Agenda

Minutes of the meeting of the Audit Committee held on 27 September 2023, as circulated, to be confirmed as a true record and signed by the Chair.

Unless already entered in the Council’s Register of Members’ interests, members are required where a matter arises at a meeting;

a. Which directly relates to Disclosable Pecuniary Interest (‘DPI’) as set out in Appendix B, Table 1 of the Code of Conduct, to disclose the interest, not participate in any discussion or vote and not to remain in room. Where members have a DPI or if the matter concerns an executive function and is being considered by a Cabinet Member with a DPI they must notify the Monitoring Officer and arrange for somebody else to deal with the matter.

b. Which directly relates to the financial interest or well being of a Other Registrable Interest as set out in Appendix B, Table 2 of the Code of Conduct to disclose the interest and only speak on the matter if members of the public are also allowed to speak at the meeting but otherwise must not take part in any discussion or vote on the matter and must not remain the room.

c. Which directly relates to their financial interest or well-being (and is not DPI) or the financial well being of a relative or close associate, to declare the interest and members may only speak on the matter if members of the public are also allowed to speak. Otherwise, the member must not take part in discussion or vote on the matter and must leave the room.

d. Which affects the financial well-being of the member, a relative or close associate or a body included under the Other Registrable Interests column in Table 2, to disclose the interest and apply the test set out at paragraph 9 of Appendix B before deciding whether they may remain in the meeting.

e. Where Members have or a Cabinet Member has an Other Registerable Interest or Non Registerable Interest in a matter being considered in exercise of their executive function, they must notify the Monitoring Officer and arrange for somebody else to deal with it.

NB Any member needing clarification must contact monitoringofficer@northumberland.gov.uk. Members are referred to the Code of Conduct which contains the matters above in full. Please refer to the guidance on disclosures at the rear of this agenda letter.

The Audit Committee operates under an agreed programme of core business, in accordance with its Terms of Reference as set out in the Council’s Constitution. The Committee is asked to review and note its monitoring report/action log for the 2023/24 council year.

Governance Review – Update on Continued Progress

The report summaries progress on delivering the Council’s action plan following the independent review of governance undertaken in 2022.

FPS Local Pension Board Annual Report

This is the annual report of the Northumberland County Council Firefighters’ Pension Scheme (FPS) Local Pension Board (“the Board”), which was constituted in 2015 as part of changes introduced by the Public Service Pensions Act 2013. It is the intent of the Board to use the annual report to inform the Scheme Manager (i.e. NCC’s S151 Officer in consultation with the Chief Fire Officer) of NCC’s data on FPS membership, statement of accounts, and issues progressed through the Internal Disputes Resolution Procedure (IDRP) and Fire Disputes Panel.

The purpose of this report is to provide the Audit Committee with an interim (half yearly) monitoring statement in respect of the Strategic Audit Plan for 2023/24 (this document is attached as Appendix 1).

The purpose of this report is to advise Audit Committee of key outcomes from Internal Audit reports issued between May 2023 and October 2023.

The purpose of this report is to provide Audit Committee with an update on the latest position of the corporate risks following review by Executive Team and Cabinet portfolio holders.

Treasury Management Mid-Year Report 2023-24

This report provides a mid-year review of the activities of the Treasury Management function for the period 1 April to 30 September 2023, and performance against the Treasury Management Strategy Statement (TMSS) 2023-24 - as approved by the County Council on 22 February 2023.  The report provides a review of borrowing and investment performance for the period set in the context of the general economic conditions prevailing so far during the year. It also reviews specific Treasury Management prudential indicators defined by the (CIPFA) Treasury Management Code of Practice and CIPFA Prudential Code for Capital Finance in Local Authorities, (the Prudential Code), and approved by Council in the TMSS.

The purpose of the document is to summarise the audit conclusions.

To receive a verbal update.

Statement of Accounts 2021-22

To seek approval of the Council’s Statement of Accounts for the financial year ended 31 March 2022.

The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, 31 January 2024 at 10.15 am.

It is expected that matters included in this part of the Agenda will be dealt with in private.  Reports referred to are enclosed for members and officers only, coloured pink and marked "Not for Publication".

The Committee is invited to consider passing the following resolution:

(a)    That under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item on the Agenda as it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A of the 1972 Act, and

(b)    That the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure for the following reasons:-

Agenda Items

14                                Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A

Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding the information).

Disclosure could adversely affect the business reputation or confidence in the person/organisation, and could adversely affect commercial revenue.

Update on Internal Audit work in relation to active group entities

To receive a verbal update.