Agenda and minutes

Members are asked to declare any interests in the items under consideration and in doing so state:

(1) the type of interest concerned either a

(a)   personal interest

(b)   prejudicial interest

(c)    disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI)

and

(2) the nature of the interest concerned

If any member requires advice on declarations of interests, they are advised to contact the Head of Democratic Governance in advance of the meeting.

Councillor Galley declared a personal interest in relation to agenda item 3 Strategic Risk Register – Unsustainable Local Economy and Increased Deprivation due to his position as a Non-Executive Director on the Board of the Blackpool Entertainment Company Limited and his position as Chair of the Board for Blackpool Transport Services Limited. He also declared a personal interest in relation to agenda item 7 Tramway Audit Follow-Up due to his position as Chair of the Board for Blackpool Transport Services Limited.

Councillor Roberts declared a personal interest in relation to agenda item 3 Strategic Risk Register – Unsustainable Local Economy and Increased Deprivation due to his position as a Non-Executive Director on the Board of Blackpool Airport Operations Limited.

The Committee agreed: that Councillor Mrs Callow, Chair of the Scrutiny Leadership Board, be given permission to speak at Audit Committee meetings due to her role and the involvement of the Audit Committee with the Scrutiny Leadership Board.

To agree the minutes of the last meeting of the Audit Committee held on 25 July 2019 as a true and correct record.

The Committee agreed that the minutes of the meeting held on 25 July 2019 be signed by the Chairman as a true and correct record.

The Committee considered a progress report outlining the individual risks identified within the Council’s Strategic Risk Register – Unsustainable Local Economy and Increased Deprivation.

Mr Paul Turner, Head of Service for School Standards, Safeguarding and Inclusion, introduced the progress report in relation to the sub-risk of Lack of Educational Attainment/Appropriate Training to Meet the Needs of the Economy. Mr Turner reported that GCSE results had largely remained static overall in comparison to the previous year’s results, with St George’s School and Aspire Academy seeing a marked improvement. Committee members noted that Key Stage 4 results were consistently lower than national averages.

Mr Turner informed members that a town-wide Inclusion Plan was in place aimed at improving inclusion across schools for pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND). Mr Turner explained that exclusion rates were on the increase and that many young people with SEND exhibited behavioural issues which impacted on exclusion rates. Members were informed that Blackpool Council was in a good position to influence schools via the provision of guidance and advice.

An issue of significance raised by Mr Turner was that of the use of the Pupil Referral Unit. He highlighted that the number of referrals had decreased and assured members that a plan was in place to reduce numbers yet further, recognising that the removal of pupils from mainstream education was not desirable as a course of action. 

Mr Neil Jack, Chief Executive, stressed that pupils within Blackpool’s primary schools were performing better, with the decline in attainment occurring from Key Stage 3 onwards.

The Committee queried the exact numbers of pupils who were electing for home education and also what proportion of those children attained GCSE qualifications. Mr Turner advised that the number of pupils educated at home was in the region of 300, which he indicated was twice the national average. He went on to explain that the legal requirement was merely for parents to provide ‘a suitable education’ and that examinations were not a mandatory part of that. As GCSEs would require that parents self-funded the examinations, Mr Turner concluded that the associated costs were a significant barrier to low income families.

It was queried whether parents needed to seek permission from the Council prior to withdrawing their child for home education. The Committee was informed that parents were required to submit a deregistration letter which would prompt enquires as to the reasons behind their request for home education.

The Committee raised the question of whether examples of best practice from the better performing schools within Blackpool were being utilised to improve the attainment levels in other Blackpool schools. Mr Turner confirmed that best practice was shared amongst the schools and that each academy had its own improvement plan. In addition, Mr Turner explained that bespoke training tailored specifically to each school or academy was being provided via Teach Blackpool, who worked directly with teachers to improve the standard of teaching being provided.

