| Number | Item |
| | Agenda Front Page  |
| | Agenda Papers |
| | Minutes for this Meeting |
| 1. | Apologies/Substitutes |
| 2. | Declarations of Interest |
| 3. | Minutes – To approve the Minutes of the Meeting of this Committee held on the 3rd December 2013 |
| 4. | Part I – For Decision |
| | The Delivering Good Governance in Local Government framework produced by CIPFA and SOLACE and published in 2007 set the standard for local authority governance and this Council produced its own Local Code of Corporate Governance in 2008.The publication in late 2012 of an updated Delivering Good Governance framework mirrored by an acknowledgment within the 2012/13 Annual Governance Statement makes it timely to refresh our own local code.This report summarises the changes in governance since the Council last agreed a Local Code and the impact of this on the Council’s local code. The report also seeks agreement to an updated Local Code of Corporate Governance for 2014 in accordance with the CIPFA/SOLACE Delivering Good Governance document published in late 2012. |
| | The Local Code of Corporate Governance |
| 5. | Certification of Grant Claims – Annual Report |
| 6. | The Council is required to follow statutory guidance for the publication of its accounts. Each year this guidance is reviewed and updated. This report will look at the impact of these updates on the Council’s accounts for 2013/14. In addition the report reviews on the lessons learnt from accounts process for 2012/13.The Council has completed a review of its accounting policies that will be used for the production of the statement of accounts |
| | Presentation of Financial Statements |
| 7. | Financial Statements for year ended 31st March 2014 – Assurance Statement (to follow) |
| 8. | The report sets out the current position in respect of the Council’s strategic risk management arrangements. |
| | Strategic Risk Management – 6 Monthly Update |
| 9. | The report sets out the one-year Internal Audit operational plan for 2013/14 and asks that the Audit Committee review and approve the Plan. |
| | Internal Audit Operational Plan 2014/15 |
| 10. | The report sets out the results of the External Quality Assessment of conformance by Internal Audit against the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards and the responses from the Head of Audit Partnership to the recommendations made by the assessors. The report provides assurance to the Committee that Internal Audit is already meeting the vast majority of the Standards and that full conformance can be achieved. |
| | Internal Audit – External Quality Assessment Against Public Sector Internal Audit Standards |
| 11. | A protocol has been developed in order to set out the key principles and procedures underpinning the working relationship between Mid Kent Audit and the Council’s external auditors Grant Thornton. The protocol is attached at appendix 1. |
| | Internal Audit – External Audit Protocol |
| 12. | Part II – Monitoring/Information Items |
| | This short paper follows on from the report to the December meeting of the committee and explains progress against the areas for continued work which was included in the Annual Governance Statement agreed by the committee at the June meeting. This highlighted the following matters:a) The Leader’s wish that there be a refocusing of council priorities and further cultural development to consolidate the direction that is currently set out in the business plan and Cabinet’s previous position statementb) The Leader’s proposal for a further review of some aspects of the constitution to reinforce the principle of inclusivity and to clarify delegationsc) Production of an annual reportd) Updating the 2008 Code of Corporate Governancee) Procurement strategy review |
| | Annual Governance Statement – Progress on Remedying Exceptions |
| 13. | This paper introduces two reports from our external auditors that are designed to bring members up to date with their progress as our auditor and to outline their program of work for the coming months.The reports contain a number of questions for members to consider and the report seeks to add some context to issues discussed. |
| | External Auditor’s/Audit Plan for Ashford Borough Council and Audit Committee Update Report |
| 14. | Report Tracker and Future Meetings |