Agenda and minutes
Venue: Conference Room 4B - Tŷ Hywel. View directions
Contact: Clerk: Kathryn Hughes Deputy Clerk: Buddug Saer
No. | Item |
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Introductions, apologies and declaration of interests Minutes: 1.1
The Chair declared that he was a
Non-Executive Director in the Cabinet Office Constitutional Reform team. 1.2
No other interests were declared. |
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Minutes of 9 July meeting, actions and matters arising Minutes: ACARAC
(30) Paper 1 - Minutes of 9 July 2015 ACARAC
(30) Paper 2 – Summary of actions 2.1
The minutes of the meeting on 9 July
2015 were agreed and progress on actions noted. |
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Internal Audit update Minutes: ACARAC
(30) Paper 3 - Internal Audit Update Report 2015-16 ACARAC
(30) Paper 4 – Internal Audit Recommendations – Monitoring 3.1
Gareth
Watts updated the Committee on progress against his 2015-16 audit plan. He assured the Committee that his planned
schedule of work was on course and that he would continue to monitor the outstanding
recommendations. Good progress was being
made in implementing the recommendations from previous audits, including Value
for Money and Expert Advisors. Gareth
agreed to present an itemised report of outstanding actions in February
2016. 3.2
The
Committee welcomed Gareth’s update on a series of meetings that he had attended
with Kathryn Hughes (Risk Manager) and Heads of Service. The ‘Governance Matters’ meetings were part
of the Assurance Framework, building on the Assurance and Governance statement
and raising the profile of the Governance and Audit team. Once approved, Gareth agreed to share an
updated Governance and Audit team structure with the Committee. 3.3
Over
the coming months, he would focus on providing assurance of the Commission’s
enhanced bilingual services and key financial controls. In addition to the approved plan, he has
agreed an additional piece of work with the Director of Finance on controls
over pension disclosures. Actions -
Gareth to provide an itemised
report of outstanding recommendations of the last four years. -
Gareth to present updated
Governance Framework. -
Gareth to update ACARAC on
revised Governance and Audit team structure. |
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Latest Internal Audit Reports Minutes: ACARAC
(30) Paper 5 – Audit Report - Public Engagement ACARAC (30)
Paper 6 – Quality Assurance and CPD Updates 4.1
The
Committee welcomed the Public Engagement audit report, noting that the Assembly
is fully focussed on public engagement. That said, the Committee felt that
participation methods needed to be reviewed, the organisation needed to be more
resilient to negative press and should strive for more positive coverage of its
activities. 4.2
Claire
Clancy informed the Committee that, following negative feedback from several
sources, the website needed substantial improvement. Funds had been allocated by the Investment
and Resourcing Board to make the website more accessible and navigable. The Committee welcomed this commitment and emphasised
that improvements should be enduring. 4.3
Officials
confirmed that the Engagement Strategy would be a high priority and developed
by the Fifth Assembly. The strategy
should consider what indicators would be used to measure performance. The Committee suggested that engagement in
general should be considered when discussing the risks around future
constitutional change. 4.4
As
agreed by the Chair, Gareth issued the Procurement audit and ICT Futures Review
reports in October. 4.5
Since
the Procurement audit, training sessions had been arranged with a positive take
up. Extracting management information
from CODA (the finance system) was problematic but the National Procurement
Service had provided information spend analysis on commodity buying which would
enhance the quality of management information available to the Procurement Team
for monitoring purposes. Gareth assured
the Committee that non-compliance of procurement rules was taken very seriously
by management and he was comfortable with progress being made and the actions
management are taking to address the issues. 4.6
The
Committee questioned the lack of a benefits realisation report for the ICT
Futures Review. Officials confirmed that
a full review of the benefits was not carried out at project closure and this
had been agreed at various checkpoints, throughout the life of the
project. Wider project management
guidance and a benefits framework was now in place to ensure that benefits
realisation had appropriate focus in the future. 4.7
The
Chair congratulated Gareth on his recent appointment to Coleg Gwent’s Audit
Committee. Action -
Gareth to follow up Public
Engagement recommendations. |
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Review of HMT and other guidance for ACARAC Minutes: 5.1
