APPROVED DRAFT
Present
Fiona Armer
Peter Clark
Sarah Jones (Chair)
Janet Tyas
Governor
Governor
Governor
Governor (Staff)
The quorum for the meeting was three Members.
In attendance
Ron Hill
Sharon Smith
Derrick Jones
Denise Cheng-Carter
Clerk to the Corporation
Vice Principal (Finance and Resources)
Vice Principal (Learning and Achievement)
KPMG
KPMG Rachel Pearson
The meeting was held in the Boardroom, Calderdale College and started at 4.45pm.
1. Apologies
1.1 Apologies were received from Derrick Palmer.
2. Declaration of Interests
2.1 The Chair reminded Members to declare their interests as and when necessary on the agenda.
3. Minutes of the Meeting of the Audit Committee held on 6 March 2014 and any matters arising
3.1 The minutes were agreed as a true and correct record and were duly signed by the Chair.
3.2 As matters arising, not otherwise on the agenda

Derrick Jones (KPMG) advised that new reporting standards for education had not been issued yet

Derrick Jones (KPMG) informed that financial benchmarking data would be available very soon and would be forwarded to the College

The Clerk informed that a review of the Whistleblowing Policy would be presented to the next Board meeting (17 July 2014)

The review of the six governance questions and related assurance would inform the governance workplan for 2014/15
Audit Committee: 12 June 2014 Page 1


The Chair requested a follow up briefing for Audit Committee Members regarding the Gender Balance Thematic Review. The Vice Principal
(Learning and Achievement) agreed to arrange for this briefing.
4. Determination of Any Other Business
4.1 There were no items of ‘any other business’.
5. Construction Skills (CSkills) Assessment – Follow Up Report
5.1 The Vice Principal (Learning and Achievement) presented the written report which included details of the investigation into learner assessment malpractice, working with the awarding body ( CSkills) to secure the College’s reputation, actions taken to mitigate risks to the College and its learners, and actions for the future.
(Janet Tyas declared her interest as a member of College staff involved in the early stages of the review of learner assessment practice)
5.2 The Vice Principal informed that students had responded very positively to the reassessment requirements and thirty-nine learners would be re-sitting aspects of assessment from September 2014.
(Fiona Armer joined the meeting at 4.53pm)
5.3 The Vice Principal reported that CSkills was very satisfied with the College’s approach and action plan. There would be no loss of ‘centre approval’ arising from the case under review. A further visit from CSkills was scheduled for 3 July
2014.
5.4 The Vice Principal explained that there was work being undertaken on revised
College procedures for learner assessment and claiming to strengthen verification and quality control. The identified learner assessment malpractice was not systemic and the College was seeking to learn from the case.
RESOLVED [AC 07/14]
The Audit Committee resolved to note the progress report and to thank the College staff involved in addressing and recovering the learner’s and the College’s interests.
(Sharon Smith left the meeting at 5.20pm)
6. Financial Statements Draft Audit Approach Memorandum for the year ended 31 July 2014
6.1 The Vice Principal (Finance and Resources) presented the written report including the document from Grant Thornton (financial statements auditors).
Derrick Jones explained that the Audit Committee would be able to draw upon a range of assurances for governance including reviews undertaken by the internal audit service, the regularity audit conducted by the financial statements auditors, the recent inspection by Ofsted, and the activities conducted by Governors themselves.
RESOLVED [AC 08/14]
Audit Committee: 12 June 2014 Page 2

The Audit Committee resolved to recommend the Financial Statements Draft Audit
Approach Memorandum for the year ended 31 July 2014 to the Board for approval, including the fee of £16,900 plus VAT and expenses.
7. SFA Provider Financial Assurance (PFA) : Enhanced Skills Fund Co-
Financing Assurance Review
7.1 The Vice Principal (Finance and Resources) presented the written report which included the ESF Co-financing Assurance Review : Final Report (March 2014).
7.2 In summary the opinions given in the SFA report were
Project
Work Place Learning WM
Work Place Learning YH
Use of Funds
Satisfactory
Satisfactory
Error rate
0%
0%
Work Place Learning NE
Work Place Learning EM
Satisfactory
Satisfactory
0.29%
3.44%
7.3 Derrick Jones (KPMG) considered the outcome of this audit report to be very positive for the College.
RESOLVED [AC 09/14]
The Audit Committee resolved to note the SFA report and to commend College staff involved in the management and monitoring of the respective projects.
8. Internal Audit Service : Visit 3
8.1 Derrick Jones presented the IAS Visit 3 Report - Effective Use of Staff Resources
(April 2014). The overall opinion was given as
From the work performed on effective use of staff resources, we consider that the College requires improvements to its monitoring of staff utilisation. Therefore we conclude this review as ‘Satisfactory’.
[Range : Good / Satisfactory / Requires improvement / Weak]
8.2 Six ‘low priority’ recommendations were made within the report. One recommendation was conditionally accepted by College management, depending on staffing data for 2013/14. The issue raised by KPMG was the opportunity for substantive, contracted teaching staff to also claim additional part time hours yet be under-utilised on their substantive contract.
8.3 The Vice Principal (Finance and Resources) believed the improved use of EBS software by the College managers would address many of the recommendations and so further training and operational expectations would be addressed.
8.4 Members discussed the management and balance of teaching staff, the usefulness of benchmarking, and the importance of flexibility in teaching staff deployment.
RESOLVED [AC 10/14]
The Audit Committee resolved to note the report from the internal audit service.
9. Health and Safety
9.1 The Vice Principal (Finance and Resources) presented the written report which included
Audit Committee: 12 June 2014 Page 3


