Draft Minutes of Audit Committeeof the
TBAP Trust held at The Bridge
AP Academy on Tuesday 24th November 2015
PRESENT:Ms Alexia Fetherstonhaugh(Chair); Ms Sue Coleby;
In attendance:Mr Nathan Crawley-Lyons, Head of Business Development and Operations
Ms Deepa Martin, Finance Consultant
Ms Sarah Cooper, clerk
- APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
1.1Mr Seamus Oates, Mr Phillip Rham and Ms Kelly Thomassent apologies.
1.2The committee reviewed, approved and signed off the minutes from the meeting held on the 22nd September 2015.
2.PECUNIARY AND CONFLICT OF INTEREST DECLARATION
There were none
3.MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON THE 22ND SEPTEMBER 2015.
The minutes of the meeting held on the 22nd September 2015 were agreed as an accurate record of the meeting.
4.MATTERS ARISING NOT COVERED ON THE AGENDA
4.1 Finance Policy
2.3This has been amended Mr Seamus Oates is the Accounting Officer. The Value for Money Statement has been included according to the EFA regulations. The names and initials have been updated, we no longer have a School Business Manager.
2.4The committee requested a break down of the Executive Head’s delegation. There was
question regarding electronic signatures. Ms Deepa Martin reported that Mr Seamus Oatesis sent the document which requires his signature via email for approval.
Ms Deepa Martin reported that BACS are used to pay invoices instead of cheques, the process is included in the Appendix to the policy.
5.1There have been changes to the officers, there are two now. There is also an addition regarding raising sales invoices under point 15 to maximise the income to the Trust.
6.0The Business Support staff are responsible for operating the Petty Cash system.
10.0Mr Nathan Crawley-Lyons reported that we were now covered by the Risk Protection
arrangements with the DFE.
12.0Bank Account – all cheques need to be signed by two staff members who are included
on the bank mandate.
Mr Nathan Crawley-Lyons reported that the policy was compliant with the Audit and the EFA.
4.2Sub Committee Structure and Terms of Reference
Ms Alexia Fetherstonhaugh requested an update on the status of the Directors and the numbers
required for a quorum. The Audit Committee require additional members, attendees can join the
meeting remotely.
Action: NCL
5.REVIEW OF EXTERNAL AUDITORS REPORT
Mr Nathan Crawley-Lyons reported that Tracey Young from Haysmacintyre attended the Finance Committee meeting, she talked through the findings of the Audit Report and the ongoing issues with Payroll. The Finance Committee agreed to seek further quotes for a HR Payroll Management System. The committee discussed a system which would speak to other systems and grow with the Trust. There are three companies in the running, further quotes will be sought on the different components required. The committee discussed two months of duel running to check the new system. It was agreed that the quotes would be sought before Christmas, there would be parallel reports in February, March and April. There has been ongoing work to clean up the data that we have before uploading to the new system. Some of the current issues that we have are linked to some of the files that were initially uploaded.
The committee discussed the following points raised in the Audit Findings Report:
- Staff Contracts of Employment
Mr Nathan Crawley-Lyons reported that signed contracts are now on file, if however, the Council did not forward the contracts at the point of transfer we do not have them. We hold all of the relevant information apart from the signed contract, this has not yet caused an issue. The staff transferred with the correct Terms and Conditions. It was agreed that Mr Nathan Crawley-Lyons would seek some legal advice as to whether or not this constitutes a risk.
Action: NCL
Mr Nathan Crawley-Lyons reported that all new staff transferring in have signed contracts and all new staff joining sign their contracts at their induction.
- Cheque Signatories
Mr Nathan Crawley-Lyons reported that all cheques require two signatories for authorisation. The Bank Mandate has also been updated to reflect this policy.
- Manual Journal Entries
The Auditors reiterated the recommendation that a list of journals is produced directly from the accounting system and reviewed by an independent individual. This will be done once a month.
- Charities SORP 2015
The new Charities SORP will affect the academy trust’s financial statements for the year ended 31 August 2016. The details have been included in the Audit Finding Report. It was agreed that Ms Deepa Martin would be seeking further advice.
Action: DM
6.STRATEGIC POLICY CONTROL DOCUMENT AND RISK REGISTER
- A2 Board lacks relevant skills to oversee the Trust
The Board does require new members to fill current vacancies.
- A3 Trustees and /or school leadership have commercial or personal conflicts of interest which are not declared
The Conflict of Interest forms are circulated every September and on every agenda.
- A6 Reporting to trustees is inaccurate, late or irrelevant
The committee should be changed to Audit Committee. This should be an agenda item in six months, however, if there is a situation we would use this is a trigger event. We need to ensure that the information circulated to Directors is accurate.
- B7 Substantial fraud occurs
This is dated September 2015 for review. Mr Nathan Crawley-Lyons reported the date is due to the date of the Audit, they are completing this on our behalf. There is a Responsible Officer report three times a year. The systems are being scrutinised by the auditors who come in once a year to review all of the processes and accounts. The date will be updated to September 2016.
- D7 Trust enters into a commercial contract with onerous terms and conditions
This is a Finance Committee issue the date should be changed to March 2016 or earlier if triggered by an event that makes this relevant
- D8 Control is lost with a major building or educational project
This is a Finance Committee issue the date should be changed to March 2016 or earlier if triggered by an event that makes this relevant
- E2 Poor budgetary control
The Audit Report tightens all of the controls, this is now a low risk
- E3 Poor internal financial reporting
The Audit Committee agreed the financial reporting was good. There were problems with BT we were not getting accurate information. The date should be updated to June 2016 and risk reduced to amber.
- E4 Failure to build any reserves
The Board are always mindful of the reservesr, the reserves have increased this year to £420,000. There should be further strategies to increase the reserves.
- E5 Loss making activities
This is related to having a cushion, is it possible to introduce further controls. Mr Nathan Crawley-Lyons reported that he is aware of covering costs with any activities.
- E6 Guarantees given to third parties
The commitments on the system are not paid until there is a Purchase Order from the budget holder. We are working on the licences that we hold some of which come from the Local Authority. The date should be updated to November 2016.
- F3 Copyright / License
Mr Seamus Oates was seeking some legal advice on Copyright. We have agreed to write a Copyright Policy. The date will be updated to April 2016.
It was agreed that all dates for January 2016 would be updated to March 2016. The Risk Register was reviewed at the last meeting, a new form has been created to raise a new risk. The form will be circulated to the Heads of Schools and discussed by the SLT. The Committee discussed the form and agreed that a worked example would be helpful.
Action: NCL
7.ANY CONFIDENTIAL MATTERS
There were no confidential matters.
8.ANY OTHER BUSINESS
The Responsible Officer requested a school visit during an Audit Report. There will be a report after the visit which will be circulated.
Acton: Agenda Item next meeting
9.DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING
The date of the next meeting will be 8th March 2015 at 5pm
Signed…………………………………… Date …………………….2015
Chair of Committee
Action Log
4.2Update on the status of the Directors and the numbersrequired for a quorum. The Audit Committee require additional members, attendees can join the meeting remotely. Action: NCL
. 5 It was agreed that Mr Nathan Crawley-Lyons would seek some legal advice as to whether or not this constitutes a risk. Action: NCL
5It was agreed that Ms Deepa Martin would be seeking further advice. Action: DM
6The SPCD will be updated. Action: NCL
8The Responsible Officer Report will be circulated. Action: NCL
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