Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED:  To note the attendance at this meeting of the following duly appointed Reserve Members:-

RESOLVED:  To note that the following interests were declared:

Agenda Item 12 – Information Report – Internal Audit Red Assurance Reports

Councillor David Perry declared a non pecuniary interest in that he had been Leader of the Council during part of the period covered by the update report.  He would remain in the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

Agenda Item 12 – Information Report – Internal Audit Red Assurance Reports

During the course of the meeting, Councillor Kanti Rabadia declared a non pecuniary interest in that he had previously appealed to the Ombudsman with regard to the subject matter.  He would remain in the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

That the minutes of the meeting held on 16 July 2019 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 25 July 2019, be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

To receive any public questions received in accordance with Committee Procedure Rule 17 (Part 4B of the Constitution).

Questions will be asked in the order in which they were received.  There will be a time limit of 15 minutes for the asking and answering of public questions.

[The deadline for receipt of public questions is 3.00 pm, Wednesday 11 September 2019  Questions should be sent to publicquestions@harrow.gov.uk  

No person may submit more than one question].

RESOLVED:  To note that no public questions, petitions or deputations were received at this meeting.

RESOLVED:  To note that there were no references from Council and other committees/panels.

Report of the Director of Finance

The Committee received a report which set out the draft GARMS Committee Annual Report in compliance with the requirements of the GARMS Committee’s Terms of Reference.

The Head of Internal Audit and Corporate Anti-Fraud introduced the report, highlighting that it followed a template based on the minutes of the Committee.  As it was the first annual report there would be the opportunity to review the layout and content for future years, for example appending the terms of reference.

The Committee was of the view that the new process was helpful in explaining the role of the committee.  The comments on the length of the contents were noted by the officer. 

Resolved to RECOMMEND:  (to Council)

That the GARMS Committee Annual Report be received and noted.

RESOLVED:  That the Head of Internal Audit, in consultation with the Chair, be delegated to produce a foreword to be added to the report.

The Chair informed Members that an Independent Person had resigned necessitating a recruitment process.  It was noted that nominations would be sought from the Group Offices for three members of GARMS to serve on the Interview Panel, two Labour and one Conservative.

To resolve that 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 confidential information in breach of an obligation of confidence, or of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972:

RESOLVED:  That in accordance with Part I of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items for the reasons set out below:

Report of the Director of Finance

The Committee considered a confidential report which set out the Council’s 2019/20 Corporate Risk Register for Quarter 2 of the financial year to assist the GARMS Committee in monitoring progress on risk management in accordance with its terms of reference.  Members noted that Quarter 1 for 2019/20 had been agreed subsequent to the last GARMS Committee meeting, therefore the information before the Committee reported on Quarter 1 and Quarter 2.

The Head of Internal Audit and Corporate Anti-Fraud introduced the report and referred to the various risks, some of which had been mitigated.  The attention of the Committee was drawn to the changes made to the register to date since the previous quarter.  Members asked some questions which were responded to.

A Member sought information on the link between the key corporate risks on the risk register and the governance report.  Members were informed that the governance report outlined the method by which risks were managed whereas the corporate risk register highlighted the actual risks that the Corporate Strategic Board considered to be the highest risks.

In response to questions raised by Members, it was noted that:

·                     the Council employed a Data Protection Officer;

·                     once the inherent risk rating had been identified, the key controls and actions to mitigate the risk were agreed and put in place.  The residual risk was the risk left once the controls and actions had been completed;

·                     the transformation programme would require additional capacity across all Directorates.  A resource plan was currently being defined..

Arising from the discussion, the officers undertook to circulate details on the following:

·                     the current situation regarding the migration to cloud for key IT systems;

·                     the number of EU national residents who had received Council assistance in securing settled status;

·                     a breakdown on how the Council was spending the funding from government for Brexit.

In response to a question, the Corporate Director Resources referred to an IT survey which encouraged officer feedback on the current IT provider.  A meeting was due to be held with the current provider the following day to discuss the exit strategy during which the opportunity would be taken to discuss the various projects moving forward.  At its meeting on 12 September 2019, Cabinet had agreed the recommended new model for the ICT service, the report to which would be circulated to the Committee Members.

In response to a question, the Chair stated that arrangements could be made to arrange for the dissemination of the process by which information was fed into the production of the risk register if Members considered it useful.

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.

Report of the Director of Finance

The Committee received a confidential report of the Director of Finance which set out a final red assurance report undertaken by Internal Audit as part of the 2018/19 Internal Audit Plan and reported at a high level in the Year End report presented at the last GARMS Committee meeting in July and a follow-up of red/amber assurance report previously presented to the Committee.  The reports were presented to help fulfil the Committee’s purpose to provide assurance to the members of the adequacy of the Council’s governance, risk management and control framework.

The Head of Internal Audit and Corporate Anti-Fraud introduced the reports.  It was noted that with regard to the final red assurance report all of the recommendations had been agreed by management and a follow-up of the implementation of the recommendations would be undertaken by Internal Audit in November 2019.

Officers from the area responded to questions.  With regard to the final red assurance report Members were advised of additional capacity, a review of training provision, monthly team meetings and discussions regarding resources.

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.