Agenda and minutes

          The Minutes of the meeting held on 26 September 2018 were taken as read and signed as a correct record.

The Board received a report of the Strategic Director, Enterprise, Community and Resources, which provided an update from Grant Thornton (External Auditors) regarding:

·       Progress made in delivering their responsibilities as the Council’s External Auditors; and

·       A summary of emerging national issues and developments that could be relevant to the work of the Board.

It was reported that the planning processes for the 2018/19 financial year audit had begun and the detailed work and audit visits would begin later in the year. Regular discussions would be held with management which would inform the risk assessment for the 2018/19 financial statements and value for money audits.

Helen Stevenson, Audit Manager and Mark Heap, Engagement Lead, from Grant Thornton, attended the meeting to present the report and then dealt with Members’ questions.

RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

The Board considered a report of the  Strategic Director, Enterprise, Community and Resources, on the implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) legislation and an overall update on the Council’s position regarding information governance.

The Board was advised that Information Governance meant the effective management of information in all forms and locations; it included electronic and paper based information, how it was held, used and shared. It was also concerned with keeping information safe and secure, ensuring it was shared appropriately when necessary to do so.

It was reported that the introduction of the GDPR strengthened and unified data protection for individuals. It heightened the standards required and imposed new obligations. Details and examples of such requirements and how they had been applied were set out in the report.

It was noted that a mandatory training requirement had been extended to include GDPR and all Officers were required to undertake the training. Members further noted and considered the view of the Monitoring Officer that consideration should be given to Members being required to complete the training, which was available as an online, interactive course via the Council’s Intranet.

The report also detailed the ongoing work requirements in connection with the full review of the Council’s Information Governance practices for Members’ information.

RESOLVED: That the contents of the report be noted.

The Board considered a report of the Strategic Director, Enterprise, Community and Resources, which provided an update on the Corporate Risk Register for 2018/19.

The report contained a progress commentary on the management and mitigation of the corporate risk register for the year.

          The Board reviewed the robustness of the Corporate Risk Register and the adequacy of the associated risk management arrangements. It was reported that at Directorate level, arrangements were in place for the high-risk mitigation measures on the Directorate Risk Registers to be reviewed and updated at mid-year. Progress on these was reported to Management Team and to relevant Policy and Performance Boards.

RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

PART II

In this case the Board has a discretion to exclude the press and public and, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted, it is RECOMMENDED that under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, having been satisfied that in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act.

The Board considered:

1)    whether Members of the press and public should be excluded from the meeting of the Board during consideration of the following item of business in accordance with Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 because it was likely that, in view of the nature of the business to be considered, exempt information would be disclosed, being information defined in Section 100 (1) and paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972; and

2)    whether the disclosure of information was in the public interest, whether any relevant exemptions were applicable and whether, when applying the public interest test and exemptions, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed that in disclosing the information.

RESOLVED: That as, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed that in disclosing the information, members of the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item of business in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 because it was likely that, in view of the nature of the business, exempt information would be disclosed, being information defined in Section 100 (1) and paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.

(N.B. Councillor Wall declared a Disclosable Other Interest in the following item of business as she was a Governor of St Bede’s Catholic Infant School and her son also attended the St Bedes Catholic Junior School)

The Board considered a report of the Divisional Manager, Audit, Procurement and Operational Finance, which provided Members with a summary of internal audit work completed since the last progress report in July 2018. The report also highlighted matters relevant to the Board’s responsibilities as the Council’s Audit Committee.

It was noted that a total of 18 Internal Audit reports had been finalised since the last progress report. An overall assurance opinion was provided for each audit engagement. It was reported that at the end of Quarter 2, 44.8% of the total planned audit work had been completed, and that whilst the situation was being managed, progress against the audit plan would be closely monitored for the remainder of the financial year.

It was reported that the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards required the establishment of a follow up process, to monitor and ensure that management actions had been effectively implemented or that the risk of not taking action had been accepted by senior management. Details of the follow-up work were detailed in the report and relevant appendix. However, it was noted that management had responded positively to all the issues identified in the audits and there were no outstanding matters that had implications for the annual internal audit opinion.

RESOLVED: That the update on progress against the 2018/19 Internal Audit Progress Report be received.

The Chair confirmed that training on Risk Factors would take place prior to the next meeting of the Board, starting at 5.30pm in the Civic Suite, Runcorn Town Hall.