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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.
Apologies were received from Councillor Ashley, Councillor Byrne & Councillor Williams.
2.1 Mr. Kelleher declared a personal interest as he was in receipt of a pension from the Greater Gwent Pension Fund.
3.1 The minutes of the meeting held on 03/10/2023 were confirmed as an accurate record.
4.1 The minutes of the meeting held on 18/10/2023 were confirmed as an accurate record.
5.1 The B&DSSM gave a verbal update on the first action point which had now been completed. 5.2 The Committee noted the action sheet.
6.1 The GFOC outlined the report and provided a high-level overview of capital expenditure, capital financing and treasury management activities. 6.2 The spend on capital projects could be seen in paragraph 4.1.3 of the report. The three main areas of spend were Education, Economy & Environment and Adult & Communities. Any capital spend would need to be financed and affordable. The sources of finance available to Torfaen County Borough Council could be seen in paragraph 4.2 of the report. It was unlikely that the actual borrowing level would meet the Capital Finance Requirement as it was usual to use surplus cash balances or cash back reserves to fund this. The Minimum Revenue Provision needed to be paid annually and the calculation for this could be seen in Appendix a, Annex a of the report. 6.3 In respect of Treasury Management, the Finance Team were very strict in lending and the timeframe that this lending would take place which was evidenced in Appendix A of the report. The remainder of LOBO loans had been paid in November which would allow for substantial savings. 6.4 Following questions from the Committee, the DFS & GFOC made the following points: • Supported Borrowing was predicted to remain consistent as this was provided by Welsh Government on an annual basis. • The peak that could be seen on the graph in Appendix a was due to the maturity of loans and the repayment of LOBO loans. • It was ensured that the contract with Lloyd’s bank, as referred to on page 44 of the report, was best value for money. The cost of this would not be shared in a public meeting but could be circulated to Committee members separately if requested. 6.5 The Committee gave thanks to the Finance Team for their hard work. 6.6 The Governance and Audit Committee scrutinised and commented upon the Capital Strategy and related appendices.
7.1 The HoIA&P outlined the report and provided an update on the Governance & Audit Committee and the progress made to date against the Annual Operational Plan for 2023/24. 7.2 The headline figures of this update could be seen on page 56, paragraph 4.1 of the report. The current achievement rate as of 31st December was 54% out of a 75% target for the whole plan and 75% of a 100% target for the core plan. There were no recommendations to bring to the attention of the Committee. However, two audits had been completed that had a limited audit opinion. An agreed-upon action plan was in place which would be reported on at the subsequent meeting. 7.3 Councillor Davies declared a personal interest in this agenda item due to his involvement with the Glansychan Partnership. 7.4 Following questions from the Committee, the HoIA&P made the following points: • The two highlighted audits were already accounted for within the operational plan and would not impact any ongoing work. 7.5 The Governance and Audit Committee noted the content of the report. ernance and Audit Committee noted the content of the report.
8.1 The HoIA&P outlined the report and provided an update on the Public Sector Internal Audit (PSIAS) external review recently undertaken by the South-West Audit Partnership. 8.2 Self-assessments and questionnaires were conducted as part of this review. The external assessment had three possible outcomes: Generally Conforms, Partially Conforms and Does Not Conform. The Internal Audit Service was given the outcome of Generally Conforms. The identified areas of improvement had been accepted and an appropriate action plan had been developed. 8.3 Following questions from the Committee, the HoIA&P made the following points: • There would not be a follow up made by the South-West Audit Partnership. 8.4 The Chair of the Committee gave thanks to the HoIA&P and the Internal Audit team for their hard work. 8.5 The Governance and Audit Committee noted: (i) The outcome of the review; and (ii) The new action plan developed to address the issues raised in the review.
9.1 The HoIA&P outlined the report and provided an update. The Audit Wales quarterly report would be given at the meeting on 20th of March 2024. 9.2 The Committee noted the program.
10.1 The next meeting is scheduled to take place on 20th March 2024. 10.2 The meeting closed at 10:29am
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