Governance and Audit Committee

Members considered the dates and times for forthcoming Meetings, together with start times. RESOLVED – That the dates below of the Governance & Audit Committee for the forthcoming municipal year be noted, and that the start time of Meetings be at 10.00am: 28 July 2022 16 February 2023 22 September 2022 23 March 2023 20 October 2022 25 May 2023 15 December 2022 27 July 2023

The Chief Officer Finance & ICT submitted the proposed Work Programme for 2022/23. During discussion, the following points were raised: · Members asked for their training dates and identified that they would like to receive training on the Statement of Accounts from the Head of Service Accountancy. · It was confirmed that the independent Lay Members would be invited to attend training sessions. · Reference was made to the Work Shop that had taken place during March 2022 that related to complaints raised by the General Public and it was identified that there had been conflict between what had been registered as a complaint set by the Ombudsman’s statutory guidance and what was referred to as an enquiry. · The Complaints training process will be included in the Member Development training Programme for October 2022. RESOLVED – (i) That the Work Programme be approved. (ii) That Committee Members be provided with the training dates for 2022/23, including training on the Statements of Accounts and the Complaints Process.

The Chief Officer Finance and IT submitted a report (COFI/12/22) asking Members to consider the Interim Report for April 2021 to March 2022. The Audit Lead introduced the report and informed Members that it was the standard report format for the work that had been undertaken from the 2021/22 Internal Audit Plan. Whilst introducing the report: · An explanation regarding the structure of the report was provided to the new Members. · Members were informed that there had been 7 planned Audits completed between February and March 2022 where there had been no red and red amber levels of assurance identified. · An explanation regarding the different levels of assurance was provided to Members whereby, the levels had been broken down into red, red/amber, amber and green levels categories and those levels were reported in line with the 2021/22 Audit Plan and were outlined in Appendix A1. · The levels of assurance would be changing to red, amber, yellow and green for audits completed from the 2022/23 plan onwards. The following was discussed:- · A summary of the Counter-Fraud investigations and the new Levels of Assurance will be included in the Internal Audit Interim reports going forward. · The amount of audit reviews had reduced over a period of time due to the reduction of the audit team as a result of retirements prior to Covid. Going forward, the Internal Audit will be focusing more on the coverage within their audits whereby the reviews will be wider and deeper. · The Chief Officer Finance and ICT clarified that: a) The current Internal Audit team numbers had remained static over the past few years and that there had been no recent Internal Audit Staff reductions. b) In terms of the Internal Audit Plan it was deliverable, risk based and sized accordingly for the current team. · A Member noted that he was in favour for having more resources within the Internal Audit Team. · The Head of Service Audit & Technical believed that the Council’s framework of governance, risk management and control was largely effective. · Members were assured that where recommendations had been made throughout February and March 2022 the resultant controls were good because there had been no high priority recommendations and it was explained that the report was a small snap shot at this point in time. · A Member made reference to Appendix A3 that summarised the Internal Audit Plan 2021-22 Internal Audit Plan’s final status and enquired about the number of deferred Audits during that period. · There were a number of deferred audits due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the relevant departments did not have the resources during that time. · Members were assured that the deferred audits were therefore delayed due to exceptional circumstances and that all of the deferred audits had been risk assessed and were included in this year’s Audit Plan 2022-23. · Out of the 7 completed audits outlined in Appendix A2 only the Community Safety Audit report showed that the recommendations had been accepted by the responsible Officers. · The Audit Lead explained the process about following up audit recommendations and assured Members that the Audit Team were chasing up the 6 Audit reports that had outstanding recommendations. · The Head of Audit and Technical will follow up uncompleted action plans at the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) meetings and the relevant Chief Officers. · The Chair assured Members that the Chief Officers would be held to account with regards to their department’s resultant audit reviews. RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

