| 242 | RECORD OF THE MEETING |
| | | The record of the meeting held on 28 June 2007 was signed by the Chairman as correct. |
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| 243 | APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE |
| | | Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Jarrett and Juby. |
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| 244 | URGENT MATTERS |
| | | Councillor Griffiths brought forward an urgent item regarding complimentary bus passes that had been sent by Arriva to all Members of the Council. The Chairman agreed to take the item after the item on outcomes of audit activity. |
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| 245 | 2006/2007 EXTERNAL AUDIT REPORT |
| | Discussion: |
| | | The outgoing Auditor and the Chief Finance Officer gave Members an overview of the 2006/2007 external auditor's report which covered financial statements, use of resources and associated appendices.
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| Members asked various questions on the report and focussed particularly on accruals relating to payroll, audit fees and utility bills.
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| The Committee discussed bad debt provision and it was noted that there were a range of debt issues, some of which were rolled over from Kent County Council and dated back some years.
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| A recommendation was put forward to accept the auditor's recommendations that payroll and audit fees should be included within the year in which they are incurred. This recommendation was lost. |
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| | > Appendix 1 Medway 2006-07 final ISA 260 version (pdf file 563.5kb) |
| | > Appendix 2 (pdf file 38.0kb) |
| | > Appendix 3 letter PWC (pdf file 17.6kb) |
| | > Statement of Accounts 2006-2007 (pdf file 19.6kb) |
| | Decision: |
| | | The Committee agreed:
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| | (i) | to note the issues raised by PWC and the proposed action and response as summarised in the body of the report;
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| | (ii) | the changes to the Statement of Accounts as set in paragraph 5.1 of the report and reflected in the amended sections of the Statement of Accounts set out at appendix 2;
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| | (iii) | to the continuance of current policies as detailed in paragraph 5.3 and that appropriate representations are made to this effect;
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| | (iv) | to the Management Representations Letter, attached at appendix 3, for submission to PWC; and that
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| | (v) | a report is brought to the Committee regarding bad debt provisions. |
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| 246 | EXTERNAL AUDIT'S 2007/2008 AUDIT PLAN |
| | Discussion: |
| | | The Committee considered the annual audit and inspection plan produced by the Council's new external auditors (PKF).
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| The auditor stated that the Council was performing well in many areas however it was necessary for the Council to also acknowledge areas which were not performing so well. Furthermore risk management needed to be embedded across the Council.
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| Members and officers thanked the outgoing external auditors for their work and welcomed the new auditor. |
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| | > Annual Audit and Inspection Plan (pdf file 13.2kb) |
| | > Appendix Microsoft Word - Medway AAIP 2007-08 V7 (pdf file 239.4kb) |
| | Decision: |
| | | The Committee accepts the proposed annual audit and inspection plan for 2007/2008. |
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| 247 | INTERNAL AUDIT WORK PROGRAMME 2007/2008 |
| | Discussion: |
| | | Members were given a brief overview of the report. It was stated that if areas within audits being undertaken were going off track information about this would be highlighted with the main body of future reports. |
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| | > Internal Audit Programme 2007-08 (pdf file 47.4kb) |
| | Decision: |
| | | The Committee approved the 2007/2008 internal audit work programme. |
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| 248 | OUTCOMES OF HOUSING BENEFIT COUNTER FRAUD INVESTIGATIONS |
| | Discussion: |
| | | The Committee was informed of the progress in investigating allegations of housing and Council tax benefit fraud during the period April to July 2007.
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| Members noted that in 4.1 of the report it should have read 17 cautions were issued rather than 15 as stated.
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| The Committee questioned officers on the arrangements with the legal department for dealing with allegations of fraud.
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| Members asked for information on the progress of cases when the investigation phase is complete. |
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| | > Housing and council tax benefit investigations (pdf file 31.0kb) |
| | Decision: |
| | | The Committee noted the progress in investigating benefit fraud in accordance with the approved sanction policy. |
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| 249 | OUTCOMES OF AUDIT ACTIVITY |
| | Discussion: |
| | | Members were advised of the outcomes of the Internal Audit activity completed since the previous meeting of the Audit Committee. |
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| | > Outcomes of Audit Activity (pdf file 82.5kb) |
| | Decision: |
| | | The Committee noted the outcome of Internal Audit's work. |
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| 250 | URGENT ITEM - COMPLEMENTARY BUS PASSES |
| | Discussion: |
| | | Councillor Griffiths informed the Committee that Arriva had sent all Members of the Council a three month bus pass worth £180. He felt that this was inappropriate as the Council had contractual arrangements with Arriva and Members that use the passes would have to declare an interest for a number of years.
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| Members agreed that officers should investigate the issue and that urgent action should be taken in consultation with the Monitoring Officer. |
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| | > Irregularity Report (pdf file 9.8kb) |
| | Decision: |
| | | It was agreed that all Members are to be advised to return the bus passes to the Monitoring Officer forthwith. |
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| 251 | EXCLUSION OF THE PRESS AND PUBLIC |
| | | The Committee agreed to ask the press and public to leave the meeting because the following items contained information of a personal nature. |
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| | > Exclusion of the press and public (pdf file 8.4kb) |
| 252 | IRREGULARITY REPORT |
| | Discussion: |
| | | Members considered a report that contained information of a personal nature. The appendix was exempt under paragraph 1 of part 1 of schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972. |
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| | > Irregularity Report (pdf file 9.8kb) |
| | Decision: |
| | | The Committee noted the report. |
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