Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED that Mr A M Thomas be elected Chair for the 2016-2017 Municipal Year.

(Mr A M Thomas presided)

RESOLVED that Councillor L James be elected Vice-Chair for the 2016-2017 Municipal Year.

https://www.swansea.gov.uk/DisclosuresofInterests

In accordance with the Code of Conduct adopted by the City and County of Swansea, no interests were declared.

To approve & sign the Minutes of the previous meeting(s) as a correct record.

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Audit Committee held on 19 April 2016 be approved as a correct record, subject to the following amendment: -

Minute No.77 – Wales Audit Office – City and County of Swansea Pension Fund 2016 Audit Plan – Paragraph 2, sentence 2 – replace ‘my’ with ‘his’.

The Chief Auditor reported that details regarding DWP crime detections were available on the GOV.UK website.  He stated that during 2015/16 there had been a decrease in Housing Benefit overpayments from 5.3% to 5.2%, but fraud had risen from 2.4% to 3%.  He added that there were no details regarding prosecutions.

The Chief Auditor circulated the Knowledge and Skills Framework for Audit Committee Councillors published by CIPFA.  He outlined that the Democratic Services Committee had resolved that training for Councillors sitting on the Audit Committee was mandatory and highlighted the core areas of knowledge as follows: -

·         Organisational Knowledge;

·         Audit Committee Role and Functions;

·         Internal Audit;

·         Governance;

·         Financial Management and Accounting;

·         External Audit;

·         Risk Management;

·         Counter Fraud;

·         Values of Good Governance.

In addition, he outlined the core skills required by Councillors as follows: -

·         Strategic Thinking and Understanding of Materiality;

·         Questioning and Constructive Challenge;

·         Focus on Improvement;

·         Able to Balance Practicality against Theory;

·         Clear Communication Skills and Focus on the Needs of User;

·         Objectivity;

·         Meeting Management Skills.

The Committee received the following presentations: -

·         Internal Audit and Governance – P Beynon, Chief Auditor;

·         Standards in Public Life – T Meredith, Deputy Monitoring Officer;

·         Role of the Wales Audit Office and the Audit Committee – G Norman and D Williams, Wales Audit Office;

·         Financial Management and Accounting – B Smith, Chief Finance / Deputy Section 151 Officer.

The training presentations regarding risk management and counter fraud were deferred to a future Audit Committee meeting.