Agenda

Present:
Dr D Alston Mr J Gray Mrs L Munro Mr G Smith Mr R Greene Mr M Rattray Mr M Finlayson Ms A MacLean Mr E Hunter Mr B Clark	Mr P Cairns Mr D Kerr Mr D Henderson Mr A Torrance Mr I Brown Mr J Ford Mr R Wynd Mr L Fraser Mr T Prag Mrs J Urquhart
Non-Members also present: Mr R Rowantree	Ms M Smith
Officials in Attendance: Ms M Morris, Assistant Chief Executive Mr G Munro, Head of Internal Audit and Risk Management Mrs V Nairn, Head of E Government Mr N Rose, Principal Auditor, Finance Service Mr J Grieve, IS Client Manager Mr J Bain, Acting Head of Business Support, Social Work Mrs S Lunn, Business Support Manager, Planning & Devt Ms L Johnston, Acting Senior IS Client Officer Mr M Watters, Senior Business Support Officer Mr D Beaton, Computer Auditor, Finance Service Miss J MacLennan, Principal Administrator, Chief Executive’s Service Mrs R Daly, Committee Administrator, Chief Executive’s Service
Also in attendance: Mr R Clark, External Auditor, Audit Scotland

 

Planning and Development Service – Development Management and Building Standard Fees

Social Work – Home Care Service, Inverness

Chief Executive’s Office – IT Communications and Operations Management

 

The Committee NOTED the terms of the report as circulated.  

The Committee also NOTED that further information would be made available by the Social Work Service in regard to the review of the Home Care Service in Inverness and specifically in relation to financial assessments and backdating of charges.

 

3.           Action Tracking (Follow-Ups) Report 

 

There had been circulated Report No. AS-02-08 dated 4 February 2008 by the Head of Internal Audit and Risk Management which confirmed that Members had previously requested assurances that where audit recommendations had been made, the actions agreed by Management had been implemented accordingly.

 

The report therefore summarised the responses received from Client Officers for those audits which had been ‘action tracked’ up to 31 January 2008 and indicated that:

 

·        102 audit recommendations had been made, of which 97 had been implemented by Management;

·        2 audit recommendations had not been accepted by Management;

·        3 audit recommendations remained outstanding - however the reasons for delay were considered to be satisfactory.

 

Following general discussion, the Committee NOTED the terms of the report as circulated. 

 

4.           Risk Management Update     

 

Declarations of Interest: Mr R Greene declared a non-financial interest in relation to this item on the grounds of a family connection to a Council Service Point.

 

There had been circulated Report No. AS-03-08 dated 4 February 2008 by the Head of Internal Audit and Risk Management which provided information in relation to the Corporate and Cross Cutting Risks recently assessed by the Senior Management Team as having a high likelihood and serious impact on the Council’s business and, as such, required action to be taken within Service Plans.

 

Resulting from the Corporate and Cross Cutting (CCC) risks assessment by the Senior Management Team, a total of fourteen risks had been identified and detailed in the report.   Following the assessment phase, risks had then been allocated to an appropriate lead Service to take the necessary action in consultation with any other Service involved.  These risks appeared in the Service Plans of each Service and, on this basis, would be reviewed quarterly. 

 

During discussion, a number of Members requested clarification on the future reporting and monitoring arrangements for the major risks which had been identified. In response, it was confirmed that significant risks would be followed up by both Internal and External Audit and, in particular, the issue of property management had been included in the External Audit report for 2006/07 and would be monitored accordingly.  

 

The Committee NOTED the terms of the report as circulated.

 

It was also AGREED that this subject should become a standing item on future Audit & Scrutiny Committees agendas and further that clarification should be provided on the roles of Service Committees, as well as the Audit & Scrutiny Committee, in terms of how major risks would be reported and monitored in future.

 

5.           External Audit Reviews 

 

There had been circulated Report No. AS-04-08 dated 5 February 2008 by the Director of Finance and Depute Chief Executive which contained a report from the Council’s External Auditors (Audit Scotland) as follows -  

 

·        Matters arising from the Audit of the 2006/07 Financial Statements

 

The audit focused on the identification and assessment of the key risks to the Highland Council in achieving its business objectives. Audit Scotland also assessed the risk of material misstatement or irregularity in the Council’s financial statements. 

 

In carrying out the audit, Audit Scotland were content that:

·        Highland Council’s system of recording and processing transactions provides a sound basis for the preparation of financial statements and the effective management of its assets and interests;

·        Highland Council’s financial statements state fairly its financial position at 31 March 2007; and

·        the systems of internal control provide an adequate means of preventing or detecting material misstatement, error, fraud or corruption.

 

In all, four recommendations had been made all of which were being addressed by management as detailed in the report

 

The Committee NOTED the terms of the report as circulated.

 

6.           Scrutiny Planning Working Group – Minutes of Meetings    

   

There had been circulated Minutes of Meetings of the Scrutiny Planning Working Group held on 11 January and 8 February 2008.

 

In this connection, there had also been re-circulated Report No. SP/1/08 dated 4 January 2008 by the Director of Finance entitled ‘Scrutiny Planning – The Council’s Relationship with Small Businesses in the Highlands’.

 

The Committee AGREED TO RECOMMEND approval of the Minutes by the full Council at its meeting on 6 March 2008 and specifically the proposed objectives, scope and coverage of the project.

 

The meeting ended at 11.45 a.m.