Agenda and draft minutes

Audit Committee - Monday, 30th September, 2024 3.00 pm

Venue: Meeting Rooms 1 & 2, District Council Offices, 2013 Mill Lane, Wingerworth, Chesterfield S42 6NG.

Contact: Tom Scott  01246 217045 Email: thomas.scott@ne-derbyshire.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

AC/16/24-25

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

An apology for absence was received from Councillor M E Thacker MBE JP.

 

AC/17/24-25

Declarations of Interest

Members are requested to declare the existence and nature of any disclosable pecuniary interests and/or other interests, not already on their register of interests, in any item on the agenda and withdraw from the meeting at the appropriate time.

Minutes:

Members were requested to declare the existence and nature of any disclosable pecuniary interest and/or other interest, not already on their register of interest, in any item on the agenda and withdraw from the meeting at the appropriate time.

 

No declarations of interest were made.

AC/18/24-25

Minutes of Last Meeting pdf icon PDF 216 KB

To approve as a correct record and the Chair to sign the Minutes of the Audit Committee held on 8 July 2024.

Minutes:

RESOLVED – That the Minutes of the Audit Committee held on 8 July 2024 be approved. 

AC/19/24-25

External Audit - Audit Strategy Memorandum for the 2023/24 Audit pdf icon PDF 887 KB

Minutes:

TheEngagement Director of Forvis Mazars presented the Council's Audit Strategy Memorandum for the year ending 31 March 2024.

 

The Committee was informed that the Memorandum included two significant risks:

 

1)    Net defined benefit liability valuation (including the pension fund) – the Council would respond to this risk by assessing the Derbyshire Pension Fund’s Actuary, liaising with the auditors of the Derbyshire Pension Fund, reviewing the pension asset and liability valuation methodologies, and agreeing the data in the IAS 19 valuation report provided by the Fund Actuary.

2)     Valuation of land and buildings and Investment Properties – the Council would respond to this risk by assessing the valuer’s scope of work, consider whether the overall revaluation methodologies used by the

Council’s valuers were in line with industry practice, assessing whether valuation movements were in line with market expectations,  and assessing the approach that the Council took to ensure that assets not subject to revaluations in 2023/24 are materially correct.

 

RESOLVED – That the update be noted. 

AC/20/24-25

Safeguarding Update pdf icon PDF 416 KB

Minutes:

The Managing Director presented a report to the Members of the Audit Committee regarding safeguarding arrangements and referrals.

 

Members discussed the sections in the report that summarised numbers of referrals, and were concerned with the number wrongfully referred to the Council. The Committee was informed that this was because of an error on Derbyshire County Council’s website that had now been amended.

 

RESOLVED – That the report be noted. 

 

AC/21/24-25

Internal Audit Progress Report pdf icon PDF 269 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Head of the Internal Audit Consortium presented a progress report in respect of the 2024/25 Internal Audit Plan.

 

RESOLVED – That the report be noted. 

AC/22/24-25

Monitoring the Implementation of Internal Audit Recommendations pdf icon PDF 157 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Head of the Internal Audit Consortium presented a summary of the internal audit recommendations made, implemented and outstanding for the financial years 2020/21 to date.

 

RESOLVED – That the report be noted. 

AC/23/24-25

Treasury Management Update Quarter 1 pdf icon PDF 216 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Director of Finance and Resources presented a summary of the Treasury Management position for the first quarter of 2024/25.

 

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

AC/24/24-25

Audit Committee Self Assessment pdf icon PDF 351 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Director of Finance and Resources presented a report to assess the effectiveness of the Audit Committee.

 

The Committee discussed audit training for Members, and they felt undertaking it was overdue. The Director of Finance and Resources agreed to add it to the Committee’s Member Development Programme.

 

RESOLVED – (1) That the Audit Committee undertake a self-assessment

 

(2) That the completed self-assessment is reviewed by the Committee and if necessary, an action plan be presented to a future meeting.

AC/25/24-25

Work Programme pdf icon PDF 326 KB

Minutes:

The Director of Finance and Resources presented a report to enable the Audit Committee to approve the Work Programme for the municipal year 2024/25.

 

The Director of Finance and Resources informed Members that an additional Audit Committee meeting would need to be scheduled for late February 2025 for the sign-off of the accounts.

 

RESOLVED – That the draft Work Programme 2024/25 be approved.

AC/26/24-25

Exclusion of Public

Minutes:

The Committee agreed to bring the public exclusion agenda item forward to also cover the Cyber Security agenda item, since the presentation about Cyber Security would contain sensitive Information.

 

RESOLVED – That the public be excluded from the meeting during the discussion of the following item of business to avoid the disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 & 5, Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, (as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006).

AC/27/24-25

Update from the Assistant Director for ICT

Cyber Security presentation.

Minutes:

The Assistant Director for ICT delivered a presentation on the Council’s ongoing efforts to maintain Cyber Security.

 

RESOLVED – That the presentation be noted.

AC/28/24-25

Risk Management Update

Minutes:

The Managing Director presented a report to update Audit Committee of the current position regarding Risk Management arrangements and the Strategic Risk Register as at September 2024.

 

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

AC/29/24-25

Urgent Matters

To consider any other matter which the Chair of the Committee is of the opinion should be considered as a matter of urgency.

Minutes:

None.

AC/30/24-25

Date of Next Meeting

The next meeting of the Audit Committee is scheduled to take place on 20 January 2025 at 3.00 pm.

Minutes:

The next meeting of the Audit Committee is scheduled to take place on 20 January 2025 at 3.00 pm.