| Number | Item |
| | Agenda Front Page  |
| | Agenda Papers |
| | Minutes of the Meeting of this Committee held on the 14th December 2010 |
| 1. | Apologies/Substitutes |
| 2. | Declarations of Interest |
| 3. | Minutes – To approve the Minutes of the Meeting of this Committee held on the 27th September 2010 |
| 4. | Part I - For Decision |
| | The attached report from the District Auditor explains that he has fully considered representations made by a local elector on past years accounts. He feels that the audits for these years can now be closed. Within the District Auditor’s report he asks for a letter of representation to be drafted in respect of the accounts for the last financial year (a draft template letter from the District Auditor is included at Appendix 1). There are two matters to report to the District Auditor since the financial statements were approved and these are included in the Deputy Chief Executive’s formal letter of representation attached as the annex to this covering summary. These matters relate to recent decisions in connection with Ashford’s Future and related party transactions. |
| | Closure of the 2007/08 – 2009/10 Audits |
| 5. | The Council commissioned a peer review of the Audit Committee from Local Government Improvement and Development (LGID)The review was jointly commissioned by Ashford Maidstone Swale and Tunbridge Wells Borough Councils and included interviews and discussions with councillors officers and partners.The objective for the review was to allow each Audit Committee to be benchmarked against examples of best practice and thereby help the Committee to become more effective in undertaking its functions.The Audit Committee is asked to consider the LGID report and identify the actions to be taken in relation to the report’s findings and conclusions. |
| | Review of Audit Committee by LGID |
| 6. | Part II – Monitoring/Information Items |
| | Attached is the District Auditor’s Annual Audit Letter covering the external audit for the 2009/2010 financial year. Andy Mack will be present at the meeting to present the report and take any questions.It is pleasing to see the acknowledgement of continued improvement. There is only one recommendation in the report which is a technical matter concerning the preparation of the Council’s annual return to Government for the Whole of Government Accounts. Following the abolition by the Coalition Government of the ‘Use of Resources Assessment’ there is no ‘scored’ element in this letter as in past years. Members will see from the letter that the District Auditor nevertheless considers that the Council has adequate or strong arrangements and approaches across the range of issues examined. There was an unqualified conclusion about the Council’s satisfactory arrangements to secure value for money and an unqualified opinion on the Financial Statements. The Letter also explains the scope of the auditor’s work on examining value for money. |
| | Annual Audit Letter 2009/2010 |
| 7. | Under the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2003 the Council is required to review at least annually the effectiveness of its systems of internal governance and include a statement on governance issues with the Council’s Statement of Accounts.In June 2010 the Council published its Annual GovernanceStatement which identified a number of exceptions with regards to the systems of internal governance and control.This report provides Members with an update on the progressthat has been made so far this year in remedying thegovernance exceptions in the Annual Governance Statement. |
| | Annual Governance Statement – Progress on Remedying Exceptions |
| 8. | The background to this report was the outcome of an Internal Audit of the governance programme management accounting and administrative arrangements for Ashford’s Future particularly bearing in mind the Council’s role as Accountable Body for Growth Area Funds from CLG. Among other things the Internal Audit Report (April 2010) recommended that a full risk assessment be carried out given the impact of the recession and the likelihood then of future announcements of government cutbacks.A full risk assessment was completed and this report sets out the results. The risks were identified through interviews and a risk workshop with senior managers.Please note the assessment was completed prior to the recent actions to review both the growth strategy and the delivery arrangement through the Ashford Future Company. Partly these recent actions respond to Government announcements of a much changed landscape including a localist approach to determine housing growth and the specific abolition of Growth Area Funding.The report advises that the risks identified will all be considered as part of the current growth review and the development of future delivery arrangements with our partners. The report is therefore largely for information at this time. |
| | Ashford Growth Agenda – Strategic Risks |
| 9. | Report Tracker and Future Meetings |