APPROVED
MINUTES OF AUDIT COMMITTEE MEETING HELD ON 8TH OCTOBER 2015
Present:
In Attendance:
Peter Clark
Sarah Jones
Janet Tyas
(Chair – for this meeting only)
Denise Cheng-Carter
Derrick Jones
Rashpal Khangura
Lesley Venables
Vice-Principal (Finance & Resources)
KPMG (Internal Auditor)
KPMG (Internal Auditor)
Clerk to the Corporation
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
1
Apologies for absence were received from Fiona Armer (Governor), Thomas Horton
(Grant Thornton), Mike Redfern (Grant Thornton), Robert Fenton (KPMG), Elizabeth
Wharton (KPMG) and Rachel Pearson (KPMG).
APPOINTMENT OF CHAIR
2
Nominations were sought for the chairship of the Committee. It was agreed that the
appointment of a vice-chair would be addressed once the Committee’s membership had
been increased, in line with discussions at the recent Governance & Search Committee
meeting.
3
Resolved -
That Fiona Armer be appointed as Chair for 2015/2016, but that in her
absence at this meeting, Sarah Jones act as Chair
DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
4
No declarations of interest were received.
MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING
5
Resolved -
That the minutes of the meeting held on 11th June 2015 be approved
as a correct record and signed by the Chair
MATTERS ARISING
6
Governors noted that all items resulting from the previous meeting were either in
progress or had been completed.
1
APPROVED
7
The Clerk reported that a formal action list would be produced for each future
meeting to enable governors to monitor progress more effectively.
INTERNAL AUDIT REPORT - SCHOOL ADMISSIONS CONVERSION
8
The Internal Auditor presented a report on School Admissions Conversion.
9
The College’s processes and procedures in this area had been graded as providing
‘significant assurance with minor improvement opportunities’. A total of 3 medium priority
recommendations had been made and a number of instances of good practice had been
highlighted.
10
The purpose of the review had been to address concerns about the appropriate
targeting of marketing expenditure and management making the best use of data on the
College’s catchment area. The Committee was assured that the College’s systems were
robust, that its procedures were followed effectively and that learner information was
recorded properly on the student records database.
11
Management had felt that it had been useful to map the coverage of the College’s
feeder schools and the impact of expenditure on marketing activities.
12
The information gleaned from the audit would be used in preparing the College’s next
5 year Strategy. The newly-formed Management Information Group would be examining the
internal use of this data.
13
Governors were advised that the Internal Auditors would review the implementation
of the recommendations made during their follow-up visit.
INTERNAL AUDIT ANNUAL REPORT FOR 2014/2015
14
The Internal Auditor presented the Internal Audit Annual Report for 2014/2015 which
had concluded that Calderdale College “had achieved an assurance rating of significant
assurance on all areas reviewed”. This level of performance compared favourably to other
organisations within KPMG’s client group.
15
A total of 14 recommendations had been made in 2014/2015. It was noted that none
of the recommendations had been graded as ‘high’ priority, with 7 graded as ‘medium’ and 7
graded as ‘low’ priority. All of these had been accepted by management.
16
In all of the areas examined, the College's control procedures were judged to be
suitably designed to achieve the objectives required by management and were operating
effectively.
17
The Internal Auditor had judged that a good level of progress had been made for the
follow-up of work carried out in 2013/2014, with 16 out of 18 recommendations implemented
and a further two that had been partially-implemented.
18
The Annual Report would contribute towards the Committee’s Annual Report to the
Board, a draft of which would be presented to the December meeting.
2
APPROVED
PERFORMANCE INDICATORS FOR INTERNAL AUDIT SERVICE 2014/2015
19
The Vice-Principal (Finance & Resources) presented an assessment of the Internal
Auditor’s performance against the agreed indicators for 2014/2015.
20
Governors noted that the majority of the targets had been met. However,
management felt that communication between the College and the Internal Audit Service
could be improved and had suggested that regular liaison meetings should be held.
INTERNAL AUDIT STRATEGY AND ANNUAL PLAN FOR 2015/2016
21
The Internal Auditor presented the draft Internal Audit Strategy and Annual Plan for
2015/2016. This comprised a total of 38 days (compared to 36 in 2014/2015), 2 of which
would be contingency days. Governors were reminded that it was possible to revise the plan
at any point in the year, subject to consultation with the College and approval by the Audit
Committee.
