Issue - meetings

This report summarises the key messages, findings and conclusions set out in the Annual Audit Letter of the District Auditor in respect of the 2006/07 audit year.

RESOLVED: (i)         That the contents of the report be noted and that the Annual Audit Letter at Annex A be noted as probably the most favourable ever received by a York Council.

REASON:      To comply with the statutory requirements for the external audit of the Council.

                        (ii)        That Officers be requested to prepare an action plan aimed at addressing the issues highlighted in the Audit Report as requiring further improvement.

REASON:      To ensure the effective management and follow up of key action to be taken to support on-going development and improvement work at the Council.

Members considered a report which summarised the key messages, findings and conclusions set out in the Annual Audit Letter of the District Auditor in respect of the 2006/07 audit year.  Alistair Newall and Alan Humphries from the District Auditor’s office were present to answer Members’ questions on the Annual Letter.

The Annual Letter, attached as Annex A to the report, was generally positive and recognised the considerable progress made in many areas to improve and develop across the Council.  However, it did identify weaknesses for priority action in some areas, including: sickness absence, arrangements for ensuring data quality, the approach to equalities and inclusion, and arrangements for producing the annual accounts.  It was confirmed that the letter at Annex A, although marked as a draft, was in fact the final version.

Officers were currently drafting an action plan in response to the issues raised in the Annual Letter.  This would be reported to the next meeting of the Audit and Governance Committee.  It was suggested that the agreed plan also be incorporated into the corporate OEP action plan and used for in-year progress monitoring and follow up purposed by the Corporate Management Team.

Members noted that the Audit Letter was to some extent out of date, as it represented the position during the 2006/07 financial year and did not take full account of improvements made more recently.  However, they noted that it praised the Council for providing ‘good value for money’ and that a number of key services were rated highly by the District Auditor, including waste management, children and young people, social services and benefits.

Having noted the comments of the Shadow Executive, it was

RESOLVED: (i)         That the contents of the report be noted and that the Annual Audit Letter at Annex A be noted as probably the most favourable ever received by a York Council.

REASON:      To comply with the statutory requirements for the external audit of the Council.

                        (ii)        That Officers be requested to prepare an action plan aimed at addressing the issues highlighted in the Audit Report as requiring further improvement.¹

REASON:      To ensure the effective management and follow up of key action to be taken to support on-going development and improvement work at the Council.