There
were no changes to the HM Treasury handbook apart from guidance for simplifying
and streamlining accounts which was in hand. 5.2
The
Chair reported that the Ministry of Justice Legal Aid Agency, where he is a
Non-Executive Director, had undergone a CIPFA Finance Review, covering all
aspects of financial management, and that this had been a useful and
informative exercise. Nicola will
research this. The Chair will attend a
meeting for Wales Audit Committee chairs in February and report back to ACARAC. 5.3
Gareth
and Buddug will attend a CIPFA Effective Audit Committee workshop in December
and will update ACARAC. Action -
Nicola to research CIPFA
Finance Review. -
Eric to share learning
points/experiences post Wales Audit Committee chairs. -
Gareth and Buddug to share
learning points/experiences post CIPFA Effective Audit Committee training. |
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External Audit - Latest external audit reports and actions taken in implementing recommendations Minutes: ACARAC
(30) Paper 7 - NAWC outline 15-16 final 6.1
The
Committee were pleased to see the draft 2015-16 audit plan at this earlier
stage. The WAO had worked closely with
Nicola and Claire to produce the plan. 6.2
The
Committee discussed the audit of Assembly Members’ expenses and office
costs. Officials agreed to provide
further information on this and the check points already in place with Members’
Business Support. Nicola stated that
audits on Members expenses were in addition to the other work agreed in the
plan, and these audits provided extra assurance and transparency. These specific audits would continue until
the end of the Fourth Assembly. 6.3
Ann-Marie
confirmed that the overall audit fee should remain unchanged, although had not
been formally agreed as yet. To avoid
the delays the Assembly Commission experienced last year, the WAO plan to
commence their audit work a week earlier. 6.4
The
Chair welcomed this update from the WAO and was encouraged by the collaborative
working between the Finance team and the Head of Internal Audit. Action -
Nicola to describe the
checkpoints already in place with regards to AM expenses Audit. |
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External Audit - Management Letter 2014-15 Minutes: ACARAC
(30) Paper 8 – Management Letter 2014-15 7.1
The
WAO will liaise with the Commission to confirm the appropriate treatment for
both dilapidations and heritage assets.
Ann-Marie confirmed that she was confident that the Management Letter
would be circulated with the ISA 260 next year.
Action -
WAO to liaise with the
Commission to confirm the appropriate treatment for both dilapidations and
heritage assets. |
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Preparing for and streamlining the Commission's Annual Report and Accounts for 2015-16 Minutes: ACARAC
(30) Paper 9 – Preparing for and streamlining the Commission's Annual Report
and Accounts for 2015-16 8.1
Nicola
shared a draft version of the Annual Report and Accounts that had been prepared
by the recently appointed Head of Finance to reflect HMT’s ‘Simplifying and
Streamlining Accounts’ guidance. The
interim set of accounts will test this new layout and the Committee welcomed
the changes drafted to date. Officials
were asked not to underestimate the work involved in preparing the interim set
of accounts, considering the changes to the layout of the document. Action -
Nicola to present interim
audit work in February. |
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Effectiveness Survey Minutes: 9.1
The
Chair led a discussion on the future effectiveness survey which was a
requirement of the HMT handbook. The
last survey was completed in May 2014, with the results presented to the
Committee in June 2014. An action plan
captured the areas of concern for the Chair, and all actions were now
complete. 9.2
The
Committee agreed to follow the same process and complete the survey by mid-December
with results being presented to the Committee in February. Action -
Clerking team to liaise
with EAG/WAO to ensure survey is completed and results analysed by the next
meeting. |
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Consider external presentation/input Minutes: 10.1 The Chair had invited an
external presenter to the autumn 2014 ACARAC. The Chair asked the Committee to
consider ways that external expertise could add the most value to Committee
discussions. Action -
Committee and officials to
inform Chair of areas of significant interest where an external presenter may
provide some added value. |
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Budget update Minutes: ACARAC (30) Paper 10 –
Budget Update 11.1 Nicola summarised the
financial position for 2015-16 and confirmed that the 2016-17 budget had been
approved by the Assembly. The Finance
Committee had scrutinised the budget thoroughly, with a greater level of