The Chief Finance and ICT Officer submitted a report (COFI/13/22) asking Members to consider the Internal Audit – Annual Report 2021-22 and the overall adequacy and effectiveness of the Council’s framework of governance, risk management and control. The Audit Lead for Internal Audit presented the report and highlight the following:- · It was compiled with CIPFA’s guidance and the Council’s Financial Procedure Rules, the Internal Audit Charter 2021-2022 and the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards (the Standards). · Confirmation that in the areas examined, the Council’s framework of governance, risk management and control was generally adequate and effective in achieving the Council’s objective. This level of assurance was supported by the high proportion of Internal Audit’s recommendations accepted by management and in addition to this that the level of detailed implementation and action plans received from management that set out how the identified control weaknesses would be rectified. · There was no significant areas for consideration in the Annual Governance Statement 2021-22. · There were areas that required further attention to ensure that there was compliance with the Council’s framework of governance, risk management and control: a) ICT Networks; b) Breakfast Clubs. · In giving the above opinion, it should be noted that levels of assurance could never be absolute. Internal Audit could only ever provide to the Council, a reasonable assurance that there were no major weaknesses in the aspects of governance, risk management and the control processes that have been audited. During consideration of the report, the following points were raised: · It was acknowledged that a tremendous amount of work has been carried out by the Internal Audit team whilst undertaking their audits. It was also appreciated that Covid-19 had an impact on receipt of responses from Officers regarding the resultant audit high and medium priority recommendations. · The Head of Service assured Members that: a) There was not much of a time gap between the 2021/22 deferred audits that had been rescheduled within the 2022/23 Audit Plan and that all the Financial Services were included. b) All of the deferred audits had been risk assessed and Chief Officers also provide assurances. c) The Audit team have been fully staffed for 6 months and the Head of Service was satisfied with the level of assurance. d) The five year assessment will not have an impact on the 2022/23 Audit Plan. e) Should there be any challenges or changes to the Audit Plan Internal Audit would report back to the Committee. · The Chief Officer Finance & ICT confirmed that the ongoing concerns detailed in point 3.17 were included in the Council’s risk registers. · Members were assured that the audit team were addressing the issues highlighted in the table as high and medium priorities noted in point 6.12 of the report. · The Chief Officer Finance & ICT informed Members that: f) The Finance Department had plans to recruit apprentices and had plans to offer them an option of a career path. g) The recommendations from the 2021/22 external review had been taken into consideration and measures were in place to improve the Audit team’s processes on delivery and was confident that the Audit team would achieve the Audit plan for 2022/23. h) There will be a high number of recommendations for Schools because there were over 70 of them and that Social Care was spread across a number of services and areas. i) A standardised explanation of the terms of “adequate” will be provided to Members at a later date. · Assurance was provided regarding to the amount of deferred audits and to the two audits detailed in the Action Plan . · The Audit lead explained to Members: a) The process on how high and medium audit recommendations were followed up. b) That the Audit Department has estimated the resources required to deliver on its functions and has built a contingency for investigations, follow up audits and the additional audits that chief officers have requested. · A new medium and high priority recommendation tracker system will be in place in the near future that would replace the current manual system. RESOLVED - That in the areas examined, the Council’s framework of governance, risk management and control is generally adequate and effective in achieving the Council’s objectives.

The Chief Officer Finance and ICT submitted a report (COFI/14/22) asking Members to consider the Chair of the Governance and Audit Committee’s Annual Report 2021/22. The Chair introduced the report and explained that the report captured the key areas with regards to: a) Compliance with the terms of reference. b) The revised requirements to include a performance assessment and arrangements for handling complaints. c) The change of the Committee membership During consideration of the report the following was discussed: · Members of the Committee acknowledged that virtual attendance at meetings was the highest it had been and the Committee were continuing with hybrid meetings going forward. · Wales Audit to be recognised for the support they had given regarding the Children’s Services, the ongoing planning review and the ongoing relationship with the Committee. · An observation was made regarding the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 (Act) that related to the updated role descriptions. It was confirmed that the updated roles would be factored into Committee reports going forward. · It was confirmed that the Chair had a formal relationship with the Scrutiny Committee and that the Committee reserved the rights to have a relationship with the Standards Committee and if deemed necessary would raise any concerns at that Committee. · The Chief Officer Finance and ICT confirmed that the Terms of Reference covered the areas of risk management, governance and the future role changes. · Members were asked to consider the importance of good culture of governance within the Chairs Annual report. RESOLVED - That the Governance and Audit Committee’s Annual Report 2021/22 be recommended to Full Council for approval.