Members of the Committee questioned what the identified key barriers  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

To receive a verbal update from Deloitte external auditors on the Annual Audit Letter.

Mr Paul Thomson, Risk Advisory Partner at Deloitte advised the Committee that until the final Statement of Accounts for 2018/2019 had been agreed, the external auditors were unable to issue the Annual Audit letter.

At the meeting of the Audit Committee on 25 July 2019 the Committee agreed to approve the Statement of Accounts for 2018/2019 subject to no material changes resulting from the outstanding work still to be completed. Further to that meeting, work remains ongoing from the Council’s external auditors and as such the final accounts have yet to be agreed.

The Committee will receive a verbal update from Deloitte external auditors.

Mr Paul Thomson, Risk Advisory Partner at Deloitte informed the Committee that the potential financial impact of the McCloud ruling had been resolved, however a further query with regards to the Council’s accounting reserves had prevented the external auditors from agreeing the final Statement of Accounts for 2018/2019.

Mr Thomson informed the Committee that the external auditors were still awaiting corrections from the Council in order than further analysis of the data could take place. Mr Thomson confirmed that the query did not involve a loss of a specific sum of reserves, but rather questions over how the figures had been accounted. He also reported that 45 per cent of local authorities had not signed their final accounts by this year’s deadline and that the consensus was for a return to the previous September deadline.

The Committee queried whether the Council would incur any additional charges as a result of the extra time spent reviewing the accounts. Mr Thomson stated that as there had been additional reviewing time by Deloitte, then there could be an associated charge for the time involved.

[Mr Thomson and Mr Raynor, Deloitte, left the meeting on conclusion of this item.]

To consider a summary of the work completed by Risk Services in quarter one of the 2019/2020 financial year.

Mrs Tracy Greenhalgh, Head of Audit and Risk, introduced a summary of the work completed by Risk Services in quarter one of the 2019/2020 financial year.

Mrs Greenhalgh highlighted that the adequate updating of departmental Business Continuity Plans was still an area of concern, stating that whilst 96 per cent of plans were in place across the Council, only 78 per cent had been sufficiently updated over the past 12 months.

With regards to the changes in relation to disabled parking concessions, the Committee questioned whether an increase in the risk of fraudulent use could be expected. Mrs Greenhalgh confirmed that the widening definition of the use of disabled parking permits would be likely to result in an increase in blue badge fraud and as such was an area of significance. Mr Thompson informed the Committee that applications for blue badges were expected to increase by 50 per cent.

Clarification was sought on the number of outstanding Priority 1 Audit recommendations. Mrs Greenhalgh informed members that she would circulate the details to the Committee following the meeting.

The Committee received data in relation to sensitive insurance claims and Mrs Greenhalgh informed members that this data would be reported to the Committee going forward. Specific details of the nature of the sensitive claims were requested, which Mrs Greenhalgh stated she would circulate to Committee members outside of the meeting.

The Committee noted the report.

To consider a progress report on the recommendations made in the internal audit report of the tramway extension project. 

The Committee received a progress report on the recommendations made in the internal audit report of the tramway extension project. The scope of the audit was to review the project and contract management arrangements in place to ensure the effective delivery of the tramway extension including the interaction with other associated regeneration projects. Internal audit considered the current controls to be adequate, with some risks identified and assessed and some changes identified as necessary. The review identified scope for improvement in the operation of the project board being more closely aligned to their documented roles and responsibilities.

Mrs Greenhalgh acknowledged that the project management structure had been well managed, but that the coordination of the schemes required more detailed documentation to evidence the work done. Mrs Greenhalgh informed the Committee that the review had resulted in beneficial clarity around the roles and responsibilities of the project board via agreement of the board’s terms of reference, as well as improved documentation of the coordination of works across the town.

The Committee noted the report.

To note the date and time of the next meeting of the Committee as 14 November 2019, commencing at 6pm.

The date and time of the next meeting of the Committee was noted as 14 November 2019, commencing at 6pm.