Audit Committee - 23 March 2021

AUDIT COMMITTEE

NOTICE AND AGENDA

For a virtual/remote meeting to be held on Tuesday 23 March 2021 at 7.30pm.

Members of the Audit Committee:-

Councillors:-      Margaret Hofman (Chair)

Tony Humphreys

Joan King

Michael Revan      Keith Martin (Vice-Chair)

Dominic Sokalski

Shanti Maru

Joanne Wagstaffe, Chief Executive

15 March 2021

(The Local Authorities and Police and Crime Panels (Coronavirus) (Flexibility of Local Authority and Police and Crime Panel Meetings) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020 made under the Coronavirus Act 2020 enable Council/Committee meetings to be held in a virtual format and enables remote attendance.

The meeting starts at 7.30pm and will be virtual/remote meeting in that it will be conducted at no specific location and all participants are at various locations, communicating via audio and online.

The Council welcomes contributions from members of the public to its discussion on Part I agenda items at Committee meetings.  Contributions will be limited to one person speaking for and one against each item for not more than three minutes. Please note that in the event of registering your interest to speak on an agenda item but not taking up that right because the item is deferred, you will automatically be given the right to speak on that item at the next meeting of the Committee.  Details of the procedure are provided below:

Members of the public wishing to speak will be entitled to register and identify which Part I report they wish to speak on from the published agenda for the remote meeting.  Those who wish to register to speak must do so by notifying the Committee Team by e-mail 48 hours before the meeting. The first 2 people to register (1 for and 1 against) will be sent a link so that they can join the meeting to exercise that right.  This will also allow the Committee Team to prepare the speaker sheet in advance of the remote meeting to forward to the Chair of the meeting.

In accordance with The Openness of Local Government Bodies Regulations 2014 any matters considered under Part 1 business only of the meeting may be filmed, recorded, photographed, broadcast or reported via social media by any person.

Recording and reporting the Council's meetings is subject to the law and it is the responsibility of those doing the recording and reporting to ensure compliance.  This will include the Human Rights Act, the Data Protection Act and the laws of libel and defamation.

Please note that the meeting is being held virtually. The business of the meeting will be live streamed at:- (Link archived)

The virtual/remote committee meeting protocol is provided below:

1.  APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

2.  MINUTES

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the Audit Committee Meetings held on 23 November 2020.

3.  NOTICE OF ANY OTHER BUSINESS

Items of other business notified under Council Procedure Rule 30 to be announced,

together with special circumstances that justify their consideration as a matter of urgency.  The Chairman to rule on the admission of such items

4.  DECLARATION OF INTERESTS

To receive any declarations of interest.

5.  EXTERNAL AUDIT UPDATE 2020/21

This will be a verbal report.

6.  FRAUD ANNUAL REPORT 2020/21

This report informs Members of the work of the Fraud Section for the financial year 2020/21.

7.  ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Accounting Policies to be used in preparing the Council’s 2020/21 statement of accounts are set out in Appendix 1

8.  SIAS INTERNAL AUDIT PLANS 2021/22

This report provides Members with the proposed Three Rivers District Council and Shared Services 2021/22 Internal Audit Plans.

9.  SIAS INTERNAL AUDIT PROGRESS REPORT

Members are recommended to:

• Note the Internal Audit Progress Report for the period to 12 March 2021;
• Approve amendments to the Audit Plan as at 12 March 2021;
• Agree changes to the implementation dates for 3 audit recommendations (Paragraph 2.6) for the reasons set out in Appendices 3 to 5;
• Agree removal of implemented audit recommendations (Appendices 3 to 5)

10.  FINANCIAL AND BUDGETARY RISKS

This report advises the Committee on the latest position in respect of the evaluation of financial risks facing the Council for discussion and any recommendations/comments they wish to make.

11.  COMMITTEE’S WORK PROGRAMME

To review and make necessary changes to the Audit Committee’s Work Programme

12.  ANY OTHER BUSINESS

13.  EXCLUSION OF THE PRESS AND PUBLIC

If any confidential business is approved under item 3, it will also be necessary to specify the class of exempt or confidential information in the additional item(s) and a resolution to be passed in the following terms

“that under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item(s) of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined under the respective paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act”.

1.  OTHER BUSINESS – if approved under item 3 above

General Enquiries to the Committee Team at  CommitteeTeam@threerivers.gov.uk