Venue: This meeting will be held by Microsoft Teams, please contact the Committee Officer if you wish to connect in.
Contact: Miss C Tuohy (0116 305 5483) Email: cat.tuohy@leics.gov.uk
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Minutes of the meeting held on 12 February 2020. PDF 250 KB Minutes: The minutes of the meeting held on 12 February 2020 were taken as read, confirmed and signed. |
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Declarations of interest in respect of items on the agenda. Minutes: The Chairman invited members who wished to do so to declare any interest in respect of items on the agenda for the meeting.No declarations were made. |
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To advise of any other items which the Chairman has decided to take as urgent elsewhere on the agenda. Minutes: There were no urgent items for consideration. |
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Internal Audit Service Annual Report 2019-20. PDF 238 KB Additional documents:
Minutes: The Subcommittee received a report of the Consortium
Treasurer outlining the Internal Audit Service Annual Report 2019-20. A copy of
the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 4’, is filed with these minutes. Arising from the discussion the following points were
noted:- . i)
The Head of Internal Audit Service (HoIAS) for
Leicestershire County Council informed members that despite Covid-19 only two
of the planned audits had not been completed. Members were pleased to note the
completed audits gave positive opinions on all three components of the ‘control
environment’ i.e. the framework of governance, risk management and control. ii)
The Annual Governance Statement would be
reviewed by a ‘governance group' comprising the Director of ESPO, Assistant
Director (Finance), the Consortium Secretary, Consortium Treasurer and
Leicestershire County Council’s Democratic Services Officers and HoIAS before
it is presented to the Management Committee in September. The Statement would
also take into account potential impacts of Covid-19. iii)
Members were pleased to note that all nine
‘assurance’ audits undertaken returned with ‘substantial assurance’, the top
rating possible. In view of this members queried why, despite the high ratings,
ESPO’s was rated overall as only having ‘reasonable assurance’. The HoIAS
advised that whilst it was possible to
provide ‘substantial assurance’ for individual audit’s as there were clear
measures to review against, it was much harder to do so for ESPO as a whole
unless another 30 to 40 audits were undertaken, which would significant
additional resources. The HoIAS agreed to expand on the rationale for the
overall opinion in the report to the Management Committee. iv)
There were no high importance recommendations to
report to Members. RESOLVED: a)
That the Internal Audit Service Annual report be
noted; b)
That the HoIAS be asked report to the Management
Committee on the rationale for the decision to give an overall rating of ‘reasonable
assurance’. |
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Close Down of 2019-20 and Progress Against the 2020-21 Internal Audit Plans. PDF 327 KB Additional documents:
Minutes: The Subcommittee received a report of the Consortium
Treasurer outlining the close down of the 2019-20 and progress against the
2020-21 Internal Audit Plans. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 5’ is
filed with these minutes. Arising from the discussion the following points were
noted:- i)
No outstanding high importance audits from the
2019-20 audits or previous years had been identified. ii)
During 2019-20 ESPO voluntarily submitted
payroll and creditor data into the ‘National Fraud Initiative’. No instances of
fraudulent activity were noted. Members were assured that no financial controls
had been relaxed as a result of Covid-19 and that financial standards continued
to be maintained. iii)
Members were pleased to note that despite
Covid-19 the Internal Audit Team had completed a significant portion of the
2019/20 work through remote working and thanked them for their work. RESOLVED: That the progress against the Internal Audit Plan be noted. |
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Date of next meeting. The next meeting of the Subcommittee will take place in early 2021, and will be confirmed nearer to the time. Minutes: It was noted that the next meeting of the Subcommittee would
take place in early 2020. |
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Exclusion of the Press and Public. The public are likely to be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the following items of business in accordance with the provisions of Section 100 (A) (4) of the Local Government Act 1972. Minutes: RESOLVED: That under Section 100(A) of the
Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the remaining item of
business on the grounds that it will involve the likely disclosure of exempt
information during the consideration of the following items of business as
defined in paragraphs 3 and 10 of Schedule 12A of the Act, and, in all
circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption
outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information. |
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Draft Outturn 2019/20. Minutes: The Subcommittee considered an exempt report of the Director
and Consortium Treasurer outlining the draft Outturn for 2019-20. A copy of the
report, marked ‘Agenda Item 8’, is filed with these minutes. The exempt report was not for publication as it contained
information relating to the financial or business affairs of a particular
person (including the authority holding that information). The Director updated the Subcommittee regarding the impact of Covid-19
on ESPO and its draft outturn. ESPO were anticipating and experience changing
demand across its customer base and were looking at how they could continue to
supply them appropriately. ESPO were working closely with Leicestershire County
Council in regard to staffing and health and safety of its workers. Arising from the discussion the following points were noted:- i)
ESPO had been featured on BBC East Midlands in
regards to the key work it undertook to support local PPE distribution. ii)
The proposal that £400,000 would be allocated to
building reserves was a yearly occurrence and was intended for future building
replacements at end of life. iii)
Members considered the timing of the dividend payment
for 2019/20 to the Member Authorities. Following a detailed discussion, the
Subcommittee agreed that it be discussed in further detail at the ESPO
Management Committee on 24th June 2020. RESOLVED: That the 2019/20 forecast outturn be noted and that the
Management Committee be recommended to:- a)
Agree the £400k allocation to Building Reserves
in line with previous years. b)
Note the capital programme update. c)
Consider timing the payment of the dividend for
2019/20 in terms of cash later in the year. |