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General Purposes & Audit Committee
Wednesday, 23rd March, 2016

General Purposes and Audit Committee Minutes

Date:
Wednesday 23rd March 2016
Time:
6:30pm
Place:
Committee Room, F10, Town Hall, Katharine Street, Croydon
 

Attendance Details

Present:

Councillor H Ali, Councillor J Buttinger, Councillor J Cummings, Councillor M Fisher, Councillor M Henson, Councillor Y Hopley, Councillor H Kabir, Councillor P Ryan, Councillor M Selva

Also present:
Councillor Simon Hall, Cabinet Member for Finance and Treasury
Councillor Bernadette Khan
Mr Muffaddal Kapasi, Independent non-voting member (elect)

Paul Grady and Chris Long, Grant Thornton, external auditors
Lisa Taylor, Head of Finance and Deputy Section 151 Officer
Dave Philips, Mazars, Internal Audit Manager
Atika Mohammed, Risk and Corporate Programme Office
Simon Maddocks, Head of Governance
Sarah Ireland, Director of Strategy, Communities and Commissioning
Genine Whitehorne, Head of Strategy, Communities & Commissioning and Resources

Item Item/Resolution
MINUTES - PART A
A1/16 MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING

RESOLVED: that the Minutes of the last meeting held on Wednesday 9 December 2015, be agreed and signed by the Chair.

A2/16 DISCLOSURE OF INTEREST

None

A3/16 URGENT BUSINESS (IF ANY)

The Chair reported that following a rigorous recruitment process which included a panel interview, he was pleased to announce that a new independent Non-Voting Member had been appointed to replace Mrs Mrs. Sabia Noor. Mr Muffaddal Kapasi's would formally attend meetings from the beginning of the Municipal Year 2016/17.

 

Mr Muffaddal Kapasi is a local resident that works as a senior internal auditor with AIG. His experience in a number of areas should prove beneficial to the future work of the Committee. Subject to satisfactory attendance this position will be renewed on an Annual basis.

 

The Chair reported an second item of urgent business, reaffirming Councillor Emily Benn's resignation from the Council as of 24 March 2016. Councillor Emily Benn previously sat on Scrutiny and Overview Committee and therefore her resignation had caused a vacancy. It was proposed that Councillor Joy Prince be appointed to Scrutiny and Overview Committee for the period up to Annual Council.


The Committee RESOLVED to appointment of Mr Muffaddal Kapasi to the position of Non-Voting Independent member of the General Purposes and Audit Committee and to;

 

Note the appointment of Councillor Joy Prince to the Scrutiny and Overview Committee for the period up to Annual Council.
 

A4/16 EXEMPT ITEMS

The Committee Noted that there were no Part B agenda items.

A5/16 PRESENTATION BY RESOURCES DEPARTMENT

The Director of Strategy, Communities and Commissioning, gave a detailed presentation in relation to contract management transformation. The presentation included a level of confidence around the clear focus on the Council's major contracts. The Committee heard about outcome based commissioning, which will result in high levels of partnership working with new and existing contractors. The Council would seek to engage the correct skill mix to increase proactive responses and manage contracts in an efficient and appropriate way.

 

The Committee were given reassurance about governance arrangements, financial controls, performance indicators and value for money.


The Chair thanked the Director for her comprehensive presentation and following a question and answer session the presentation was noted with a view to a future training session being provided for all Members.
 

A6/16 EXCEPTIONS TO TENDERING AND CONTRACT REGULATIONS

The Committee noted the exceptions to the Tenders and Contracts Regulations granted by the Director of Strategy, Communities and Commissioning since last reported to this Committee.

A7/16 GRANT THORNTON REPORTS
AUDIT PLAN FOR CROYDON
CERTIFICATION REPORT 2014/15 FOR CROYDON COUNCIL

Grant Thornton introduced their reports

 

The Committee noted the contents of Audit Plan for Croydon Council and Certification Report 2014/15 for Croydon Council.

 

Members of the Committee asked questions on each report and received oral replies.

 

The Chair thanked Grant Thornton for their report.

A8/16 INTERNAL AUDIT UPDATE REPORT APRIL 2015 TO JANUARY 2016

The Head of Governance agreed to provide the Committee with the results of the external peer review at the nest meeting.

 

The Committee RESOLVED to note the Internal Audit Report for April 2015 to January 2016 as detailed in the previously circulated Appendix 1 of the report; and to

 

Receive the results of the external peer review at the next meeting in June 2016.
 

A9/16 INTERNAL AUDIT, CHARTER, STRATEGY AND PLAN

The Committee RESOLVED to approve the Internal Audit Charter (Appendix 1), Strategy (Appendix 2) and to note the plan of audit work for 2016/17 (Appendix 3) as previously circulated.

A10/16 GENERAL PURPOSES AND AUDIT COMMITTEE ANNUAL REPORT 2015-16

The Committee commented on the previously circulated draft annual report. The Head of Governance agreed to incorporate Members comments prior to the final version being presented at Council on 18 April 2016.

 

The Committee RESOLVED to recommend the report to the next meeting of full Council on 18 April 2016.
 

A11/16 CORPORATE RISK REGISTER

The Committee considered the report of the Head of Insurance Risk and Corporate Programme officer and NOTED the contents of the corporate risk register.

 

The Committee agreed to receive a presentation at the next meeting on the risks associated with temporary accommodation and following consultation with the Director of Strategy, Communities and Commissioning a report on the movement of staff from the People Department to the Resources Department as the Council proceeds with the outcome based commissioning initiative at its meeting in September 2016.
 

A12/16 CAMERA RESOLUTION

The Chair informed that Committee that there was no business to be conducted in Part B of the agenda, in accordance with the Council's openness and transparency agenda.

A13/16 ANTI-FRAUD UPDATE REPORT APRIL 2015-JANUARY 2016

The Committee RESOLVED to note the Anti-fraud update report for the period 1 April 2015 - 31 January 2016.

MINUTES - PART B
  None
The meeting ended at 8.19pm