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There is no summary of this meeting yet. One is written once the council publishes the minutes. The agenda and papers are below.
1.1 The MO&ACLO advised members of the eligibility of members for the role of Chair and Deputy Chair under the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 and asked members of the Committee for nominations for the role of Chair. Kathryn Pegington was nominated, and this was seconded. 1.2 The MO&ACLO confirmed that Kathryn Pegington had been elected as Chair of the Governance and Audit Committee. 1.3 The MO&ACLO asked members of the Committee for nominations for the role of Deputy Chair. Michael Kelleher was nominated, and this was seconded. 1.4 The MO&ACLO confirmed that Michael Kelleher had been elected as Deputy Chair of the Governance and Audit Committee.
2.1 Apologies were received from Councillor Stuart Ashley, Nigel Aurelius, Deputy Chief Executive and David Lilly, Director – Financial Services.
3.1 There were no declarations of interest.
4.1 The minutes of the meeting held on 29 March 2023 were confirmed as an accurate record.
5.1 The Committee noted the action sheet.
6.1 The MO&ACLO outlined the report and presented the Draft Annual Governance Statement (AGS) for 2022/23 for scrutiny and comments. 6.2 The MO&ACLO confirmed that the format of the AGS was the same as in previous years; however the content had been updated and this year included the County Plan and the Annual Delivery Plan. 6.3 Following questions from the Committee, the MO&ACLO made the following points: • Website links within the AGS to publicly accessible information could be explored for next year’s version. • Members’ comments around non-digital publications of the AGS and methods of monitoring and responding to the public’s statements regarding consultations would be forwarded on to the Communications Team for consideration. 6.4 The B&DSSM confirmed that there were no plans currently in place to re-establish the Schools Standards Monitoring Sub Committee and that the Council had confidence in the new governance arrangements that had been established following the Estyn review. He added that the lack of school data was due to decisions made by the Welsh Government and not just because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 6.5 The Governance and Audit Committee agreed to note the content of the report.
7.1 The GFOC outlined the report which detailed the activities of the treasury management function during 2022/23 and met the requirements of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) Code of Practice on Treasury Management and the CIPFA Prudential Code for Capital Finance in Local Authorities. 7.2 The GFOC confirmed that the report outlined a number of substantial changes in Capital Finance throughout 2022/23 and she highlighted the key changes around the Bank of England base rate, lender option / borrower option (LOBO) loan repayments, higher income due to increased interest rates and slippage relating to the Capital programme. 7.3 Members of the Committee thanked officers for the report and commented that it was presented in a way that was helpful to those who were fairly unfamiliar with the subject matter. 7.4 The Governance and Audit Committee agreed to note: (i) The Treasury Management borrowing activity for 2022/23 in paragraph 4.1 of the report; (ii) The Treasury Management investment activity for 2022/23 in paragraph 4.2 of the report; (iii) The review of the Treasury Prudential Indicators in paragraph 4.3 of the report; and (iv) The Capital Programme in paragraph 4.4 of the report.
8.1 BR and JR outlined the quarterly update and Torfaen CBC Outline Audit Plan 2023 and focussed specifically on the financial audit work, performance audit work and local government national studies that were planned / in progress. 8.2 With regards to the audit of the Council’s 2021-22 grant returns, JR confirmed that all six of the claim audits had now been completed. 8.3 Following questions from the Committee, BR and JR made the following points: • BR confirmed that the Waste Management draft report had been issued to the Council. Councillor Williams suggested that it’s content could be used by the ‘Raise the Rate’ working group. • JR anticipated that the detailed Torfaen CBC Audit Plan 2023 would be available during September 2023. 8.4 The Governance and Audit Committee agreed to: (i) Note the progress made delivering Audit Wales’s Local and National work programmes; and (ii) Note the contents of the Torfaen CBC Outline Audit Plan 2023.
9.1 The HoIA&P outlined the report which provided a level of assurance in relation to the effectiveness of the Authority’s Internal Control System based upon the work conducted by the Internal Audit Section during the 2022/23 financial year. This opinion had also fed into the Council’s AGS. 9.2 The HoIA&P highlighted the following key headlines from the report: • The overall conclusion was that the System of Internal Control continued to be classified as sound with scope for improvement, and no high priority recommendations had been identified. • Appendix A of the report showed the opinions for the core systems and Appendix B of the report showed the opinions for all the work carried out during the 2022/23 year. Appendix C of the report showed the follow up audits conducted during the year, which provided a level assurance in terms of positive progress. • There was only one audit, regarding Community Halls, where the opinion was identified as limited with less than 50% of the controls tested in place. The audit had an agreed action plan, and a follow up audit was planned for early in 2023/24 to ensure progress was being made to address the issues. 9.3 The HoIA&P was pleased to confirm that all targets for the year had been met or exceeded and he praised the work of his team for this achievement. 9.4 Following questions from the Committee, the HoIA&P confirmed that the appendices outlined the scope for improvements and only one recommendation had not been accepted by the relevant service area, which showed how many recommendations were therefore being acted upon. 9.5 The Governance and Audit Committee agreed to note the content of the report.
10.1 The HoIA&P introduced the report and confirmed that there were no changes to the 2023/24 Internal Audit Plan approved in March 2023, following consultation / feedback from strategic directors / service areas. 10.2 The Governance and Audit Committee agreed to note the content of the report.
11.1 The HoIA&P presented the work programme and explained that it contained the items that were expected to be considered by the Governance and Audit Committee throughout the year; however it was subject to change. He added that a special meeting may be required during September 2023; however this would be confirmed in due course. 11.2 The Chair and HoIA&P encouraged members of the Committee to submit their self-assessment forms as soon as possible, in order for the results to be collated for a subsequent feedback discussion of the output. 11.3 The Governance and Audit Committee agreed to note the content of the work programme.
12.1 The next meeting is scheduled to take place on 18 October 2023. 12.2 The meeting closed at 10.45am.
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