The Chief Officer Finance & ICT submitted a report (COFI/15/22) asking Members to consider the Counter Fraud Annual report. The Head of Service Audit and Technical introduced the report and highlighted that: · The Counter Fraud Report enabled the Committee to discharge its functions as set out in the Council’s Constitution. Reference was made to the Audit Wales’ Report “Raising Our Game – Tackling Fraud in Wales” that detailed 15 recommendations. · The report also provided a summary of the actual recorded incidences of fraud recorded against the Council during the 2021-22 of which were reported to the Committee as part of the Interim reports. · The risks factors remained high throughout the year but the Council had controls in place to manage those risks and that good governance and financial controls helped to manage the levels of fraud. The following was discussed: · It was confirmed that Wrexham Internal Audit Services did not currently employ specialist counter fraud staff but counter fraud was factored into the Wrexham Internal Audit Plans. There was also a collaborated North and Mid Wales Group which was currently in its infancy where one of its aspects was to share knowledge and it was work in progress. · Members highlighted the benefits of sharing counter fraud resources and specialised Counter Fraud staff. · Risk registers would be looked at annually at a regional level to enable the North and Mid Wales Group Members to learn from each other. · A Member requested access to the Better Governance Forum document. · Receiving targeted National Fraud Initiative (NFI) matches would mean that Wrexham Council would be receiving precise and useful information and it would enable them to look at the information in more detail which would result in identifying fraud easier rather than using more resources and dismissing a great volume of NFI matches. · The Head of Service would feed back to the Committee annually regarding the source of fraud detection such as anonymous and internal detection. · The Chief Officer Finance and ICT explained that Wrexham Council had a range of measures, systems and financial commitments to control risks of Fraud. It was noted that there were mechanisms in place such as the Whistleblowing policy that enabled concerns to be raised. · The Whistleblowing policy will be considered by the Committee at a later date. RESOLVED - That the report be noted.

The Audit Wales Lead gave a presentation about the key messages arising from Audit Wales’ Assurance and risk Assessment project that would inform the Audit Plan for the following year. The presentation comprised of the following: · Assurance and Risk Assessment Review – legislative basis and approach. · Areas of review during 2021-22. · Areas we consider in all Councils. · Emerging challenges in all Councils. · Other areas e.g. Housing Services, Work force, Commissioning and Contracting. · Audit Plan 2022-23. In relation to ‘digital’, the Audit Wales Lead informed the Committee that the digital sphere was an extensive area and that Audit Wales would not be able to cover the digital element in one project. Reviewing the digital infrastructure would be considered to be a starting point. The Audit Wales Lead was thanked for his presentation. RESOLVED - That the Assurance and Risk Assessment – key messages for Governance be noted.

The Chief Executive submitted a report (CE/00/22) to provide Members with a copy of the Audit Wales Annual Audit Plan 2022. The Corporate Team Manager Performance, Improvements and Partnerships, informed Members that the report was a result of the assurance and risk assessment work. The Audit Wales Lead introduced the report and explained that it had been delayed due to the Local Government Elections in May. The following was discussed and highlighted:- · Financial Statement and Audit risks. · Performance Audit Programme 2022-23: a) Assurance and Risk Assessment. b) Thematic review – unscheduled care. c) Thematic review (to be confirmed). d) Local review. The Audit Wales Lead explained that: · The risk of management overrides would be considered as part of their Auditing Standards and provided journaling, procurement and estimations as an example where controls needed to be reasonable, tested and in place. · The 3.7% increase in the Audit Wales fee for 2022-23 took into consideration quality standards and inflation rises. During consideration of the report the following matters were discussed: · Members were informed that there was a national issue where certain types of property assets with certain values needed to be reflected in the Accounts. · Audit Wales fees reflected the level of work required for public bodies to obtain the necessary assurance and that the assessment of risk would be variable dependent on the risk identified at those authorities. · Members were assured that the Audit Wales work was reviewed, governed and driven by quality and professional standards. · The Chair enquired about the contract waivers that had occurred prior and after Covid-19. · It was confirmed that the Audit Wales Audit Plan had been confirmed for the year ahead and that information regarding contact waivers could be obtained internally at Wrexham Council. · The Chief Officer Finance and ICT confirmed that the Risk Registers were monitored by the services and there were tight processes in place for extensions for contracts. RESOLVed - That the report be noted.

A copy of the Audit Wales Work Programme and Time Table Quarter 4 update was submitted for information. The Audit Wales Lead introduced the quarterly update report for March 2022. Members were informed that a draft Annual Audit Summary will be issued in November 2022. An update was provided on the following: · Financial Audit Work. · Performance Audit Work. · Local Government national studies planned/in progress. · Estyn. · Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW). · Audit Wales national reports and other outputs published since 1 April 2021. · Audit Wales national reports and other outputs (work in progress/planned) · Forthcoming Good Practice Exchange events and publications. RESOLVED – That the Audit Wales Work Programme and Timetable be noted.