Meeting of the Audit and Risk Committee
A meeting of the Audit and Risk Committee was held on Wednesday 27 March at
9.30am in the Board room, Denholm House, Livingston.
Present:
Laura Burman
Morag Campsie (External Auditor)
Alasdair Craik (External Auditor)
Sir Andrew Cubie (Chair)
Kate Dunlop
Les Henderson (Internal Auditor)
Gillian Howells
Bill Maxwell
Kenneth Muir
Craig Munro
Iain Nisbet
Gayle Reilly
Stuart Robertson
Apologies: Moi Ali
Anna Boni
1.0
2.0
Welcome and apologies
Noted 1:
Sir Andrew welcomed Alasdair Craik, Senior Audit Manager, to
his first meeting of the Committee.
Noted 2:
Apologies were noted as above.
Minutes and action log of the meeting held on 21 November 2012
Noted 1:
The Minute of the previous meeting was approved as an
accurate record.
Noted 2:
The actions from 21 November were all complete or on the
Agenda for discussion.
Noted 3:
In reference to action point 4, Craig provided the Committee with
a copy of the Staff survey results as well as Bill’s email to staff
updating them on those results.
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3.0
Noted 4:
Craig informed the committee that the aim would be for better
results next time round and a new People Strategy was in the
process of implementation with a focus on some key areas of
feedback from the survey. The bar would be set as high as
possible with a view to delivering much more positive results.
Action 1:
People strategy results to be added to the Management
Advisory Board agenda in May.
Matters arising
Noted 1:
4.0
No matters arising.
Declarations/register of interests
Noted 1:
Kate informed the committee that she had no interests to
declare but that the Scottish Government had issued a revised
statement on declarations.
Items for discussion
5.0
Finance report
Noted 1:
The committee noted the finance report, as at 28 February
2013, in particular the final budget of £32.34m with a saving of
£2m which has been declared to Scottish Government to allow
other projects to be taken forward as well as an underspend of
£1m.
Noted 2:
Stuart informed the committee that payment performance was
slightly less positive than usual but that financial awareness
training will take place for Assistant Directors as part of actions
to address this.
Noted 3:
The £2m which was returned to Scottish Government as a one
off saving should not be seen as an easy target for saving in
future years. There were robust reasons for the underspend
e.g. recruitment slippage and investment in the IT platform.
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Noted 4:
5.1
6.0
It was noted that the slippage in recruitment should not affect
the operation of the organisation or the business plan for the
coming year but new colleagues would need to be brought upto-speed quickly through effective induction. It was also noted
that a commitment had been given to the National Performance
Framework (NPF) to fulfil 154 inspections. Actions were being
taken to ensure this commitment was met.
Certificate of Assurance
Noted 1:
Gillian presented the draft Certificate of Assurance report
to the committee. This was the first full year of operation
for Education Scotland The document showed how
directors were dealing with risk in the organisation.
Noted 2:
Significant development had been undertaken on the
corporate governance framework; Corporate Plan,
Boards etc.
Noted 3:
There was a potential reputational risk under Directorate
B through the way we conduct inspections and we need
to ensure consistency in practice.
Noted 4:
Ken provided the Committee with an update on the
National Performance Framework. Also, he updated the
committee on concerns being received from some with
regard to our complaints procedure and whether
individuals could complain to the Scottish Public Services
Ombudsman (SPSO)
Action 1:
A report to be provided for the next meeting on the
complaints procedure position.
Health and safety report
Noted 1:
Stuart informed the committee that two minor accidents had
taken place since the last update in November.
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7.0
Noted 2:
The Optima reconfiguration was currently underway with some
works being carried out on floors seven, eight and nine. There
could have been the potential for increased risk occurring
during this period but there were no incidents to note.
Noted 3:
There had been a delay in recruiting for the post of Office
Manager; this individual would also take on the role of managing
the Health and Safety arrangements across the organisation
which would align with other Scottish Government Executive
Agencies.
Noted 4:
Stuart informed the committee that he would hold discussions
with colleagues to determine in which offices the defibrillators
would be placed.
Audit Scotland
7.1
8.0
Annual Audit plan
Noted 1:
Alasdair Craik introduced himself as the new Senior Audit
Manager. He then provided the committee with a
summary of the planned audit activity for 2013.
Noted 2:
Morag informed the committee that she had passed on
the links to the Best Value toolkits on Risk Management
and Governance and Accountability which was used as a
reference at the Risk Management Away Day.
Internal Audit
8.1
Progress Report 12/13
Noted 1:
Les provided the Committee with an update on the
internal audits currently underway and informed them that
the Internal Audit plan for 2013/14 would commence
when the Corporate Plan was finalised.
Noted 2:
Kate asked about levels of assurance used by the
auditors. Les informed the committee that there were
currently three levels used in Scottish Government and
also for Education Scotland which were Substantial
Assurance, Reasonable Assurance, Limited Assurance.
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Les stated though that his preference would be to have a
4 or 5 point scale which would better distinguish between
low and high levels of assurance and also provide a
better gauge of the adequacy of the risk and control
processes in place.
9.0
Action 1:
Les and Laura agreed to meet to produce a first draft
of assurance mapping which would be discussed at
the next meeting.
Action 2:
Les and Stuart to discuss Service Level Agreements
in the next few months.
Action 3:
Les to send to Kate a copy of the assurance levels
used by internal audit.
Corporate Risk
Noted 1:
The discussions at the 15 February Risk Management Away
focussed on the seven strategic objectives but following this
meeting it was agreed to revise these down to six objectives.
Noted 2:
It was discussed at the Away Day that the risk policy and
strategy should be revised as well as aligning the risk register
to strategic objectives.
Noted 3:
It was noted that the new revised corporate risks should be
manageable, sharper, reflect more narrative and should align
better with the strategic objective.
Action 1:
A revised Risk Policy, Strategy and Register would be made
available for the next meeting in May.
Action 2:
The Non-Executives on the Committee were asked to email
Laura with any comments on the risk paperwork (policy,
strategy and risk register) in order that the changes could
be incorporated before the next meeting.
Items for noting
10.0
Buddying arrangement
Noted 1:
Meetings are currently being held between the ‘buddies’.
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27 March 2013
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11.0
12.0
Any other business
Noted 1:
Bill informed the committee that the Framework document was
fully complete, it had been signed off and was now published on
the internet.
Noted 2:
The letter from Lesley Evans summarised her engagement
with Education Scotland. Lesley would attend the Audit and
Risk Committee in May and the Management Advisory Board
meeting in September and had also requested a meeting
directly with the Non Executives, Directors and members.
Action 1:
The Internal and External Auditors to meet with the Non
Executives’ after the next meeting.
Date of next meeting
Noted 1:
The next Audit and Risk Committee will take place on 5 June
2013.
Noted 2:
Leslie Evans will be in attendance at the next meeting, diary
pending.
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