Agendas, reports and minutes

Minutes of Meeting of the Audit and Scrutiny Committee held in the Council Chamber, Council Headquarters, Glenurquhart Road, Inverness on Thursday, 14 June 2018 at 10.30am.

Present:
Mr R Laird, Mr P Saggers, Mr R Balfour, Mr B Boyd, Mr J Bruce, Miss J Campbell, Mrs H Carmichael, Mr A Christie, Mr G Cruickshank, Mrs M Davidson, Mr C Fraser, Mr L Fraser, Mr T Heggie, Mr D Louden, Mr D Mackay, Mr G MacKenzie, Mr D Macpherson, Mrs B McAllister, Mrs M Paterson, Ms M Smith, Ms K Stephen

Non-Members also present:
Mr B Lobban

Officials in Attendance:
Mr D Yule, Depute Chief Executive/Director of Corporate Resources
Ms E Johnston, Corporate Audit & Performance Manager
Miss D Sutherland, Corporate Audit Manager
Mr B Porter, Head of Resources, Care and Learning
Mr S Duncan, Property Manager 
Mr S Dalgarno, Development Plans Manager
Miss S McKandie, Benefits & Welfare Manager
Mr Iain Swayne, Operations Manager (Mid)
Miss J MacLennan, Democratic Services Manager
Miss C Maragh, Committee Administrator
Miss O Bayon, Clerical Assistant

Also in attendance:
Mr I Murray, Chief Executive, High Life Highland

An asterisk in the margin denotes a recommendation to the Council. 
All decisions with no marking in the margin are delegated to Committee.

Mr R Laird in the Chair

1. Apologies for Absence
Leisgeulan

Apologies for absence were intimated on behalf of Mr G Adam, Mrs J Barclay, Mr R Bremner and Mr S Mackie.

2. Declarations of Interest
Foillseachaidhean Com-pàirt

There were no declarations of interest at the meeting.

3. Review of the Internal Audit Charter
Ath-sgrùdadh air a’ Chairt In-Sgrùdaidh

There had been circulated Report No. AS/4/18 dated 17 May 2018 by the Depute Chief Executive/Director of Corporate Resources.

The Committee APPROVED the amendments to the Internal Audit Charter as outlined in the report and contained in the revised Charter in Appendix 1.

4. Internal Audit Reviews and Progress Report                                        
Ath-bhreithneachaidhean In-sgrùdaidh agus Aithisg Adhartais

There had been circulated Report No. AS/5/18 dated 6 June 2018 by the Corporate Audit Manager which summarised the final reports issued since the date of the last meeting, together with details of work in progress and other information relevant to the operation of the Internal Audit Section.

In relation to the Internal Audit Section, specific reference was made to work for other Boards, Committees or Organisations, certification of grant claims, corporate fraud activity and investigations and other work, as well as progress against the 2017/18 audit plan and performance information.
         
The final reports were then presented as follows:-  

(i) Development & Infrastructure – Developer Contributions
(Reasonable Assurance)

During discussion, and in response to a query, it was confirmed that in cases where payments made by developers did not match the number of properties within a development, this could be reviewed/revisited at a later date as necessary. 

(ii) Care & Learning – Commissioning of Throughcare and Aftercare Services
(Reasonable Assurance)

During discussion, and in response to a query, it was confirmed that consideration was being given to the best use of resources/Officer time across Services and through the redesign process. In this regard, the Internal Audit team worked extremely well with all Services and there was flexibility within the Audit Plan to accommodate any urgent issues if and when they arose.

Also, and in relation to payment/approval of variations, it was confirmed that this was to be the subject of redesign review in the future and any necessary changes to current arrangements would be made at that time.         

Thereafter, the Committee otherwise NOTED the Final Reports and the current work of the Internal Audit Section as detailed in the report.

The Committee also APPROVED the deletion of the audit of recycling from the Internal Audit Plan and NOTED the current work of the Internal Audit Section.

5. Action Tracking Report 
Aithisg a’ Leantainn Gnìomhachd

There had been circulated Report No. AS/6/18 dated 6 June 2018 by the Corporate Audit Manager.

