Agenda and minutes

No declarations of interest were made.

To answer any written public questions about matters which are within the powers and duties of the Audit & Governance Committee.  Up to 30 minutes is allowed for this item

The closing date for receipt of questions is 10am on Friday 23^rd February 2024.

The public question and response is available to view at: County Council (gloucestershire.gov.uk)

The closing date for receipt of member questions is 10am on Friday 23^rd February 2024.

No member questions were received. 

The Committee is asked to approve the public minutes of the meeting held on the 25^th January 2024,

Resolved

That the minutes of the meeting held on the 25^th January 2024 be approved as a correct record. 

The Committee welcomed Duncan Laird & Sarah Brown, KPMG to the meeting. 

Julie Masci, Director, Grant Thornton (GT) presented the report which informed the Committee of the key matters arising from the audit of Gloucestershire County Council’s financial statements for the year ended 31st March 2023.

It was reported that GT aimed to issue an unqualified opinion on the financial statements. 

Members were advised there were a small number of outstanding that were outstanding, GT confirmed these issues would be followed up and finalised. 

Members raised concerns regarding the uncertainty of the receipt of payments but were assured by GT that the issue related to the timing of receipts as it involved third parties and not the funds directly. 

In response to a question, members were advised that the installation of the new SAP system had been delayed due to the need to ensure maximum functionality . The Council was currently in negotioations with its implementation partner (HCL Ltd) to agree a revised go live date. 

Resolved

That the report be noted  

Darren Skinner, Head of Planning, Performance & Insight, presented the report.  The report provided assurance that the improvement actions identified as part of the annual review of the governance arrangements operating within GCC had been/were being addressed. This report included the upto date position on each action as provided by the specific lead officers. 

The Committee were reminded that the Council was required, as part of its annual review of the effectiveness of its governance arrangements, to produce an Annual Governance Statement (AGS) for 2022/23.   This was a statutory document that describes the arrangements the Council has in place to ensure good governance. It was explained that the Annual Governance Statement was signed by the Leader, Chief Executive and the S151 Officer and must accompany the Annual Statement of Accounts.

It was noted that Committee Members attended a briefing session in January 2024. 

Members were advised there were 2 parts to the main document, part 1 being the description of our framework and the action plan in part 2.  The Committee were reminded that the document was backward looking, so the main document was prepared and signed of in spring 2023, looking back at the 2022/23 year that aligned to the statement accounts.

Members were informed that the AGS included a summary of the key Governance issues that have emerged and the actions that were being taken to address them.  All 7 priorities have been carried forward from the previous year as ongoing:

• Children’s Services Continuous Improvement Plan
• GFRS Improvement Plan
• Recruitment and retention of employees
• ICT transformation roadmap

·      Adults Social Care transformation

·       Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion development

·       Implementation of the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL)

It was noted the Strategic Risk Register (SRR) could be viewed via the GCC website: published for Cabinet here.  The Committee noted the annual report on risk, including the SRR would be presented to the July meeting.

During the discussion it was requested that in relation to the CIL, simple facts be provided in the future to give a balanced view. 

The Monitoring Officer advised members that the significant weaknesses as highlighted by GT would be integrated into the AGS retrospectively and the amended version would be ratified at the April meeting. 

Resolved

That the Committee:

Ø  reviewed and approved the Annual Governance Statement and the actions planned by the Council to further enhance good governance arrangements; and

Ø  noted the update on actions taken since the original statement was completed.

Ø  agreed that subject to the amendments the AGS would be signed off by the chair after the meeting and ratified at the April meeting.

Gareth Rees, Head of Financial Management, presented the report and while acknowledging the Grant Thornton Audit Findings Report, the Committee was asked to approve the revised Gloucestershire County Council Financial Statements for the year ended 31^st March 2023, including the Gloucestershire Pension Fund Financial Statements for the year ending 31^st March 2023.

It was noted that the Audit Findings Report in respect of the Gloucestershire Pension Fund was presented to Committee in September 2023. Members were referred to the revised Financial Statements, as included within Annex A of the report.

It was noted that Committee Members attended a briefing session in January providing guidance around the Statement of Accounts, the legislative requirements, and the structure of the statements themselves.

Members referred to the report recommendations and were asked to approve the revised Statement of Accounts, and delegate authority to the Director of Finance and the Chair of the Committee to sign Annexes B and C, these being the letters of representation for the County Council Financial Statements and the Pension Fund Financial Statements respectively.

A Statement of Responsibilities was also appended to the report, and would also require signature by the Director of Finance and Chair of Committee.

Resolved

That  the Committee:

•         Approved the attached Statement of Accounts for the year ended 31st March 2023, including Gloucestershire Pension Fund Accounts 2022/23, as detailed in Annex A.

•       Delegated authority to the Director of Finance (Acting S151 Officer) and Chair of the Committee to sign the attached letter of representation, in Annex B, on behalf of the Council.

•       Delegated authority to the Director of Finance (Acting S151 Officer) and Chair of the Committee to sign the attached letter of representation, in Annex C, on behalf Gloucestershire Pension Fund.

Julie Masci, Director, Grant Thornton presented the annual report, which detailed the responsibility Grant Thornton (GT) had regarding the value for money requirements.   

The Director drew member's attention to page 317 of the report, and the tiers regarding value for money requirements.  It was noted the key recommendations related to significant weaknesses, were formally required to be followed up in subsequent audits.   The executive summary on page 277 of the report summarised the position at that point in time.

A member questioned the governance issue and requested that the procurement issue by referred to Corporate Overview Scrutiny Committee (COSC). 

The Monitoring Officer explained that the committee may need to move into exempt session to discuss the detail further, he continued to give a brief overview regarding a contract with a previous provider.  Since the issue arose, the authority has now developed significantly more contract management capacity and expertise in house.  The Monitoring Officer agreed to bring a report on contract management to COSC for consideration. 

It was noted that the replacement SAP system would assist in this process and the ability to link purchase orders would provide an overview of the  spend against individual contracts. 

The Director of Finance explained that Internal Audit would undertake a follow up review of the governance issue.  Management had already accepted and implemented the recommendations. 

In response to a question, it was confirmed that KPMG as part of their appointment would follow up on the key recommendations and would undertake their own risk assessments in due course. 

The Committee wished to thank Grant Thornton for their work and support during their tenure.     

Resolved

That the report be noted.

That in accordance with Section 100 A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the following agenda items, because it is likely that if members of the public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12 A to the Act and the public interest in withholding the information outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information to the public.

Resolved

That in accordance with Section 100 A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the following agenda items, because it is likely that if members of the public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12 A to the Act and the public interest in withholding the information outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information to the public.

The Committee is asked to approve the exempt minutes of the meetingheld on the 25^th January 2024. 

Resolved

That the exempt minutes of the meeting held on the 25^th January 2024 be approved as a correct record.

It was noted that this was David Clowes (Independent Person) final meeting and the Chair on behalf of the Committee wished to thank him for his support and engagement with the role.