Issue - meetings

(a)       That the report be noted;

(b)       That a report on Council banking arrangements be included on the Committee’s Forward Work Programme;

(c)        That the Internal Audit Manager provide the Committee with a copy of the final report on Leisure Centre Income;

(d)       That the Internal Audit Manager amend the Recommendation Tracking report to read Recommendation Implementation;

(e)       That the Chief Executive discuss with Councillor Attridge the suggestion for relevant Cabinet Members to be involved in responding to outstanding recommendations; and

(f)         That the Head of Finance be invited to respond to outstanding recommendations for her section at a future meeting.

The Internal Audit Manager presented the update report on progress of the Internal Audit department.  On the Operational Plan for 2012/13, he advised that most projects had been completed and gave an update on the status of the remaining 20 draft reports, including seven which were awaiting management responses.  Three of these, relating to Finance, Risk Management and Lifelong Learning, had exceeded the time period and reasons were given for the delay in each case.

Councillor P.G. Heesom said that minutes of previous Audit Committee meetings had highlighted concerns on tracking.  The Chair spoke of efforts by Mr. P. Williams on the reporting of tracking recommendations.  The Internal Audit Manager explained that this section dealt with responses to draft reports rather than recommendation tracking, which featured later in the report.

In response to remarks about the outstanding response from Lifelong Learning which had been due to an oversight by a manager, the Head of Finance said that a deadline date would be needed for this, however officers were keen to improve the recommendation tracking process and there was no complacency in pursuing managers.

Councillor G.S. Banks felt that managers should justify reasons for their delayed responses to reports for their own areas.  The Internal Audit Manager agreed that this should be the case where there was an issue, however he was satisfied that the example mentioned had been due to an oversight.  The Chief Executive suggested that on larger reports, it may be more beneficial for the Auditor to arrange an appointment with the relevant manager to agree a response before the deadline.

Outcomes of reports which had been finalised since last reported to the Committee indicated two at ‘Red’ assurance level, details of which were appended to the report.

On Petty Cash Imprest Accounts, Councillor I.B. Roberts referred to the impact on schools in Flint and Queensferry of the closure of two local branches of Nat West bank and asked if alternative arrangements would be made in light of the agreement made for school banking service provision.  The Head of Finance said it had been unfortunate that the Council had only received notice of the closures at a late stage and that arrangements had been made with Nat West for users to access alternative services.  She confirmed that the new arrangements had been communicated to establishments, with three responses still outstanding.  She went on to say that tendering of banking services would be undertaken in 2014, with a review of administration arrangements to consider more modern alternatives to petty cash handling and other banking arrangements.  There were no new proposals at this stage and any options would be subject to discussion.

Councillor Roberts asked if such a material change in branches of banks should have been communicated to the Council at an early stage and whether the tendering of banking services for schools could include provision of a viable network of branches in communities.  The Head of Finance agreed that early notification of changes was good practice and said  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11