Audit, Governance and Improvement Review Committee - Thursday 26 November 2009

Present at the meeting:

• Councillor M W Winstanley (Chairman)
• Councillor R Brierley
• Councillor Mrs P Cullen
• Councillor Mrs S Dewhurst
• Councillor E N Houlton
• Councillor C Rigby
• Councillor E Russon Councillor Mrs E Smethurst

Independent Members

• Mr T Addison
• Mr W Anderton

Officers in attendance

• Diane Adshead – Committee Services Officer
• Lesley Bilsborough – Deputy Audit Manager
• Martin Kenyon – Head of Audit and Risk Management
• John Rowlands – Principal Solicitor
• David Skinley – Administrative Assistant
• David Smith – Executive Director of Business Support Services

Officers presenting reports

Diane Taylor – Business Partner

22 Apologies for absence: Councillors J D Hodgkinson, B J Fagan, C Sweeney and F B Walker and Mr P Connor (Independent Member).

23 Minutes: The minutes of the meeting of this Committee held on 6 August 2009 were approved as a correct record.

24 Section 106 money: The Chairman agreed to take the following item as urgent, the special circumstance being the need to inform Members at the earliest opportunity.

Councillor R Brierley requested that a report on Section 106 money be brought to a future meeting of this Committee.

Resolved: The Committee:-

1. requests that a report detailing a breakdown of expenditure/income of section 106 money be brought to a future meeting of this Committee; and
2. requests that this report goes to a future meeting of the Economy, Environment, Culture and Housing Scrutiny Committee.

25 Exclusion of the public - section 100a Local Government Act 1972: Resolved: The public is excluded from the meeting when the Committee discusses the following items for the reasons set out below:-

26 Use of Resources scores: Resolved: This item was deferred to the next meeting of this Committee.

27 Risk Management Policy: The Committee considered a report of the Executive Director of Business Support Services, David Smith, presented by the Head of Audit and Risk Management, Martin Kenyon, which updated Members on the Council’s Risk Management Policy. The Risk Management Policy was appended to the report and comments were invited, prior to the Policy being referred to Council for formal approval.

A formal Risk Management Policy Statement was approved by Council, (minute 104 (b) February 2004 refers) as part of the Policy Framework, and last reviewed by the Audit, Governance and Improvement Review Committee (minute 38 September 2006 refers). The report reflected the progress that had been made in embedding formal risk management processes across the full range of Council operations.

The Policy would need to be reviewed and refreshed on a periodic basis to ensure that it incorporated all of the latest developments.

Resolved: The Committee endorses the proposed update of the Council’s Risk Management Policy prior to it being forwarded to Council for formal approval.

28 Anti Money Laundering Policy: The Committee considered a report of the Executive Director of Business Support Services, presented by the Head of Audit and Risk Management, which outlined recommendations in favour of the adoption of an Anti-Money Laundering Policy for the Council.

The Executive Director would advise the Committee, following advice from the Council’s Data Protection Officer, whether details on the money laundering activity form could be accessed through a Freedom of Information request.

Resolved: The Committee:-

1. notes the report and approves the Anti-Money Laundering Policy for the Council; and
2. requests that the Executive Director of Business Support Services advises the Committee regarding public access to information held on the money laundering activity form, following advice from the Council’s Data Protection Officer.

29 Feedback on draft CAA results including Use of Resources Scores: The Head of Audit and Risk Management, and Business Partner Diane Taylor referred to the area assessment and organisational assessment results that had been informally announced in connection with the CAA. This item had previously been discussed by Cabinet (minute 134 refers). They reported that the official report would be published on 9 December 2009.

Resolved: The Committee:-

1. notes the contents of the report for monitoring purposes; and
2. requests an action plan which reflects the results in the CAA with names, dates and detailed use of resources scores to be included.

30 Interim Internal Audit Report: The Committee considered a report of the Executive Director of Business Support Services, presented by the Executive Director and Head of Audit and Risk Management, which provided an update on the Internal Audit activity for the first half of the 2009/10 financial year, together with details of key issues which had arisen from individual Internal Audit reviews.

The Executive Director referred to the previously discussion by the Committee of the Benefits Services and of the wish of Members to be involved in the process of audit and inspection. The Audit Commission had signalled their intention to carry out an inspection of the Benefits Services and he suggested that a self assessment be carried out prior to the start.

The Executive Director reported that an article had been published in a local newspaper regarding the overpayment of salary protection payments to some Council staff. Staff who had been paid incorrectly had been informed via letter that they had been overpaid in this instance. Any overpayments to these staff would be reclaimed over the course of the December 2009 pay cycle.

(Councillor E N Houlton declared a personal and non-prejudicial interest in this item because he is employed by the Department for Work and Pensions.)

(Councillor E Smethurst declared a personal and non-prejudicial interest in this item because she is a Board member of the Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust.)

(The Chairman (Councillor M W Winstanley) declared a personal and non-prejudicial interest in this item because he is a member of the Wigan and Leigh Homes Board.)

Resolved: The Committee:-

1. notes the report; and
2. requests that a self assessment of the Benefits Service be carried out prior to the proposed Audit Commission inspection and that the resulting report be brought to this Committee.  

The meeting concluded at 8:00pm