Agenda and minutes

Received from Councillor Sara Hyde.

None.

If you have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest* in an item of business:

§  if it is not yet on the council’s register, you must declare both the existence and details of it at the start of the meeting or when it becomes apparent;

§  you may choose to declare a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest that is already in the register in the interests of openness and transparency. 

In both the above cases, you must leave the room without participating in discussion of the item.

If you have a personal interest in an item of business and you intend to speak or vote on the item you must declare both the existence and details of it at the start of the meeting or when it becomes apparent but you may participate in the discussion and vote on the item.

*(a) Employment, etc - Any employment, office, trade, profession or vocation carried on for profit or gain.

(b)   Sponsorship - Any payment or other financial benefit in respect of your expenses in carrying out duties as a member, or of your election; including from a trade union.

(c)   Contracts - Any current contract for goods, services or works, between you or your partner (or a body in which one of you has a beneficial interest) and the council.

(d)   Land - Any beneficial interest in land which is within the council’s area.

(e)   Licences- Any licence to occupy land in the council’s area for a month or longer.

(f)   Corporate tenancies - Any tenancy between the council and a body in which you or your partner have a beneficial interest.

 (g)   Securities - Any beneficial interest in securities of a body which has a place of business or land in the council’s area, if the total nominal value of the securities exceeds £25,000 or one hundredth of the total issued share capital of that body or of any one class of its issued share capital. 

This applies to all members present at the meeting.

None.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 31 January 2022 be confirmed as a correct record and the Chair be authorised to sign them.

The following points were noted during discussion:

·       The Committee was reassured by officers that the 750 planned days for work on the Audit Plan could be completed by the Team within its current staff resources

·       It was likely that the time spent by Internal Audit on reviewing grant claims for government funding should reduce this year, meaning that time could instead be devoted to other items in the Plan

·       Pensions KPIs to appear on future Audit Plans

 A general observation was made about how the Council deals with complaints, which was not necessarily related to the Internal Audit Plan, in that the complaints process could be regarded as an early warning system for areas that might warrant investigation by Internal Audit.

RESOLVED:

That the 2022-23 Internal Audit Plan for the Council, as detailed in the report of the Corporate Director of Resources, be approved.

The following points were noted during discussion:

·       There had been five whistleblowing complaints to date in 2021/22, a decrease since the total of eighteen in 2016/17

·       Whistleblowing complaints could be particularly useful to the Council on occasions when they helped to effect change

·       The triage system operated by Internal Audit for dealing with complaints ensured that they were dealt with appropriately, referred to managers or other structures, and not necessarily as whistleblowing complaints.

·       Complainants were encouraged to include as much detail as possible in their complaints and to put their name to the complaint in order to substantiate them.

·       Staff who wished to make a complaint but did not have access to a computer were encouraged to put their complaint in writing

·       Officers were to be commended on the speed and thoroughness of an investigation into a whistleblowing complaint from October 2021

·       The proposed revised Whistleblowing Policy would be considered by Audit Committee in June 2022, following consultation. Following approval by Audit Committee, it was anticipated that communication would be made to all Council staff and trade unions to draw the revised Policy to their attention

·       The proposed revised Whistleblowing Policy should also include guidance to councillors on the handling of complaints they received directly

RESOLVED:

That the report of the Corporate Director of Resources, detailing the Council’s current Whistleblowing arrangements, be noted.

Noted.

Chris Lobb, Audit Manager

Noting that this would be Chris Lobb’s last attendance at Audit Committee, as he was due to retire at the end of March after 22 years’ service at Islington and 42 years in local government, the Chair, on behalf of the Committee, placed on record the Council’s thanks to him for his years of valuable service to the Committee and the Council and wished him good health and a long and happy retirement.

On behalf of the Committee, the Chair also thanked officers for their support to the Committee over the past four years.