Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were intimated on behalf of Councillor Julie MacKenzie. 

There were no Declarations of Interest intimated.

The Minute of the previous meeting of the Audit and Scrutiny Committee held on 19 September 2017

The Minute of the meeting of the Audit and Scrutiny Committee, held on 19 September 2017 was approved as a true record. 

Report by Chief Internal Auditor

The Committee gave consideration to a report providing a summary of Internal Audit activity and progress during Quarter 3 against a number of areas, which included:

·         2017/18 Audit Plan progress

·         Individual audits undertaken

·         Continuous monitoring programme testing

·         Internal Audit development plan

·         Performance indicators

Decision:

The Committee endorsed the report.

(Ref:  Report by Chief internal Auditor, dated 1 December 2017, submitted.)

Report by Chief Internal Auditor

The Committee gave consideration to a report containing the action plans which detailed findings, where Internal Audit, in agreement with management, have classified the findings either high or medium information in relation to the following 5 audits:

·         Performance Management

·         Scottish Living Wage Compliance

·         Recruitment and Selection

·         Records Management Plan

·         SEEMIS

Decision:

The Committee endorsed the summary report and detail within each individual report.

(Ref:  Report by Chief Internal Auditor, dated 1 December 2017, submitted.)

Report by Chief Internal Auditor

The Committee gave consideration to a report and accompanying appendices which documented the results from a review performed by Internal Audit into the progress made by departmental management across all services in completing actions which were due to be implemented by 30 September 2017. 

Decision:

The Committee endorsed the content of the report. 

(Ref:  Report by Chief Internal Auditor, dated 1 December 2017, submitted.)

Report by Chief Internal Auditor

The Committee gave consideration to a report introducing the draft Annual Audit Plan for financial year 2018/19.  Members noted that the audits detailed in the plan had been selected using a risk based assessment of the audit universe which is all of the auditable areas within the Council.  The Committee provided feedback on the draft Plan to the Chief Internal Auditor. 

Decision:

The Committee agreed to note the content of the draft Annual Audit Plan. 

(Ref:  Report by Chief Internal Auditor, dated 1 December 2017, submitted.)

Report by Head of Strategic Finance

The Committee gave consideration to a report providing a further update on the current status of actions identified as a result of the VAT Risk Review undertaken by tax consultants KPMG in 2016. 

Decision:

The Committee agreed to note the progress made by the Council on addressing the areas of potential risk in the Council’s VAT accounting processes.

(Ref:  Report by Head of Strategic Finance, dated 1 December 2017, submitted.)

In order to facilitate forward planning of reports to the Audit and Scrutiny Committee Members considered the outline Audit Committee Workplan.

Decision

The Committee noted the draft Workplan.

(Reference: Audit Committee Workplan dated 1 December 2017, submitted)

The Audit and Scrutiny Committee unanimously agreed to suspend Standing Orders, to allow them to give consideration to agenda items 10 (Requests for information – Annual Report 2016-17) and 11 (Corporate Complaints – Annual Report 2016-17).

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Report by Executive Director of Customer Services

The Committee gave consideration to a report providing an update on the position regarding the recording, responding to, monitoring and reporting of requests for information under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) and the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIR’s) for the period between 1 April 2016 and 31 March 2017.

Decision:

The Committee agreed to note the content of the report.

(Ref:  Report by Executive Director of Customer Services, dated 13 November 2017, submitted.)

Report by Executive Director of Customer Services

The Committee gave consideration to a report providing information on how the Council has dealt with complaints during the period between 1 April 2016 and 31 March 2017 and performed against the statutory indicators which have been agreed between the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) and the Local Authorities Complaint Handling Network. 

Decision:

The Committee agreed to note the content of the report.

(Ref:  Report by Executive Director of Customer Services, dated 13 November 2017, submitted.)