Issue - meetings

Cabinet RECEIVED the revised Annual Governance Letter 2008/09.

The Annual Audit Letter will be considered by the Corporate Governance Committee on 9 February 2010. Any major issues arising from that meeting will be reported verbally by the Leader.

Cabinet RECEIVED the revised Annual Audit Letter 2008/09.

The Audit Commission’s Annual Audit Letter for the 2008/09 municipal year had been received by the Corporate Governance Committee on 9 February 2010, at which time two main points had been made:

·                      the new inspection regime had a greater focus on outcomes, and Cabinet was requested to review its methodology when setting the Council’s Aims, Actions and Approaches to ensure that they were outcome-focused;

·                      broadly speaking, the score of 2 (adequate) was satisfactory and the Corporate Governance Committee would support the Cabinet if Cabinet felt that the investment necessary to reach a score of 3 was not the best use of resources.

The Finance and Staffing Portfolio Holder highlighted the generally positive remarks made by the Audit Commission, although concerns were raised at the variance of an additional £55,800 charged to the authority above the planned fee.  Councillor JD Batchelor, Scrutiny and Overview Committee Chairman, queried how the auditors determined that scrutiny had improved without interviewing any members of the committee.

Cabinet RECEIVED the revised Annual Audit Letter 2008/09. 

Neil Gibson presented the Annual Audit Letter for 2008-09, published by the Audit Commission in December 2009, and the Annual Governance Report for 2008-09, revised and republished in November 2009.

Members discussed a number of issues arising from the Letter and Report, including

§                Financial reporting standards

§                The use of jargon and preference for plain English

§                Value for Money

§                The Audit Commission scoring system