The Committee NOTED the action tracking information provided, including the revised target dates for the completion of outstanding actions.

6. Internal Audit Annual Report 2017/18
Aithisg Bhliadhnail In-Sgrùdaidh 2017/18

There had been circulated Report No. AS/7/18 dated 6 June 2018 by the Corporate Audit Manager.

During discussion, and following a reminder to Members of the Committee that it was extremely important that the self-evaluation/online survey form (recently issued by the Corporate Audit & Performance Manager) was completed and returned, it was suggested that, in addition to this, consideration should be given to a similar form being issued to non-Members of the Committee if possible.

Also, congratulations were conveyed to the Internal Audit team for the performance which had been reported and also the work undertaken over recent years, including reference to some of the most important audits in recent years which had come from Members of the Council.    

Thereafter, the Committee NOTED the content of the report and the audit opinion provided.

7. Serious and Organised Crime Course: Learning Outcomes and Actions 
Cùrsa Eucoir Throm-chùiseach agus Eagraichte: Builean Ionnsachaidh agus Gnìomhan

There had been circulated Report No. AS/8/18 dated 5 June by the Depute Chief Executive/Director of Corporate Resources.

During discussion, congratulations were conveyed to the team responsible for the excellent course which had been provided and which it was hoped could be repeated in future.

Thereafter, the Committee NOTED the content and key messages of the Serious and Organised Crime Course which had been delivered on 3 and 4 May 2018 and APPROVED the recommended actions as a consequence of the Course.

It was also AGREED that a copy of the presentation which had been used should be circulated to all Members of the Council for information. 

8. Corporate Complaints Process
Pròiseas Ghearanan Corporra

There had been circulated Report No. AS/9/18 dated 14 June 2018 by the Depute Chief Executive/Director of Corporate Resources.

During discussion, reference was made to the percentage of complaints which had not been made by email and it was stressed that the Council had to ensure that all available means of communication were kept open in future in regard to the submission of complaints.

Thereafter, the Committee NOTED the Council’s improved 2017/18 annual performance for Stage 1 (+12.2%) and Stage 2 (+17.5%) complaints and recognised that the number of complaints received had been a low volume at 1.5% within the context of the scale of the Council’s customer base and the scope of services provided.

The Committee also AGREED to support Officers’ continued participation in the Local Authority Complaint Handlers Network.

The Committee further NOTED the remit of the cross-Service Complaints Co-ordinators’ Group and the ongoing sharing of leading practice in order to further improve corporate performance for front line resolution (Stage 1) and investigation (Stage 2) and the progress to date on the LEAN review.

9. Audit Scotland: Council’s Use of Arm’s Length Organisations  
Aithisgean Sgrùdaidh bhon Taobh A-muigh

There had been circulated Report No. AS/10/18 dated 5 June 2018 by the Depute Chief Executive/Director of Corporate Resources.

During discussion, Members raised the following issues:-

• congratulations should be conveyed to High Life Highland for the extremely positive work which had been undertaken to date and the many examples of good management, not least in terms of the commercial approach which had been taken in a number of instances;
• there should be a focus in future on the potential advantages (and disadvantages) of Council nominees as Board Directors or Trustees;
• it was noted that, following the Barclay Review, the Scottish Government had rejected the recommendation to lift the rates relief for leisure and cultural venues run by the arm’s length organisations of Local Councils. Whilst existing organisations would continue to benefit from charity relief from non-domestic rates, new organisations would not and there was therefore a risk of charitable benefits being offset to deter future use of arm’s length organisations;
• reference was made to the charitable purpose which arm’s length organisations had in areas such as participation in sport, health and wellbeing and volunteering; and
• it had to be highlighted that there were still additional possibilities to be explored in the use of arm’s length organisations by Councils in future. In this regard, the Council’s redesign process would continue to consider the use of arm’s length organisations within ten options for service delivery.          

Thereafter, the Committee otherwise NOTED the national report in the local context as circulated.

The meeting ended at 11.10am.