Basingstoke & Dean Borough Council Audit and Accounts Committee Meeting

There were no apologies for absence or substitutions.

There were no declarations of interest.

There were no urgent matters.

The minutes of the meeting held on 31 July 2023 were confirmed as a correct record by the Committee and were signed by the Chair.

Councillor Falconer confirmed that he had accepted the role of Vice-Chair of the Audit and Accounts Committee for the municipal year 2023/24.

The Senior Auditor introduced the report, which informed members of the Audit and Accounts Committee of the work completed by the Internal Audit Team during the period July to August 2023 and the current position with all audit recommendations.

The Committee discussed the report and made the following comments about the following Audit references:

·         30- IT Network Security. It was queried when the overdue fundamental risk for the IT Network Security audit would be resolved. The Senior Auditor clarified that this audit was in relation to cybersecurity awareness and training, and that the only update was that provided in the report by the Head of IT and Digital Transformation (DT).

·         6 and 9- IT Network Security. Concern was raised about legacy applications, and the effect on network security. The Executive Director of Corporate Services and Assets stated all the systems had been reviewed and appropriate action had been taken to mitigate risks.

The committee made the following comments in relation to the report:

·         Requested that the Head of IT and DT invite councillors to training emails and videos about cybersecurity awareness.

·         Requested that the Internal Audit Report Corporate Risk Register – Climate Emergency be shared with the Cabinet Member for Climate and Ecological Emergency. 

·         Business continuity plans and procedures were questioned. The Executive Director explained that the business continuity plans had been updated, and that responsibility for business continuity had been moved to the Head of Customer Services, Improvement and Performance.

·         Questioned how quickly audit recommendations categorised as significant were followed up to ensure that they were completed and embedded. The Senior Auditor stated that he was in contact with the responsible officers to ensure progress on recommendations, and that evidence of completion had to be obtained.

·         Questioned the formal process if target dates for recommendations were delayed. The Chief Internal Auditor explained that there needed to be a satisfactory action plan in place to act on delayed recommendations.

·         Stated that the presentation of separate lists of overdue audit recommendations and outstanding audit recommendationshad improved.

·         The Chief Internal Auditor informed the Committee that both a cyber risk audit and a critical systems audit would be undertaken in Q4 and presented at a future meeting.

·         There was a discussion about increased cybersecurity risk, the list of internal audit actions awaiting resolution and structural changes in the IT Department.  The Committee requested that the Head of IT and DT attend a future Committee meeting to update on progress after the cyber audit had been completed.

Resolved: The Committee note the contents of the 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 the report and made the following comments:

·         It was queried as to why both the risk likelihood and risk impact scores had changed for Corporate Risk RR7- Cyber. The Executive Director highlighted a restructure in the IT team, alongside updated network architecture and the procurement of a new backup IT system.

·         The Executive Director provided an update on behalf of the Head of IT and DT about Corporate Risk RR7- Cyber, which stated that there were appropriate processes in place against cyber security risks.

·         RR1 – Staffing, Skills & Capacity: Concern was raised with the potential future impact of labour market challenges on the Council’s external providers, such as Serco.

·         A request was made to repeat the Corporate Risk Register table headings across each page for future reports.

·         Commented that there were a lot of corporate risks that were considered in the medium risk category. 

·         Recommended that officers consider changing the figure considered as negligiblefinancial impact from £50,000 to £25,000. 

Resolved: The Committee:

·         Note the contents of the report.

·         Approve the changes to the Risk Management Policy.

The Head of Financial Services and Commercialisation introduced the report, which showed the activity within the Council’s treasury management function from 1 April 2023 to 30 June 2023.

The Committee discussed the report and made the following comments:

·         It was queried what affect a fall in interest rates would have on the Council’s income. The Head of Financial Services and Commercialisation detailed that he expected rates to remain at a similar level, which would meet this year’s income requirements and factor into the budget planning for the coming year. 

·         Several Committee members expressed a preference to present the Treasury Management reports to the Committee quarterly rather than biannually.

·         Thanked officers for a good report and their hard work.

Resolved: The Committee note the contents of the report.

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Property introduced the report, which detailed the activity related to the Council’s Annual Property Plan 2023-24 for the first quarter (period 1st April to 30 June 2023).

The Committee discussed the report and made the following comments:

·         Queried as to how much money had been set aside to meet climate change targets within the property portfolio. The Cabinet Member stated that climate change reserves were presently focused on operational properties, rather than freehold land.

·         An error in the Property Aged Debt table was highlighted, as it included debts that were not due.

·         The Committee sought to compare the value of the Council’s commercial investment property portfolio compared to last year. The Cabinet Member confirmed that property valuations had fallen because higher interest rates had reduced the attractiveness of commercial property as an investment. He added that the value of the portfolio was constantly monitored.

·         An anticipated rise of vacancies within the Council’s investment portfolio was queried. The Head of Property and Assets highlighted that vacancies were low as a percentage of income.

Resolved: The Committee note the contents of the report.

The Head of Financial Services and Commercialisation introduced the report, which set out the formal review of the effectiveness of the Committee, alongside the CIPFA position statement.

The Committee discussed the report and made the following comments:

·         Commented that the CIPFA self-assessment questionnaire was challenging to answer, alongside it being opinion-based and subjective.

·         Welcomed the CIPFA guidance for its similarities with the BDBC constitution as well as providing clarity about the Committee’s role.

·         It was stated that Members should complete the questionnaire by the end of October, for the Head of Financial Services and Commercialisation to put forward recommendations at the next meeting.

·         It was agreed that Committee members would complete the questionnaire using Microsoft Forms if possible. The Head of Financial Services and Commercialisation stated that a link to complete the form would be sent out alongside instructions.

·         It was recommended that group leaders be reminded that continuity on Audit Committee was part of CIPFA guidance and should be sought where possible across municipal years. 

Resolved: The Committee:

·         Note the CIPFA position statement and the practical guide for audit committee members.

·         Complete the self-assessment of effectiveness questionnaire.

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 stated that the Treasury Management 2023/24 Quarter 2 Report would be added onto the work programme for the meeting in November.

·         The Committee were informed that the External Audit Planning Report 2022/23 likely would not be presented at the November meeting.

The meeting ended at 7:44pm.

Chair