In the interest of transparency all those who were Members or beneficiaries of the West Yorkshire Pension Fund disclosed an interest.

Action:           City Solicitor

Recommended –

That the minutes of the meeting held on 28 March 2017 be signed as a correct record (previously circulated).

(Fatima Butt – 01274 432227)

That the minutes of the meeting held on 28 March 2017 be signed as a correct record.

There were no appeals submitted by the public to inspect reports and background papers.

This Committee at its meeting held on 26 February 2016 considered a report on Children’s Services Governance and Audit (Document “AD”) and resolved amongst other things, that a further report be presented to the Committee on the role of the Regional Schools Commissioner and their relationship with the Local Authority.

In accordance with the above the Strategic Director, Children’s Services will submit Document “AL” which provides the information requested by Members.

Recommended-

That the report (Document “AL”) be received for information.

                                                            (Judith Kirk – 01274 431078)

It was agreed that consideration of Document “AL” be deferred to a future meeting as the Council had entered the pre-election period and had to comply with the provisions of Section 2 of the Local Government Act 1986 and observe the Code of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity.

Action:           Strategic Director, Children’s Services

The Council’s Financial Regulations require the minutes of meetings of the WYPF be submitted to this Committee.

In accordance with the above the Director of West Yorkshire Pension Fund  will submit Document “AJ” which reports on the minutes of the meeting of the WYPF Joint Advisory Group held on 26 January 2017.

Recommended-

That the minutes of the WYPF Joint Advisory Group held on 26 January 2017 be considered.

                                                            (Rodney Barton – 01274 432317)

The Council’s Financial Regulations require the minutes of meetings of the WYPF be submitted to this Committee.

In accordance with the above the Director of West Yorkshire Pension Fund   submitted Document “AJ” which reported on the minutes of the meeting of the WYPF Joint Advisory Group held on 26 January 2017.

There was a short discussion on new government regulations that had reduced the Fund’s control which resulted in increased employer contributions.

It was reported that previously the priority, under the regulations, when setting contribution rates was stability, whereas now it was to secure its solvency and have regard to the long term cost efficiency of the scheme.  In addition there was a review of all results by the Government Actuary’s Department, and together these factors had added to the economic pressures resulting in an increase in contributions.

Resolved-

That the minutes of the WYPF Joint Advisory Group held on 26 January 2017 were considered.

The External Auditor will submit Document “AK” which reports on the Audit Strategy Memorandum that sets out the plan for the external audit of City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council for 2016/17.

Recommended-

That the Audit Strategy Memorandum for the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council for 2016/17 be considered.

                                                            (Steve Appleton – 01274 432392)

The External Auditor submitted Document “AK” which reported on the Audit Strategy Memorandum that set out the plan for the external audit of City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council for 2016/17.

It was reported that the areas in which External Audit would carry out specific audit procedures to mitigate the risks of material misstatements  in the Council’s financial statements included:

·         Management override of controls;

·         Revenue recognition;

·         Estimation uncertainty for pension liabilities; and

·         Accounting for the valuation of land and buildings of schools converting to academy status.

The External Auditor reported that in the Executive Summary of the report materiality for the financial statements should read £19.5 million as opposed to £11.205 million.  Misstatements below a trivial level should read £489,000 as opposed to £336,000.

It was reported that the work External Audit would carry out to form a conclusion on whether the Council had proper arrangements in place for securing economy, efficiency and effectiveness in its use of resources was summarised further on page 10 of the report.  One significant risk that had been identified at this stage related to sustainable resource deployment and reflected the on going need for the Council to meet the challenges associated with reductions in the amount of money available to fund services.

There was a short discussion on how the valuation of the Council’s land and buildings would be considered. It was stated that the auditor would need to assess whether the in house valuation was reasonable and make a judgement based on a number of considerations such as materiality.  External Audit would only report to the Committee if there was a significant difference in the valuation of land and buildings.

In response to a Member’s question it was reported that there was a separate materiality judgment for West Yorkshire Pension Fund.

Resolved-

That the Audit Strategy Memorandum for the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council for 2016/17 was considered.