challenge of some budget lines than previously, and all their recommendations
had been accepted. 2015-16 procurement
savings would be lower than in previous years due to lower value contracts
expiring during this financial year. 11.2 Claire stated that this
financial year was classed as a transitional year for the VfM approach. A further capacity review was scheduled for
the end of November. 11.3 The Chair requested an
update on the Business Efficiency Review when appropriate. Action -
Dave to update on the
Business Efficiency Review when appropriate. |
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Update on project to replace Finance system Minutes: ACARAC
(30) Paper 11 - CODA Finance System Replacement 12.1 Nicola stated that
Microsoft Dynamics appeared to meet the Commission’s needs in terms of functionality
and bilingual capability. Further work
was required to finalise the business case and procurement strategy. She explained that the planned in-house
development work and the scheduled go-live date of April 2017 was based on a
full OJEU tender. 12.2 The Committee welcomed the
update and were interested in the process of implementing an in-house developed
IT system. Keith Baldwin (as external
challenge) had commented on the business case and felt that the project was
going in the right direction, although concerns were raised about the length of
time the planning phase was taking. 12.3 Dave Tosh informed the
Committee that Microsoft Dynamics was a mid-range finance system and the
configuration element of system could be managed internally. This complied with the Application Strategy
of the organisation and two successful projects, Sharepoint and Lync, were
delivered using a similar methodology.
The Commission would visit reference sites using Microsoft Dynamics. Actions -
Update on progress of the
CODA Finance system replacement. -
Chair to share Ministry of
Justice Finance system replacement project contact with Nicola. |
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Update on phase 2 HR and Payroll project Minutes: 13.1 The Chair welcomed this
update and asked for the closure report and benefits review to be circulated to
the Committee. Action -
HR and Payroll project to
circulate closure report and benefits review. |
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Corporate Risks Report Minutes: ACARAC
(30) Paper 13 - Corporate Risks Report ACARAC
(30) Paper 13 – Annex A - Corporate Risks Summary ACARAC
(30) Paper 13 – Annex B - Corporate Risks plotted 14.1 The Chair remarked that he
was pleased a thorough review of risks had taken place and welcomed the
additions to the corporate register. 14.2 The Committee questioned
where the Cyber Security risk sat in the Commission’s risk framework. Dave highlighted controls that were in place
to test our threat levels, which were reviewed twice yearly. He also received regular updates and threat
alerts from the National Government report schemes. 14.3 The Committee concluded
that the potential threat to corporate and personal information and to the
reputation of the organisation warranted the Management Board considering the
risk around Cyber Security again. 14.4 In future, risk trends
would be reflected on the corporate risk diagram. Actions -
Management Board to
re-assess Cyber Security risk.
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Corporate risks plotted –
ensure summary of trends is captured. |
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Critical examination of one identified risk Minutes: ACARAC
(30) Paper 14 - Risks around Constitutional Change 15.1 Anna Daniel presented a
paper to the Committee on the risks related to constitutional change. The future size of the Assembly depended on
the Draft Wales bill, and her team were supporting the Presiding Officer in
developing alternative proposals to the draft. 15.2 Hugh Widdis reflected on
the implications of the Assembly continuing with 60 Assembly Members for a
further two terms and the Committee recommended that plans should be prepared
to understand the implications of this. 15.3 The Committee praised the Strategic
Transformation Team for their thorough analysis of this risk and concluded that
public engagement was critical and that the Assembly should manifest its value
to the people of Wales. Mitigating
actions should ideally cover a broader scope than only constitutional
change. |
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Papers to note and any other business Minutes: ACARAC (30) Paper 15 -
Departures summary ACARAC
(30) Paper 16 - Forward Work Programme 16.1 The Committee noted the
three departures from normal procurement procedure. 16.2 The Clerking team would
ensure that the Forward Work Programme (FWP) captures the information published
in the HMT handbook. Action -
Ensure FWP captures HMT
handbook information. Next meeting is scheduled
for 8 February 2016, timing to be confirmed. |