Basingstoke & Dean Borough Council Audit and Accounts Committee Meeting

Name: Audit and Accounts Committee
Start: 2023-03-06T18:30:00Z
End: 2023-03-06T22:30:00Z
Location: Committee Room 1 - Deanes

March 6, 2023, 6:30 p.m.

This is a meeting of the Audit and Accounts Committee of Basingstoke & Dean Borough Council held on the 6th Mar 2023.

The last meeting was on 31st Mar 2025. The next meeting is scheduled for 23rd Jun 2025.

Meeting Status

Confirmed

Agenda Published

Yes

Decisions Published

Minutes Published

Yes

Meeting Location

Committee Room 1 - Deanes

Meeting Recordings

No recordings have been submitted for this meeting yet. If you have one, you can Upload a Recording

Agenda

Item	Title	Minutes
1	Apologies for absence and substitutions	There were no apologies for absence or substitutions.
2	Declarations of interest	There were no declarations of interest
3	Urgent matters	The Chair advised that due to the lateness of the report which was not published five clear working days before the meeting, he had agreed to take item 10 for the following reason: The audit of the 2021/22 accounts was still ongoing and the finance and property teams and the external auditors were working at pace to complete the audit. In order to provide the very latest position on the accounts and the auditor’s update, there had been a delay in providing the report to ensure that the latest up to date position could be reported.
4	Minutes of the meeting held on 30 January 2023	Minutes of the meeting held on 30 January 2023 The minutes of the meeting held on the 30 January 2023 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair subject to the following addition to minute 55/22: The Committee discussed the purchase of the Premier Inn Hotel and the Smarter Ways of Working Project which resulted in mixed views. Some members expressed their disappointment whilst others felt that the purchase of the Premier Inn was a good investment and that the SWOW had been a success.
5	Internal Audit Progress Report (November 22 - February 23)	Report Appendix 1 Appendix 2 Appendix 3 Appendix 4 Appendix 5 Appendix 6 Appendix 7 Appendix 8 The Senior Auditor introduced the report which informed the Committee of the work completed by the Internal Audit Team during the period November 2022 to February 2023 and the current position with all audit recommendations. The Committee discussed the report and made the following comments: In response to questions, Officers confirmed that Internal Audit focused on the review of processes rather than the individual services to ensure that the relevant controls were in place. Thanked Officers for a good report and their hard work. Acknowledged that a new ERP system had been implemented for the relevant financial processes and felt reassured from the report following the audits. Concern was expressed over the removal of the system administrator role. Sought further clarification on the cyber security recommendations. The Senior Internal Auditor advised any outstanding IT recommendations would be superseded by the 2022/23 IT Audit Report. Questioned the parking recommendations would be referred to Hampshire County Council. The Chief Internal Auditor advised that any recommendations that remained the Council’s responsibility would stay with the rest passed on to Hampshire County Council. The Committee raised a number of points in relation to overdue recommendations as a number of recommendations had been outstanding for a long period of time. Specific reference was made to Property and Building Control. The Committee questioned whether there were resource issues and suggested that more realistic targets should be agreed but noted that shorter timescales allowed the Committee to receive regular updates. It was requested that if the recommendation on Building Control had not been completed or moved into a lower category by the next meeting, The Head of Service to attend to update the Committee on the actions taken. The Committee were advised that they could request specific audits subject to the appropriate resource being available. Resolved: The Committee notes the report.
6	Internal Audit Plan 2023/24	Report Appendix 1 Appendix 2 The Chief internal Auditor introduced the report which presented the Committee with the Internal Audit Charter that highlighted the conduct for internal audit and the Internal Audit Plan for 2023/24 that highlighted the work that would be carried out during the year to enable the Chief Internal Auditor to provide an independent annual opinion on the effectiveness of the council’s risk management, control and governance processes. The Committee questioned how reviews were scheduled. The Chief Internal Auditor advised that he undertakes a risk assessment which determined whether a review would take place every year or every two years. Reference was made to the process for CIL and S106 allocations and the Committee were advised that the Cabinet Member for Planning and Infrastructure had agreed to provide training to all Councillors on the process. Resolved: The Committee approves the Internal Audit Charter for 2023/24 · approves the Internal Audit Plan for 2023/24
7	Review of Corporate Risk Register	Appendix 1 Appendix 2 Report The Chief Internal Auditor introduced the report which presented the Committee with the current status of the corporate risks identified within the corporate risk register which was reviewed by the Strategic Leadership Team every six months before being presented to Audit and Accounts Committee. The Committee discussed in detail the Staffing issues with specific mention made to the IT and Planning teams. The Committee questioned the staffing level required before the risk needed to move into a higher category. The Chief Internal Auditor advised that the Committees comments would be discussed at the next SLT review. The Executive Director advised that the IT team had recently had a restructure and had also received Government funding to help the Council to implement its cyber security plan. The Executive Director stated that a number of areas had staffing issues due to recruitment and that the Pay and benefits review would be finalised by the end of March which would help to address the issue. It was questioned whether the Treasury Management risk level should be amended due to the current economic uncertainty. The Executive Director responded that at the current time there was no indication of a risk of a reduction in income. Resolved: The Committee notes the report.
8	Treasury Management 2022/23 Q3 Report	Report The Head of Financial Services and Commercialisation introduced the report which showed the activity within the council’s treasury management function from 1 April 2022 up to 31 December 2022. Councillor Basham requested that he meet with Officers to further understand the process for recognising or not recognising losses in portfolios at the Council. The Head of Financial Services and Commercialisation confirmed that he would be more than happy to discuss issues outside of the meeting with any Committee members. Resolved: The Committee notes the report.
9	Housing Benefits Subsidy Certification Report For The Year Ended 31 March 2022	Report Appendix 1 The Chair introduced the report which presented the Committee with the Housing Benefit Subsidy Certification Letter in respect of the year ended 31 March 2022. The Committee congratulated the Officers for their hard work and accuracy of the payments made. Resolved: The Committee notes the report.
10	Statement of Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2022 - Approval	Report The Head of Financial Services and Commercialisation introduced the report which set out the Statement of Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2022. The Executive Director advised that the update provided by EY referred to a difference in accounting treatments rather than material misstatements. Reference was made to the bidding process for the investment property. Officers agreed to provide a response after the meeting. The Committee discussed the report and members felt that they should approve the statement of the accounts once all the work had been completed and the audit had been fully signed off. Resolved: The Committee defers the approval of the statement of accounts and requests that a meeting be arranged in April in order to approve the statement of accounts.
11	Audit and Accounts work programme	Work Programme The Chair introduced the work programme and gave a brief overview of the items that would be included on the agenda for the upcoming meetings. The Executive Director advised that as discussed earlier in the meeting subject to whether appropriate progress had been made on the Building Control recommendation then the Head of Service may be invited to a meeting. It was questioned whether any progress had been made on the request for a review of the Committees effectiveness. The Executive Director confirmed that Officers had been looking at various options and that a report could be brought to the July meeting. The Chair advised that the interview panel for the independent Audit and Accounts Committee member would consist of The Head of Financial Services and Commercialisation, himself as Chair and Councillor Basham. It was suggested that the Committee consider appointing a second independent member who was a property expert. The Committee requested that as part of the recruitment process the panel consider appointing a second member if the recruitment of the first member was successful.