Minutes of the Joint Audit Committee

MINUTES OF THE JOINT AUDIT COMMITTEE

Meeting date: 20 April 2015at 12.00 hrs

Venue: Endeavour House, Exeter.

Open for the purposes of FOI

Present:

Steve HaworthChair

Helen DonnellanVice Chair

Jo NortonMember

Mark SeymourMember

Duncan WaltonTreasurer (OPCC)

Sandy GoscombDirector of Finance and Resources

Adam MorrisInterim Head of Internal Audit (OPCC)

Angela DaveneyHead of Technical Accounting

Jan StanhopeSenior Advisor (PCC)

David EatonStrategy and Meetings Officer

Apologies:

Andrew WhiteChief Executive (OPCC)

Lisa VangoStrategy and Planning Manager (OPCC)

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Agenda Item and discussion points
1. Declarations of Interest

• There were no declarations of interest.

2. Chair’s Introduction

• There were no updates under this item.

3. Minutes of the meeting held on24 February 2015

• The minutes were approved by the members, subject to the following amendment:

The date of the JAC work programme day had been moved to 23 September 2015.
4. Risk Management

• JR013 (Legal Challenge). Clarification was provided regarding the status of JR013. The outcome of the A19 appeal is still awaited.
• JR027 (Strategic Alliance). Given the scale of the savings required from the Alliance this new risk uncertainty had been created. It was emphasised that a rigorous implementation plan would be required if the forecast financial savings were to be delivered.
• JR014 (Vulnerable People). It was suggested that this area of risk was likely to become increasingly significant given the likelihood of increased reporting of current and historic cases.
• The Chair welcomed the progress which had been made in developing the risk management process, which was now much more focused and prioritised. The work on assurance mapping would provide a further level of assurance.

5. Governance Items

• (i) Annual Governance Statement (AGS). The Treasurer outlined the background to the progress update, following the decision to amalgamate the OPCC and Force Annual Governance Statements. A more structured, evidential approach had been adopted this year.
• (ii) Update on Ethics. The Force had taken the lead on setting up an internal board, under the direction of the Director of Legal Reputation and Risk.

The Treasurer informed the committee that there was no desire to create a further board to deal with the ethical issues on behalf of the OPCC, but that consideration was being given to the appointment of a designated, independent individual.
Members emphasised the importance of independence on the part of any individual or body having oversight of the implementation of the new ethics code.
A number of possible approaches were considered, including a joint ethics board with Dorset or an alternative mutual arrangement involving the appointment of individuals whose remit would be external rather than internal.
The Treasurer welcomed the feedback which had been provided and assured the committee that the issues raised would be given further consideration.

• (iii) Budgetary ControlThe Treasurer outlined the background to the report and provided an overview of the process which had been followed last year, which had been the subject of a report by Devon Audit Partnership:

Concern had been raised that there was not sufficient clarity regarding the responsibilities of individuals.
It was suggested that more comparative work, at national level, would be useful.
The Director of Finance and Resources was of the opinion that in the past the process had focused more on financial and technical detail rather than service impacts.
(4.2) Alignment of the Budget and the Police and Crime Plan. It was suggested that the overall direction of travel needed to be clarified before consideration of budgetary issues. However, this year the decision had been taken to “refresh” rather than significantly revise the Plan. This would have a limited impact on the budget.

• (iv) Strategic Alliance and Joint Audit Committee Working

Strategic Alliance – Terms of Reference. Dorset had suggested amendments. It was agreed that these were largely acceptable and could be dealt with during the joint meeting.
7. Strategic Alliance
(i) Verbal UpdateThe Director of Finance and Resources provided an update on progress and activity, including progress in relation to the major business cases. The key step had been the signing of the Section 22A Collaboration Agreement on 26 March 2015.
(ii) Summary of Calculated Savings for Devon and Cornwall.
Members were informed that savings to date were better than had been anticipated, although this could not be assumed for all future business areas.
The costs associated with making the savings were included in the individual business cases.
In future actual savings would also be included. The Commissioner’s Senior Advisor suggested that it may be difficult to deliver better than expected savings for the bigger business areas.
(iii) Due Diligence ReviewThe Treasurer drew attention to the key points highlighted in
the Executive Summary. The report was significant as it provided assurance to both
organisations that few serious problems had been identified. Concerns were raised
regarding the significance of PFI in Dorset. The Treasurer informed the committee that
the report had been received very recently and that there would be further discussions
before a revised report would be brought back to JAC.
(iv) Integrated AssuranceFollowing a discussion of the presentation, the report was
noted.
8. Treasury Management

• The report was presented for information and was noted.