Issue - meetings

To receive the Annual Report of the Audit and Standards Committee for the period 2022/2023.

The Chair introduced the report which highlighted some of the work undertaken by the Committee during 2022/23.  The report also looked ahead to issues that may be considered by the Committee in future months and would be submitted to Council in July 2023.

Councillor Gifford referred to the ‘Looking Ahead’ section which highlighted the SEND services report he had previously requested.  He noted that this was listed on the Committee’s work programme and asked if there was an update on when the report may come forward.  In response, Rob Powell advised that this had been listed as ‘To Be Confirmed’ whilst the new Assistant Director for Education, Johnny Kyriacou, settled into post.  He agreed to speak to Nigel Minns, Strategic Director for People, and consider when would be a suitable time for this to be programmed in.

Robert Zara suggested that the External Quality Assessment of the Internal Audit team could be added to the Annual Report prior to its submission to Council.  He noted that whilst it had been referred to in the draft Annual Governance Statement earlier on the agenda, it would not hurt to draw focus to this positive assessment.  He felt that the Internal Audit team had passed with flying colours and passed on his congratulations to them.

Rob Powell spoke in support of the comments made, congratulating the Internal Audit team on the excellent work undertaken.  It was agreed that reference to the assessment would be included in the Annual Report and the CIPFA appendix included for information.

The Chair requested that reference to him attending the Overview & Scrutiny workshop be noted and raised a query relating to future training opportunities for the Audit & Standards Committee.  He felt that it could be useful to hold a workshop to review the mandate of the Committee, particularly for new members of the Committee.

In response, Sarah Duxbury, advised that Members were encouraged to hold a workshop session on a two-year cycle, which included a self-assessment and a review of work undertaken.  It was agreed that officers would look to programme this in for the future.

In summary, the Chair felt that the Annual Report was a good summary of the work undertaken and hoped that the positive work being carried out by all teams, gave everyone assurance that governance was strong.

Resolved that the report be amended to include the comments raised prior to submission to Council in July 2023.