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Joint Audit Committee 30 March 2016, 13:30 Fairwater Police Station AttendeesMr Jeff Edwards – Committee Member and ChairMr Robert Evans - Committee MemberMr Gethin Lewis - Committee MemberMr Alan Thomas – Committee MemberMr Umar Hussain – Chief Finance OfficerMr Geoff Petty – TreasurerMr Cerith Thomas – Chief of StaffMr Gwyn Williams – Assistant Director of FinanceMrs Nia Brennan – Assistant Director of Joint Legal ServicesMrs Carol Woodward – Portfolio Manager, Corporate DevelopmentMr Matthew Coe - Wales Audit OfficeMr Gareth Lewsey - Wales Audit OfficeMrs Vicky Davies – TIAA Internal Auditors1.Apologies for absenceThere were no apologies for absenceJeff Edwards welcomed everyone to the meeting. 2. To receive any declarations of interest in the business to be transacted. None were reported.3. To receive the minutes of the previous meeting held on 9 December 2015The minutes of the meeting held on 9th December 2016 were agreed as a true and accurate record subject to the following pointsMinute 8 Interim Analysis of the 2015 spending review for policingThe reference to the increase in police armed response vehicles to respond to firearms should have stated that the number would have increased by 50% as opposed to 0%.Matters arising:Item 3 Comprehensive Spending ReviewA value for money plan will be presented to the next Joint Audit Committee Seminar given the potential for more cuts following the Chancellor’s revised budget.Item 4e Health and Safety Management arrangementsThe statistics for absences, accident, incidents and near misses had been circulated following the meeting. See attached at appendix 1 for details.Geoff Petty provided an overview of the statistics reported to the Health and Safety Committee on a quarterly basis. Members were informed that sickness absence was being proactively managed by ACC Richard Lewis and Mark Milton, Director of Human Resources. Current sickness levels were better than previous years and South Wales Police compared favourably with other forces. Item 6 Report on HMIC activityMembers stressed the importance of the National Criminal Justice Board establishing an operating framework to enable criminal justice agencies to work together more effectively and that it should be established by May 2016.4 Manual of GovernanceNia Brennan, Assistant Director of Legal Services for South Wales and Gwent police outlined the changes that had been made to the Manual of Governance. Particular reference was made to the new Governance architecture which was based on the bronze, silver, gold model and changes to standing orders with regards to contracts. All changes to the manual had been tracked for ease of reference. The arrangements should make it easier for small businesses to complete pre-qualification forms when bidding for contracts and 80% of spend was made within the region. Members felt that a similar document should be produced for partnership working and that this should be raised by the Chair with the Commissioner and Chief Constable during their annual meeting. Members agreed to pass on their annotated notes on the revised Manual of Governance to Nia Brennan.ACTION: Chair to raise the issue of producing a document, similar to the Manual of Governance, with the Commissioner and Chief Constable during their annual meeting.ACTION: Members to provide their annotated notes on the revised Manual of Governance to Nia Brennan.5. Wales Audit Office reports.The reports of the Wales Audit Office were received in respect of:Update paper andAudit Plan 20165a) Update paperMatthew Coe confirmed that the planning work had been completed and the audit plan had been agreed. The interim audit had been completed two weeks prior to the committee meeting. He was pleased to report that there was nothing of note arising from the interim audit to highlight for Members attention. He further informed Members that the WAO had participated in a workshop chaired by Gwyn Williams which considered collaborative working from which best practice had been identified.He also confirmed that a new Principal Accountant had been appointed from Gwent Police and the previously identified single points of contact had been removed.The national work on Community Safety Partnerships was ongoing and a report would be submitted to Police and Crime Commissioners in the summer.5b) Audit Plan 2016The Audit Plan for 2016 was presented to the Committee and the following points were of note – The plan had been agreed with management prior to it being reported to the committee.The risks highlighted under paragraph 9 had been considered by management.The audit fee was lower than it was in 2015 and no recharge had been made for VAT.There were ?350m of new requirements than there were in 2015/16.The performance audit highlighted in appendix 2 sought to avoid duplication with the work carried out by TIAA and HMIC.There would be a “dry run” to complete the audit of accounts for 2017/18 by the end of July 2018. That was a year in advance of the formal requirement to do so in 2018/19. It was noted that the police were ahead of local authorities in that regard.The Audit Plan for 2016 was agreed.6 Reports of the Internal auditors TIAAThe reports of the internal auditors TIAA were received with outcomes shown as follows.6a) Internal Audit CharterThe client perception survey referred to in the report had not yet been completed.Members were informed that the level of audit service had been exceptional.6b) Summary Internal Audit ReportMembers were pleased with the overall position set out in the report which contained only one priority 1 recommendation.The summary on page 3 of the report listed the following statisticsDraft issued within 10 days of exit meeting – 95% target – 100% actual.Number of days between draft and final reports – less than 20 for 39% of the reports.Final issued within 10 working days of receipt of responses – 95% target – 100% actual.Recommendations accepted – 90 % target – 100% actual.Members noted the excellent turnaround in performance and particularly noted the progress against the annual plan for 2015/16 where all areas were in the green category.The following points were noted under this report – No targets had been set for NICHE as yet.FIRMS could move on to a system improvement phase.An update on Firms and Fusion will be provided at the next seminar.FIRMS includes all HR payments and the aim was to move to the introduction of more electronic systems such as the processing of expenses.The review of communications had been deferred to 2017/18 and the second phase was still being looked at. Members felt there should not be any further delays with this area.The disaster recovery manual would not be available until 2017. The focus was on getting the system operational before completing the manual.ACTION Update on FIRMS and FUSION to be provided at the next seminar6c). General LedgerThe report was accepted and members noted the overall assurance assessment was categorised as “substantial”.6d). Fleet ManagementMembers noted the overall assessment was categorised as a “limited assurance”. They were concerned that there had been two adverse reports in relation to fleet management and they were advised that the merger of fleet services with Bridgend CBC was still in the process of embedding the new arrangements. There were issues associated with the convergence of two working cultures and different technologies being used both of which meant that full integration would not take place for a further year.6e) Review of ICT network and application securityMembers noted the overall assessment was categorised as” reasonable assurance”. They were also informed that the force had invested in a state of the art Cyber Crime Unit and whilst that may seem to be a more suitable area to audit there was a need to avoid duplication with HMIC. It was further noted that ACC Richard Lewis was going to report to the Joint Audit Committee on Freedom of Information and Data Protection at a future meeting.ACTION ACC Richard Lewis to report to the Committee on Freedom of Information and Data Protection at a future meeting.6f) Compliance review of the contract management – HQ Project ArrangementsMembers noted the overall assurance assessment was categorised as “substantial”.6g) DebtorsMembers noted the overall assurance assessment was categorised as “substantial”.6h) Business ContinuityMembers noted the overall assurance assessment was categorised as 2reasonable Assurance”. They noted the good progress made in this area.6i) Appraisal Review of Commissioner’s Grants ArrangementsMembers noted the overall assurance assessment was categorised as “reasonable”. In doing so they noted the positive direction made within this area.6j) Budgetary controlMembers noted the overall assessment was categorised as “substantial”.6k) Fixed Asset ArrangementsMembers noted the overall assessment was categorised as “reasonable”. Members agreed that a good deal had been achieved in this area over the past 10 years and noted that more assets would have to be sold in order to fund future developments. The three large areas for development were Headquarters, Cardiff Central and the Western Hub.6l) Programme and Project Management arrangementsMembers noted the overall assessment was categorised as “substantial”.6m) Internal Audit PlanThe Internal Audit Plan for 2016/17 was agreed subject to the following requirementsThere should be a financial update in respect of the capital programme.The plan should be updated to include counterfraud: cyber securityIn addition members were assured that 10 days was required to complete the data quality audit.7 HMIC activity update reportMembers commended the force for its responses to the HMIC inspection reports of which there had been 15 in the previous quarter.The chair made specific reference to domestic violence and police protection orders and the problems he had encountered as a magistrate whereby the force was finding it difficult to respond to the courts within 24 hours. He was assured that training had taken place within Legal Services in order to enable staff to deal with the issue.In terms of commissioning of services for restorative justice it was agreed that the Commissioner’s lead for Victims Services should be invited to attend a future seminar to inform the Members of the ongoing work in this area.ACTION – Commissioner’s lead for Victims Services to be invited to a future seminar to inform the Members of the work being done in terms of restorative justice.Risk ManagementTIAA gave a presentation on the proposals for the revised risk management process and the proposals were agreed by members. The meeting ended at 16.00.ACTION POINTSAction Details:Owner:Due Date:Action Status:1.ACTION Update on FIRMS and FUSION to be provided at the next seminar14 July 20163Chair to raise the issue of producing a document, similar to the Manual of Governance, with the Commissioner and Chief Constable during their annual meetingChairMarch 20174Members to provide their annotated notes on the revised Manual of Governance to Nia BrennanAllASAP5ACC Richard Lewis to report to the Committee on Freedom of Information and Data Protection at a future meetingACC Richard LewisFuture seminar6Commissioner’s lead for Victims Services to be invited to a future seminar to inform the Members of the work being done in terms of restorative justiceWendy Evans - Project Lead Victim ServicesFuture seminar ................
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