There were no apologies for absence.

There were no declarations of interest declared at the meeting.

The minutes of the meeting held on 31 October 2022 were confirmed.

The Chairman reported that there were no matters arising from the above minutes which were not covered elsewhere on the agenda.

The Committee received and considered the report from the Head of Internal Audit. 

The Head of Internal Audit reported progress made between 25 October 2022 to 17 January 2023 in relation to the delivery of the revised Annual Internal Audit Plan for 2022/23.

 Councillor Wainwright asked whether the report would be made public and was advised by the Head of Internal Audit that it could if the GYN board were informed of the references to the GYN reports contained within and the public interest test was met. 

Councillor Wainwright asked for clarification regarding GY2022 -  Housing Compliance. The Director of Housing Assets advised that housing stock would be fully compliant by May. The Chair asked whether this included fire doors. The Director of Housing Assets explained that there was a new database in place covering gas, electricity and fire systems to ensure that all the required data was in one place. The Head of Internal Audit advised that a housing compliance audit would be added to next year's audit plan and be reviewed on a regular basis.

Councillor Wainwright sought further clarification regarding GY 2313  - Elections, specifically the introduction of Voter ID, as he was concerned that many residents had none. The Head of Internal Audit advised that a proactive communications plan would be implemented, including liaising with Doctors’ surgeries. Councillor Wainwright raised concerns that the new legislation would have an undue burden on the Elections Team and asked whether the Council were using the Funding New Burdens resource to recruit more staff. 

RESOLVED:-

That the Committee:

 (1) noted the progress update relating to the Internal Audit Plan for 2021/22 & 2022/23 

 (2) noted the update on the Council’s implementation of internal audit recommendations. 

The Committee received and considered the report from the Finance Director. 
          

RESOLVED:-

That the Committee note the actions taken to address the issues identified.

The Committee received and considered the report from the Finance Director.

The Corporate Risk Officer reported that the Corporate Risk Register was last reviewed by the Management Team in December 2022. 

The risk matrix showed how the risks identified in the Corporate Risk Register were distributed. There were currently 28 risks included on the Corporate Risk Register. The risks considered to be outside the Councils risk appetite had action plans in place to mitigate or reduce the risk. The risks that fell within the risk appetite or were deemed acceptable risks, have action plans in place to reduce the risk further.

Since presenting the Corporate Risk Register to the Audit and Risk Committee in July 2022 there had been three risks added to the register:- 

                10b - Business Continuity - National Power Outages 

                10c - Business Continuity - Rolling Power Outages 

                 28  - Confidential Risk     

The risk rating for three risks had reduced due to the implementation of the action plan and further control measures in place:-

                 11   - Management of Major Projects 

   12b - Workforce Capacity

                  23  - Emergence of new strain of Covid

          The risk rating for one risk has increased:-

                  5b  - Impact of inflation rise.

Councillor Wainwright asked whether the risk matrix in the Corporate Risk Register took into consideration the rate of inflation and was advised by the Finance Director that all projects were being looked at with regard to budget. 

Councillor Wainwright raised concerns regarding financial stability and whether the Marina Centre would be able to make the repayments to the Council in view of current energy costs, especially as energy help from Central Government was being removed at the end of March.

Councillor Galer voiced concerns that with regard to power outages, the risks may be higher than expected, as in the past there were reductions in voltage, not total cut-offs. He queried what the effect of a power cut in one part of the county would have on another part of the county, especially as some Council IT systems were supplied by County. 
        


Councillor Wright queried the risk factor of event management and asked about insurance cover for events. The Finance Director advised that insurance cover was reviewed every year and in the event of it not covering a shortfall, the Council would have to look at using its reserves. The Chair advised that if an event was deemed too risky, it would not take place.

RESOLVED:-

That the Committee review and note the Corporate Risk Register.

The Committee received and considered the Work Programme.

The Finance Director advised that there were still some areas outstanding on the 2020/21 Statement of accounts audit, the External Audit Senior Manager had left EY and there was to be a handover. The Audit plan would be updated as applicable.

RESOLVED:-

That the Committee note the work programme.