22
The Committee asked how the data obtained from the recent visit on School
Admissions Conversion would be linked to the work identified on the College’s growth
strategy. The Internal Auditor responded that the audit on student data would focus on
determining whether the College’s core information was correct and any learner number
projections were sufficiently robust.
23
Governors questioned the allocation of 4 days to governance arrangements. This
would be used to assess how the College was performing against the best organisations in
the sector and any changes to the Board’s current structures and membership. The
Committee felt that this audit should take place towards the end of the academic year to
enable any impact to be suitably measured.
24
It was noted that the audit fees had increased by 3% compared to 2014/2015.
25
Resolved -
That the Board be RECOMMENDED to approve the Internal Audit
Strategy and Annual Plan for 2015/2016.
ANNUAL RISK MANAGEMENT REPORT 2014/2015
26
Governors received for information the annual report for 2014/2015 on risk
management, together with the Risk Management Policy and latest Risk Register.
27
The College’s risk management processes focused on the high priority risks that had
been identified by management and had been mitigated internally to minimise their impact
on the College’s operations.
28
The Committee was reminded that the Internal Auditor had concluded that the
College’s systems and internal controls had been assessed as providing ‘significant
assurance’.
29
The Clerk suggested that a section should be added to the Policy to incorporate the
responsibilities of the College Leadership & Management Team. Governors requested that
the Policy should also include a version control number and/or date of review.
3
APPROVED
30
The Risk Register aligned with the Strategic Plan (which would be submitted to the
October Board meeting for approval) and comprised 10 key risks, which related to the 5
‘pillars’ within the Plan.
31
Discussion took place on the relative scoring allocations of each risk and the Clerk
was asked to review these against best practice in risk management.
32
Future versions of the Annual Risk Management Report would contain information on
the number of new risks included on the register and any changes in the scores given to
each risk.
33
Resolved -
1
That the Board be RECOMMENDED to approve the Risk
Management Policy for 2015/2016
2
That the Clerk review the scoring system used for the Risk
Register
3
That information on new risks and scoring changes be added
to any future reports on risk management
AUDIT RECOMMENDATIONS AND ACTIONS
34
The Vice-Principal (Finance & Resources) presented a summary of audit
recommendations made in 2014/2015.
35
A total of 12 recommendations had been made by the Internal Auditor, 8 of which
were graded as ‘low’ priority and 4 as ‘medium’ priority. Governors noted that the majority of
these had still to be implemented but were assured by management that the
recommendations were being progressed in a timely manner.
AUDIT COMMITTEE TERMS OF REFERENCE AND WORK PLAN FOR 2015/2016
36
Resolved -
That, subject to minor amendment, the Board be RECOMMENDED to
approve the revised terms of reference and work plan for the
Committee be approved.
ENGLISH COLLEGES’ CODE OF GOOD GOVERNANCE
37
The Clerk presented an analysis of compliance against the non-mandatory elements
of the English Colleges’ Code of Good Governance.
38
It was noted that the Board and the College already complied with the majority of the
statements in the Code. However, there were some areas where the current processes and
procedures could be strengthened.
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APPROVED
39
The Committee agreed that the next stage should be for the Clerk to compile an
action plan to address any gaps are areas for improvement, together with timescales and
allocating these to particular individuals, groups or committees. This document would be
submitted for discussion at the next meeting of both the Audit and Governance & Search
Committees.
MEMBERSHIP ISSUES
40
The Clerk advised that the Committee currently had 2 vacancies for external
governors and a further co-opted non-governor vacancy. In consultation with the Chair of
the Board, it had been agreed that Sarah Jones would step down as an external governor
and would become a co-opted non-governor with immediate effect.
41
Governors were advised that a number of other potential changes within the Board’s
committee memberships were being considered, the outcome of which would be finalised
shortly.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
42
There was no other business.
DATE OF NEXT MEETING
26th November 2015 at 4.45 p.m.
AIDE-MEMOIRE
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
Risks are being managed effectively, with Internal Audit work scheduled and a plan
to address the issues raised during previous visits.
Schools data.
Very good reporting.
Thematic reviews for 2015/2016 – complaints.
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