Agenda and minutes

It was proposed by Councillor Clarance and seconded by Councillor Rollason that Councillor Morgan is elected Chair.

A roll call was taken.

For

Councillors Morgan, Rollason, H Cox, Colclough, Mullone, Goodman-Bradbury, Clarance, and Thorne.

Against

None

Resolved that Councillor Morgan be elected Chair.

It was proposed by Councillor Morgan and seconded by Councillor Clarance that Councillor Rollason is elected Vice-Chair.

A roll call was taken.

For

Councillors Morgan, Rollason, H Cox, Colclough, Mullone, Goodman-Bradbury, Clarance, and Thorne.

Against

None

Resolved that Councillor Rollason be elected Vice-Chair.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 26 August 2020.

The minutes of the meeting held on 18 August were agreed as a correct record.

The External Auditor presented the Audit Findings Report finding. They informed the Committee of the audit issues caused by the ongoing pandemic, but that the work would be finalised by the next Full Council meeting. A site visit to Teignbridge was necessary for the Audit however due to the lockdown restrictions Grant Thornton have been unable to travel. The audit to date has been completed successfully.

In response to questions from members, the External Auditor advised that a suggested misstatement in 2018/19 had not significantly affected the spending for that year. They also advised that the impact of Brexit is uncertain and the Chief Finance Officer advised that it was not anticipated that the supply chain would not be significantly interrupted for Teignbridge. The External Auditor also advised that the use of paper records was still prevalent at Teignbridge however further electronic working papers and scanned manual documents had helped remote working and advances in technology would help with auditing these records. The External Auditor also covered funding for Teignbridge District Council, and informed the committee on potential changes to sources of funding and resourcing in the future.

Resolved

That the Committee note the report.

The Chief Finance Officer (CFO) presented the report.

The CFO informed the committee that there had been no changes to the draft accounts being audited by Grant Thornton, although there had been a small edit made to some of the wording. The final accounts and covering report would be brought to the next Full Council meeting in November.

Recommended for approval to Full Council.

The Audit Manager presented the report to the Committee. The report was in three parts: the Audit Plan, the Audit Charter, and the Redmond Review. The Audit Manager informed the Committee that the Redmond Review had recommended the appointment of an independent person to the Audit Committee.

The Executive Member for Corporate Resources thanked the internal and external Audit teams for their work.

In response to questions from members, the Audit Manager confirmed that Audit was sufficiently independent and any limitations would be outlined in the Annual Report as required under the Audit Standards

Resolved

That the Internal Audit Report be approved.

The report was introduced by the Audit Manager. It was noted no complaints were upheld at Teignbridge. This was lower than the average for similar authorities.

Resolved

That the Committee note the report.

Following this item, it was agreed that an item would be added to a future Audit Scrutiny Committee agenda regarding the value for money offered by Strata.