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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Cabinet/Committee Room - 52 Derby Street, Ormskirk L39 2DF

Contact: Duncan Jowitt 

Items
No. Item

1.

APOLOGIES

Minutes:

There were no apologies received.

2.

MEMBERSHIP OF THE COMMITTEE

To be apprised of any changes to the membership of the Committee in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 4.

Minutes:

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 4, the Committee noted the termination of Councillor Whittington, and the appointment of Councillor Gordon for this meeting only, thereby giving effect to the wishes of the Political Groups.

3.

URGENT BUSINESS

Note, no other business is permitted unless, by reason of special circumstances, which shall be specified at the meeting, the Chairman is of the opinion that the item(s) should be considered as a matter of urgency.

Minutes:

There were no urgent items of business.

4.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST pdf icon PDF 299 KB

If a Member requires advice on Declarations of Interest, he/she is advised to contact the Legal and Democratic Services Manager in advance of the meeting.   (For the assistance of members a checklist for use in considering their position on any particular item is included at the end of this agenda  ...  view the full agenda text for item 4.

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

5.

MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING pdf icon PDF 309 KB

To receive as a correct record, the minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday, 31 January 2023.

Minutes:

RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the meeting held on 31 January 2023 be received as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

6.

PUBLIC SPEAKING pdf icon PDF 243 KB

Residents of West Lancashire on giving notice, may address the meeting to make representations on any item on the agenda except where the public and press are to be excluded during consideration of the item.  The deadline for submission is 10.00am on Friday, 26 May 2023.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

There were no items under this heading.

7.

GRANT THORNTON - AUDIT PROGRESS REPORT pdf icon PDF 3 MB

Minutes:

Consideration was given to the Audit Progress Report and Sector Update year ending 31 March 2023 from our External Auditors Grant Thornton, which provided a summary of emerging national issues and relevant issues that the committee might wish to consider.

 

The Chairman welcomed and invited Georgia Jones, Director, Grant Thornton, to present the report to the Committee.

 

Georgia Jones confirmed that Grant Thornton are hopeful to be in a position to sign off the 20/21 accounts in July 23. Also, that no additional significant issues had been raised in the course of their recent work beyond those raised in the Interim Findings Report.

 

Councillors raised questions about the interim audit findings, the possibility of taking a report to Full Council and the Derby Street improvements.

 

Georgia Jones said that after all the work was completed, an interim report would be taken to the next meeting of the Committee.

 

The Committee considered the Audit Progress Report as contained on pages 543-560 of the Book of Reports, which had been presented to Members for approval.

 

RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

8.

INTERNAL AUDIT CHARTER 2023/24 pdf icon PDF 30 KB

To consider the report of the Corporate Director of Transformation, Housing & Resources.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Corporate Director of Transformation, Housing & Resources submitted a report advising Members of the outcome of the external assessment of internal audit's conformance to the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards (the review).

 

The Chairman invited the Internal Audit Manager to present the report.

 

The Committee considered the Internal Audit Charter 2023/24 Report as contained on pages 561-581 of the Book of Reports, which had been presented to Members for approval.

 

RESOLVED: That officers be thanked for their work and the contents of the Internal Audit Charter 2023/24 at Appendix 1 of the report, be noted and approved to take effect from 31 May 2023.

9.

EXTERNAL REVIEW OF INTERNAL AUDIT pdf icon PDF 228 KB

To consider the report of the Corporate Director of Transformation, Housing & Resources.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Corporate Director of Transformation, Housing & Resources submitted a report advising Members of the outcome of the external assessment of internal audit's conformance to the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards (the review).

 

The Chairman invited the Internal Audit Manager to present the report.

 

The Internal Audit Manager said that overall, the review had been a glowing report with just some minor advisories which were already being dealt with.

 

The Committee considered the External Review of Internal Audit Report as contained on pages 583-603 of the Book of Reports, which had been presented to Members for approval.

 

RESOLVED: That Members note the review's overall conclusion that West Lancashire Borough Council’s Internal Audit Service generally conforms to the requirements of the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards and those of the Local Government Application Note.

 

10.

INTERNAL AUDIT STRATEGY AND ANNUAL PLAN 2023/24 pdf icon PDF 127 KB

To consider the report of the Corporate Director of Transformation, Housing & Resources.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Corporate Director of Transformation, Housing & Resources submitted a report to provide Members with the background to the preparation of the 2023/24 Internal Audit Strategy and Annual Plan and present it for approval.

 

The Chairman invited the Internal Audit Manager to present the report. She explained that the team was recruiting a temporary auditor as they were one auditor down and would review it at the next available meeting.

 

The Committee considered the Internal Audit Strategy and Annual Plan 2023/23 as contained on pages 605-615 of the Book of Reports, which had been presented to Members for approval.

 

RESOLVED: That the Internal Audit Strategy and Annual Plan 2023/24 at Appendix 1 of the report be approved to take effect from 1 April 2023.

11.

INTERNAL AUDIT ACTIVITIES - PROGRESS REPORT pdf icon PDF 220 KB

To consider the report of the Corporate Director of Transformation, Housing & Resources.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Corporate Director of Transformation, Housing & Resources submitted a report to advise Members of progress against the 2022/23 Internal Audit Plan.

 

The Chairman invited the Corporate Compliance & Governance Manager to present the report. She explained that the work was now 98% completed and that weekly reports in relation to the implementation of audit recommendations were being submitted to the Chief Operating Officer and Director of Transformation, Housing & Resources.

 

The Committee considered the progress against the 2022/23 Internal Audit Plan as contained on pages 617-628 of the Book of Reports, which had been presented to Members.

 

RESOLVED: That Members note the progress in the year to date.

12.

PROCUREMENT POLICY pdf icon PDF 36 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Head of Finance, Procurement and Commercial Property submitted a report asking Members to consider the proposed Procurement Policy.

 

The Chairman invited the Procurement Manager to present the report.

 

Members asked about who monitored the service and what penalties were built into tenders and contracts. The Procurement Manager explained that the Head of Finance, Procurement and Commercial Property was now her direct line manager and that they worked closely with Legal Services to build in robust rectification processes. Any exemptions had to be signed off by the Chief Operating Officer, who had the final say.

 

The Committee considered the Procurement Policy as contained on pages 629-645 of the Book of Reports, which had been presented to Members.

 

RESOLVED: That the Committee recommend the Procurement Policy to Council to be noted and approved.

13.

REGULATION OF INVESTIGATORY POWERS ACT - ANNUAL SETTING OF THE POLICY pdf icon PDF 222 KB

To consider the report of the Legal and Democratic Services Manager.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Legal and Democratic Services Manager submitted a report on the Council's use of its powers under the Regulation of Investigatory Power's Act (RIPA) and to present the RIPA Policy document for approval.

 

The Committee considered the RIPA Activity and RIPA Policy as contained on pages 647-675 of the Book of Reports, which had been presented to Members.

 

RESOLVED: That the Council's RIPA activity and the RIPA Policy at Appendix 1, be noted.

14.

WORK PROGRAMME pdf icon PDF 205 KB

Minutes:

Consideration was given to the Committee's 2023/24 Work Programme as set out on page 677 of the Book of Reports.

 

Members asked about a possible joint presentation on the final accounts and the Head of Finance, Procurement and Commercial Services said that he would take this up but had been struggling to find a suitable date. Members suggested a presentation to all councillors might be valuable as training.

 

RESOLVED: That the Work Programme be noted.