Reference to an inspection of the North Halifax Skills Centre from a
Health and Safety Executive (15 May 2014)

Reference to an Improvement Notice issued by the HSE under statutory provisions regarding deficiencies with the exhaust ventilation system for the collection of wood dust
 Payment of £2,500.00 to the HSE for the inspector’s visit

Declaration that the College does not face prosecution regarding this matter. (However, there is the possibility that the College face civil action and the College’s insurers have been informed as precaution)

An action plan to address concerns identified by the HSE visit, to be completed prior to the next visit from the HSE on 26 July 2014.
RESOLVED [AC 11/14]
The Audit Committee resolved its satisfaction with the College’s response to the identified problem and commended a wider review of related practices by the
College.
10. Risk Management : Status Report
10.1 The Vice Principal (Finance and Resources) presented the written report which included the latest version of the Corporate Risk Register. Members commended the revisions to the Risk Register and suggested the possibility of further refinement in the explanation of mitigation actions and impact.
10.2 Members wished to strike the balance between an accessible document and one which reflected the sophistication of the management of identified risks.
Members queried whether KPMG could share some (anonymised) risk register formats from other colleges for comparison and to share good practice. KPMG representatives agreed to follow-up this request.
RESOLVED [AC 12/14]
The Audit Committee resolved to note the latest version of the Corporate Risk
Register .
11. Audit Recommendations and Actions – Composite Report
11.1 The Vice Principal presented the written report which included the outstanding audit recommendations. Five recommendations had been fully implemented, two had been partially implemented and three recommendations remained to be implemented.
11.2 The Vice Principal informed that ProMonitor would assist in the recording of progress on Individual Study Programmes. Members asked if too much faith was being placed in the ProMonitor system. The Vice Principal believed that, with appropriate development and support, ProMonitor would be a very useful system for managers and teaching staff in College.
RESOLVED [AC 13/14]
The Audit Committee resolved to note the latest rolling recommendations report.
12. Thematic Reviews
12.1The Chair, following discussion with the Vice Principal, proposed the theme of
Free Meals and their Impact on Attendance and Retention for 16 – 18s. This
Audit Committee: 12 June 2014 Page 4

thematic review will be reported to the Audit Committee in March 2015.
12.2 Key aspects of the thematic review will be

Analysis of take up of free meals by learners

Analysis of impact on learner attendance and retention

Review of emerging issues –e.g. by location, by subject

Form and use focus groups to explore issues and understanding

Develop recommendations
RESOLVED [AC 14/14]
The Audit Committee resolved to support the proposed thematic review of Free
Meals as described.
13. Audit Committee Review of Membership and Performance
13.1 Members addressed the review questions as follows
Have meetings of the Audit Committee been affected by quoracy problems?
Has the Audit Committee achieved the responsibilities of the
Audit Committee?
Has the membership of the Audit Committee been capable of addressing the business of the Committee?
What has the Audit Committee achieved in 2013/14?
How has the Audit Committee considered teaching, learning and the student experience?
Has the Audit Committee had any specific development to support its work?
Any changes to improve performance for 2014/15?
No. One issue of poor attendance.
Yes
– workplan linked to terms of reference
Yes
– broad mix of appropriate membership
Testing a wide range of assurance and controls
Throughout audit enquiries and specifically in thematic reviews
Chair
– observation of an Audit
Committee;
Chair
– attendee at AoC
National Conference re
Finance and Audit
Possibility of an External Coopted Member
14. In-Camera Meeting for Governors and Audit Service Providers
14.1 Members and Auditors decided that this item was not required on this occasion.
15. Date and Time of Next Meeting
15.1 The next meeting of the Audit Committee will be held on Thursday 18
September 2014.
Aide Memoire: (i) CSkills review, Health and Safety case, free meals and learner attendance, and (ii) very good (iii) add review of complaints procedures as a thematic review.
The meeting closed at 6.42pm.
Ron Hill
Clerk to the Corporation
Calderdale College
Audit Committee: 12 June 2014 Page 5