Activity March To May 2005. - presented by Jim Gosney. / Members were pleased to note the continuing and successful energy saving activity, the potential savings, following energy audit reports, were included in the report. It is noticeable that the savings reported will increase as prices increase.
Jim reported on the major increases on the public lighting electricity supply since the contract was last tendered, the new contract runs for 2 year from the 1st April.
Jim also reported on the advantages arising from the visit to the Energie-Cites Conference in April.
An update on the actions of the Green Revolution, a think tank, representative of AGMA authorities who are looking at sustainable energy, will come to the next meeting a report will be presented to Environmental Housing and Planning Scrutiny.
The successful outcome to the dispute with NPower was outlined, thanks to the efforts of the energy team and the Law and Admin Division. / Jim Gosney
Jim Gosney / Regular reporting item
September
Audit Activity - Reports issued March – May 2005 presented by Andy Waine and Peter Paddon / There were several summary reports to consider, some of which require further action.
A post implementation review of Salford Consortium revealed a confidence that there would not be a repeat of previous problems.
Significant progress has been made with the payroll system though a number of recommendations are to be implemented. Members raised an issue of problems with schools payroll, which officers were unaware of but will follow up with the Payroll Manager.
There were a number of themes arising from school audits summaries that will be followed up by Andy Waine with the Children’s Services senior accountant.
The committee also considered a number of post implementation reviews covering different aspects of IT. / Andy Waine
Andy Waine / Regular reporting item
July
July
Internal Audit Report 2004/2005 / This report looked at the past year outlining the role of Internal Audit, and its approach to work, the key influences on performance and the view of the Audit Commission. Performance exceeded the original target and local performance indicators showed excellent results. / Don Simpson / Annual Review
Internal Audit Plan outturn report 2004/05 / This report detailed progress against the Internal Audit Plan. / Annual item
Internal Audit Plan -revision to the Annual Plan 2005/2006 / This report outlined reason for changes made to the Annual Plan, which had been previously submitted to this committee, and the consequences following on from the changes. / Andy Waine / One off amendment
Internal Audit Plan 2005/2006 / This report brought the committee up to date with progress against the Plan so far this year; there were no anticipated problems preventing the unit from delivering its commitments. / Don Simpson / Regular reporting item
Part 2 Items
Completed Investigations / The Committee considered the completed investigations and reflected that the decline in the number of cases and the degree of severity is indicative of the excellent progress made by the Unit over recent years. / Julie Flanagan / Regular reporting item

The next meeting will take place on the 12th September at 9.30

Chair / Councillor J Dawson / 0161 793 5014
Assistant Director of Scrutiny / Russell Bernstein / 0161 793 3530
Scrutiny Support Officer / Peter Kidd / 0161 793 3322

1