Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor J Davies, Councillor C Jones and S Eriksen Lay Member.

Members are reminded of their personal responsibility to declare any personal and prejudicial interest in respect of matters contained in this agenda in accordance with the provisions of the Local Government and Finance Act 1992 relating to Council Tax, the Local Government Act 2000, the Council’s Constitution and the Members Code of Conduct

Note:

(a)  Members are reminded that they must identify the item number and subject matter that their interest relates to and signify the nature of the personal interest and

(b)  Where Members withdraw from a Meeting as a consequence of the disclosure of a prejudicial interest they must notify the Chair when they leave

No Declarations of Interest were made.

Resolved that:

The Minutes of the Governance and Audit Committee held 28 November 2022 be accepted as a correct record.

A Member referred to Minute 399 – Complaints procedure and advised that the Officer had responded and enquired if this response had been shared.

Mark Thomas Head of Regional Internal Audit Service advised that this would be included in the Action Log.  Mark Thomas then led the Committee through the Action Log and updated the Committee.

To consider report of the Chief Executive

The Chair welcomed Councillor A Barry Cabinet Member, Steve Jones Head of Finance and Adele Lewis Chief Accountant to the Meeting.

Councillor A Barry referred the Committee to the Statement of Accounts 2021-22.

Steve Jones Head of Finance then led the Committee through the report and the Statement of Accounts of year ended 31 March 2022.

The following questions were then raised on the Accounts and were responded to in detail by Councillor A Barry and the Head of Finance:

·       Paragraph 3.5 – Not unique to Merthyr Tydfil – Conditions of Grants – Can  grants be carried Forward

·       Paragraph 6.1 – What were the charges and the additional charges

·       Earmarked Reserves – Request that the Policy be circulated to Members prior to the Special Council Meeting – Who decides what money can be left in Reserves – Is there a need for these reserves

·       Movement in Earmarked Reserves – Clarification sought in relation to City Deal – Why are there three separate entries

·       Redundancy Cost Reserves – Further details requested

Resolved that:

(a)   The Audited Statement of Accounts for 2021/22 being the financial year ended 31^st March 2022 be considered and recommended to the Council of 19^th January 2023 for approval

(b)   The Annual Governance Statement for 2021/22 be considered and recommended to the Council of 19^th January 2023 for approval

To receive the report of the Audit Wales

The Chair welcomed Helen Goddard and Neil Hollis Audit Wales to the Meeting.

Helen Goddard referred to the Audit Wales Audit of Accounts Report – Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council and together with Neill Hollis responded to the following questions raised by the Committee:

·        Exhibit 1 – Infrastructure Assets – Is this the same for all Local Authorities- Is the temporary relief available for the next few years

The Chair then thanked the Officers for attending and the update to the Committee.

To receive the report of the Audit Wales

The Chair welcomed Councillor J Jenkins Cabinet Member, Lisa Curtis Jones Director Social Service and Sara Jane Byrne Audit Wales to the Meeting.

The Chair also advised that an English Language version of the Audit Wales report had been published.

Lisa Curtis Jones then led the Committee through the Transformation Leadership Programme Board – Baseline Governance Review – Cwm Taf Morgannwg Regional Partnership Board report and Sara Jane Byrne led the Committee through the Audit Wales report.

The following questions were then raised by the Committee on the reports and were responded to in detail by the Officers:

·        Governance – How to ensure that monies are properly managed – Is there an Audit review

·        What has been done to engage young people to go on the Board – Who are the staff supporting – Need to ensure participation and to interact and feed back reports

·        Clarification on Governance arrangements and capacity issues

The Chair then thanked the Officers for attending and the update to the Committee. 

To consider the report of the Head of Regional Internal Audit Service

Lisa Cumpston Audit Manager Regional Internal Audit Service led the Committee through the ‘Governance and Audit Committee Self-Assessment of Knowledge and Skills’ report and together with Mark Thomas Head of Regional Internal Audit Service responded to the following questions raised by the Committee:

·       Lay Member Vacancy

·       Training for the Committee in an informal structure – Helpful to pursue this in less formal Meetings – e.g Workshops and to consider building this into the timetable

·       Information to be placed on the Councillors Hub to enable access and availability

The Chair then thanked the Officers for the update to the Committee.

To consider the report of the Head of Regional Internal Audit Service

Mark Thomas Head of Regional Internal Audit Service led the Committee through the ‘Counter Fraud Update’ report and introduced Nicole Roberts Counter Fraud Officer.

The following questions were then raised by the Committee and were responded to by the Officers:

·        Reporting back to Committee work done, control processes and funds recovered

·        The role of the Counter Fraud Officer – Partnership working

The Chair then thanked the Officers for the update to the Committee.

To consider the report of the Head of Regional Internal Audit Service

Lisa Cumpston Audit Manager Regional Internal Audit Service led the Committee through the ‘Progress against the Internal Audit Plan’ report and responded in detail to the following questions raised on the report:

·        The ratio of final reports and those yet to be done – Is it on schedule to create an overall opinion

·        Paragraph 4.6 –

·        Temporary Housing Solutions and Compliance with the Statutory Duty - The need for further investigation

·        Afon Taf High School – Have all the recommendations been done – The training for Safeguarding – Policies for Financial Procedures – Responses regarding IT Stock

The Chair then thanked the Officers for the update to the Committee.

To consider the report of the Head of Regional Internal Audit Service

Lisa Cumpston Audit Manager Regional Audit Service led the Committee through the ‘Governance and Audit Committee Forward Work Programme 2022/23’ report.

Helen Goddard Audit Wales advised that in relation to Paragraph 4.2 (6) this item should be considered as exempt information.

Resolved that:

The Forward Work Programme for 2022/23 be approved.

To receive copies of published Internal Audit reports for Members information

Lisa Cumpston Audit Manager Regional Internal Audit Service led the Committee through the Issued Internal Audit Reports.

The Chair referred to the Temporary Housing Solutions and Compliance with Statutory Duty report and the Audit Opinion of Limited Assurance and proposed that the appropriate Officers be invited to attend a Committee Meeting to talk through the recommendations.

Resolved that:

The appropriate Officer(s) be invited to attend a future Committee Meeting in relation to Temporary Housing Solutions and Compliance with Statutory Duty.

To receive an update from the Chair

The Chair and the Committee reflected on the matters that had been considered at the Meeting, the reports and information provided to the Committee  and the questions that had been raised and responded to in detail.

The Chair also requested an update in relation to the Lay Member Vacancy.

A Member then advised of a Councillor Workshop that had been arranged in relation to Housing current position, challenges and opportunities going forward and suggested that the Chair be invited to this Workshop .

The Chair advised that there was no other business deemed urgent.