Agenda and draft minutes

To receive any apologies for absence

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Birnie and Councillor Reynolds.

To receive any declarations of interest

A member with a disclosable pecuniary interest or a personal interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the authority at which the matter is considered -

(i)            must disclose the interest at the start of the meeting or when the interest becomes apparent

and, if the interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest, or a personal interest which is also prejudicial

(ii)        may not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter (and must withdraw to the public seating area) unless they have been granted a dispensation.

A member who discloses at a meeting a disclosable pecuniary interest which is not registered in the Members’ Register of Interests, or is not the subject of a pending notification, must notify the Monitoring Officer of the interest within 28 days of the disclosure.

Disclosable pecuniary interests, personal and prejudicial interests are defined in Part 2 of the Code of Conduct For Members

[If a member is in any doubt as to whether they have an interest which should be declared they should seek the advice of the Monitoring Officer before the start of the meeting]

There were no declarations of interest.

To confirm the minutes of the previous meeting and consider the actions

The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed.

All action points from the previous meeting had been completed and members were content with the responses.

An opportunity for members of the public to make statements and ask questions in accordance with the rules as to Public Participation

There was no public participation.

David Barrett introduced the item and advised the purpose of the report was to provide the outcome of the Homes England Compliance Audit.

Please refer to the video minutes for full discussion.

Outcome

The audit report and its recommendation were acknowledged and signed off by Audit Committee, and confirmation of this acknowledgement recorded in the Homes England Investment Management System.

Chris Paisley introduced the report and presented the indicative External Audit Plan and Strategy for the year ending 31st March 2024.

Please refer to the video minutes for full discussion.

Outcome

The committee noted the plan.

Paul Cuttle introduced the item and presented the External Auditor’s annual report

for 2022/23.

Please refer to the video minutes for full discussion.

Outcome

1.     The committee accepted the External Auditor’s Interim Annual Report 2022/23, noting the recommendations within the report.

2.   The committee noted the status of the External Auditor’s audit the 2022/23 financial statements, which awaits assurance from the auditor of the Hertfordshire County Council Pension Fund, and the expectation of the issues on an unqualified audit opinion on the Council’s 2022/23 financial statements.

Nargis Sultan introduced the item and advised the purpose of the report was to inform the Audit Committee of the Council’s use of Directed Surveillance and Covert Human Intelligence Sources for the year 2023.

Please refer to the video minutes for full discussion.

Outcome

The committee noted the report and agreed that no further changes to the RIPA policy were required.

Philip Lazenby introduced the report and provided the committee with a progress update against the annual internal audit plan.

Please refer to the video minutes for full discussion.

Outcome

1. The committee noted the final internal audit reports issued for following Council activities: Key Financial Controls-Income Collection, Community Grants, and Risk Management Framework.

2. The committee noted the content of the SICA and progress against the annual internal audit plan.

Action

F Jump to circulate Diane Southam’s response to the OEM Action Plan (on page 64 of the agenda)

Fiona Jump and Philip Lazenby presented the proposed Annual Audit Plan, Strategy and Charter 2024/25 for Audit Committee, and asked for comment or feedback from members.

Please refer to the video minutes for full discussion.

Outcome

1.     The committee reviewed and approved the Annual Audit plan 2024/25 at Appendix A of the agenda.

2.     The committee approved the Internal Audit Charter at Appendix A of the agenda.

Fiona Jump advised the purpose of the report was to present the proposed response to questions posed to Audit Committee from the External Audit concerning risk of fraud.

Please refer to the video minutes for full discussion.

Outcome

The committee approved the proposed responses to the External Auditor’s questions at Appendix A of the agenda.

Action

F Jump to monitor progress on members completing the Related Party Transaction Declaration Forms.

Fiona Jump introduced the report and provided the committee with an update against the risks identified in the Council’s Strategic Risk Register as at Q3 2023-24.

Please refer to the video minutes for full discussion.

Outcome

The committee noted the report.

There were no amendments to the work programme.

The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday 24 July 2024.