AUDIT COMMITTEE
MINUTES of a meeting held on 3rd
July, 2007.
Present: Councillor A.D.
Dobbinson (Vice-Chairman); Councillors Ms. L. Burnett, J.
Clifford, E. Hacker, Mrs. M. Kelly Owen and C.L. Osborne.
Also present: Richard Harries of the
Wales Audit Office.
182 APOLOGIES FOR
ABSENCE-
These were received from Councillor N.P.
Hodges.
183 MINUTES -
RECOMMENDED - T H A T the minutes of the
meeting held on 14th May, 2007 be approved as a correct
record.
184 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
-
No declarations were received.
185 REGULATORY PLAN 2006/07 (REF)
-
The above Plan was produced annually by the
Wales Audit Office and was the product of careful negotiation
between the Council’s Relationship Manager and the other regulators
of services.
The Regulatory Plan 2006/07 was considered by
Cabinet on 23rd May, 2007 at which it was
RESOLVED -
(1) T H A T the
Regulatory Plan for 2006/07 be endorsed.
(2) T H A T the
Regulatory Plan for 2006/07 be referred to the Audit Committee for
consideration.
Audit Committee, having considered the
Regulatory Plan for 2006/07,
RECOMMENDED - T H A T the Regulatory Plan for
2006/07 be endorsed.
186 WALES AUDIT OFFICE -
REGULATORY PLAN PROGRESS REPORT 2006/07 (DFICTP) -
Committee were advised of progress made by the
Wales Audit Office, as the Council’s appointed external auditors,
in respect of the Regulatory Plan 2006/07.
Attached at Appendix A to the report was an
update on the progress made to date (as at 18th June,
2007) against the 2006/07 Regulatory Plan. This set out for
each area of the financial accounts work and performance and
inspection work, the respective risks and key questions to be
answered. Much of the work was either ongoing or had yet to
commence and the status of each action to date was reflected in the
comments and next steps sections of the report.
It was reported that a further Progress Report
would be brought before the Committee in September 2007.
RECOMMENDED - T H A T the progress report on
the Regulatory Plan be noted.
Reason for recommendation
So that proper scrutiny of the Regulatory Plan
can take place.
187 RISK MANAGEMENT -
CORPORATE RISK REGISTER REVIEW - INTERIM REPORT (DFICTP) -
Committee received the preliminary results of
the review and rationalisation of the Corporate Risk Register for
consideration pending further update following the finalisation of
the Service Plans for 2007/08.
The Council’s existing Risk Management
Strategy and Corporate Risk Register had been approved by the
Cabinet on 10th May, 2006. The Strategy set out
the methodology for assessing and scoring Corporate risks,
both in terms of their magnitude (impact) and likelihood
(probability). It included an expanded risk assessment matrix
to allow a more accurate profile to be developed for each risk.
Responsibility for co-ordinating future
reviews now lay with the Corporate Risk Management Group
(CRMG). The nominated risk owners in conjunction with members
of the CRMG had now reviewed existing Corporate risks. The
preliminary results had been subject to detailed scrutiny by the
Group as a whole.
The resulting revised Corporate Risk Register
following the review was attached as Appendix A to the
report. The initial results of the review had seen a
reduction in the number of Corporate Risks from 19 to 13.
Certain risks (culture leadership and vision, democratic renewal,
customer consultation and engagement, performance management and
asset management) had now reduced due to the counter measures taken
and were deemed appropriate for inclusion in the relevant Service
Plans rather than the Corporate Risk Register.
No new Corporate Risks had been added at this
stage although there had been changes in the definition and
description of some risks to take account of changes in
circumstances and the evolving nature of the risks. In
addition, the former risks associated with Recruitment and
Retention and Capacity and Skills had been merged to form a new
risk (Workforce Planning).
In a number of cases the risk profiles had
increased / decreased purely as a result of the application of the
new risk assessment matrix, which now reflected a more accurate
position for the risk. Others, however, had changed because
of an increase / decrease in:
- the
factors that made up the risk
- the
impact or likelihood of the risk occurring
- the
controls currently in place to manage the risk
- the
countermeasures required to improve the management of the risk
(including adherence to pre-determined time scales for
completion).
Risks which fell into the latter category and
where a perceived increase in risk had been determined were as
follows:
- business continuity
- collaboration
- information
management
- project management
- funding
- efficiencies.
As part of the service planning process for
2007/08 developed by the Improvement and Development Team, a number
of the new Corporate Risk definitions were now considered within
each Service Plan as a cross-cutting risk. These, together
with the existing analysis of service risks undertaken would
establish a clear link between the Corporate and Service Risk
process both in terms of a more accurate assessment of the scoring
of the magnitude and likelihood of Corporate Risks as well as
identifying any possible emerging Corporate Risks.
The analysis of this information would be
greatly assisted by the development of a service planning data base
by the IDT. It was therefore proposed that the results of the
service planning exercise for 2007/08 be used to further inform the
initial Corporate Risk Register results and a further report be
submitted to the Audit Committee in due course.
RECOMMENDED -
(1) T H A T the interim
report on the review of the Corporate Risk Register be noted.
(2) T H A T the results
of the service planning exercise for 2007/08 be used to further
inform the initial Corporate Risk Register results and that a
further report be submitted to the Audit Committee.
Reasons for recommendations
(1&2) To further integrate risk
management into the culture of the Council.