Action:           External Audit

The purpose of this report is to inform the Committee of the Internal Audit Plan for the financial year 2017/18, giving the Committee the opportunity to contribute to the plan.  It seeks to demonstrate that Internal Audit adds value to the Council by providing independent and objective assurance of risks to internal control within the Council’s systems and processes.  The Audit Plan reflects internal stakeholders’ needs and the expected needs of the Council’s external auditors for 2017/18.

The delivery of the audit plan will assist with risks within the systems reviewed being managed to an acceptable level through improvement in internal control.  This provides the external auditors with audit assurance on the Council’s fundamental financial systems.

The Strategic Director of Corporate Services will submit Document “AM” which reports on the Internal Audit Plan and details the work planned for the financial year 2017/18.

Recommended-

That the Internal Audit Plan for 2017/18 be reviewed and approved.

                                                (Mark St Romaine – 01274 432888)

The purpose of this report was to inform the Committee of the Internal Audit Plan for the financial year 2017/18, giving the Committee the opportunity to contribute to the plan.  It sought to demonstrate that Internal Audit added value to the Council by providing independent and objective assurance of risks to internal control within the Council’s systems and processes.  The Audit Plan reflected internal stakeholders’ needs and the expected needs of the Council’s external auditors for 2017/18.

The delivery of the audit plan would assist with risks within the systems reviewed being managed to an acceptable level through improvement in internal control.  This provided the external auditors with audit assurance on the Council’s fundamental financial systems.

The Strategic Director of Corporate Services submitted Document “AM” which reports on the Internal Audit Plan and detailed the work planned for the financial year 2017/18.

It was reported that further developments had taken place since the report was published in that the West Yorkshire Pension Fund had requested additional audits and therefore a new temporary senior audit post had been recruited to cover the additional work requested and other work that was required.  It was reported that the post would be funded through WYPF.

Members were informed that discussions were taking place to move to a 5 Year Internal Audit Plan.

Resolved-

That the Internal Audit Plan for 2017/18 was reviewed and approved.

Action:           Strategic Director, Corporate Services

The City Solicitor will submit Document “AN” which provides members with details of the annual review of the Financial Regulations and Contracts Standing Orders Sections  of the Council’s Constitution and makes recommendations for their amendment.

Recommended-

(1)     That the Committee consider the proposed amendments to the Constitution listed in Appendices 1 and 2 attached to Document “AN” and consider which, if any, should be recommended to Council for adoption and implementation.

(2)     That the City Solicitor reports any recommendations to Council and ensures the agreed amendments are implemented.

(3)     That the City Solicitor be granted delegated authority to make consequential amendments to the Constitution as a result of the recommendations approved by Council.

                                                                        (Mark St Romaine – 01274 432888)

                                                                        (Duncan Farr – 01274 434588)

The City Solicitor submitted Document “AN” which provided members with details of the annual review of the Financial Regulations and Contracts Standing Orders Sections of the Council’s Constitution and made recommendations for their amendment.

In response to a Members question it was reported that certain decisions were undertaken following the procedures relating to Key Decisions in the Constitution.

Resolved-

(1)     That the proposed amendments to the Constitution listed in Appendices 1 and 2 attached to Document “AN” be recommended to Council for adoption and implementation.

(2)     That the City Solicitor ensures the agreed amendments are implemented.

(3)     That the City Solicitor be granted delegated authority to make consequential amendments to the Constitution as a result of the recommendations approved by Council.

Action:           City Solicitor

The City Solicitor will submit Document “AO” which provides Members with details of proposed amendments to the Constitution for recommendation to Council.

Recommended-

That the proposed amendments to the Constitution set out in Appendices 1 to 8 of Document “AO” be recommended to Council for adoption.

                                                (Michael Bowness – 01274 432496)

The City Solicitor submitted Document “AO” which provided Members with details of proposed amendments to the Constitution for recommendation to Council.

Members sought clarification on a number of issues relating to the appendices attached to the report.

Resolved-

That the proposed amendments to the Constitution listed in Appendices

1 to 8 of Document “AO” be recommended to Council for

 adoption and implementation.

Action:           City Solicitor