Skip to main content
Business - Renfrewshire Council
You are in Meetings

Meeting Details

Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Integration Joint Board Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Committee
12 Nov 2021 - 10:00 to 11:00
Occurred
  • Documents
  • Attendance
  • Visitors
  • Declarations of Interests

Documents

Agenda

Agenda
Notification
Committee Members
Membership

Councillor Lisa-Marie Hughes: Councillor Jennifer Adam-McGregor; Margaret Kerr: Dorothy McErlean: Alan McNiven: Diane Young

 

Councillor Lisa-Marie Hughes (Chair): Margaret Kerr (Vice Chair):

 
Standard Items
Recording of Meeting

This meeting will be recorded for subsequent broadcast via the Council’s internet site. If you have any queries regarding this please contact Committee Services on 0141 618 7111.

 

To find the recording please follow the link which will be attached to this agenda once the meeting has concluded.

Prior to the commencement of the meeting the Chair intimated that this meeting of the Committee would be recorded and that the recording would be available to watch on both the Council and HSCP websites.
Items Of Business
Apologies
Apologies from members.
Dorothy McErlean (Greater Glasgow & Clyde Health Board) and Diane Young (Health Board staff member involved in service provision).
Declarations of Interest
Members are asked to declare an interest in any item(s) on the agenda and to provide a brief explanation of the nature of the interest.
There were no declarations of interest intimated prior to the commencement of the meeting.
1 Minute
Minute of meeting of this Committee held on 10 September 2021.
1
The Minute of the meeting of the Integration Joint Board (IJB) Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Committee held on 10 September 2021 was submitted.

DECIDED: That the Minute be approved.
IJB Audit, Risk & Scrutiny Committee rolling action log.
2
The rolling action log for the IJB Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Committee was submitted.

It was noted that the risk refresher session with IJB members had taken place prior to this meeting.

DECIDED: That the updates to the rolling action log be noted.
Report by Chief Internal Auditor.
3
The Chief Internal Auditor submitted a report providing progress on the internal audit plan 2021/22, a copy of which was appended to the report.

The report intimated that the audit plan set out a resource requirement of 35 days, including assurance work, reviewing the adequacy and compliance with the Local Code of Corporate Governance, time for follow-up of previous recommendations, ad-hoc advice and planning and reporting.

DECIDED: That the progress against the internal audit plan 2021/22 be noted.
Report by Chief Finance Officer.
4
Under reference to item 7 of the Minute of the meeting of the IJB held on 25 June 2021, the Chief Finance Officer submitted a report outlining Audit Scotland’s findings from the audit of the IJB’s financial statements for 2020/21.  A copy of the report by Audit Scotland was appended.

The report advised that, in terms of the Local Authority Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2014, IJBs must meet to consider the annual accounts and aim to approve those accounts for signature no later than 30 September immediately following the financial year to which they related. Due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, additional flexibility in terms of the approval process was provided under the Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020, which enabled the IJB to set its own timetable for approval of the audited accounts. 

However, Scottish Ministers indicated, in Finance Circular 10/2020, that they considered audited accounts should be published, and therefore approved by the IJB, no later than 30 November 2021.  In order to comply with these requirements, the audited financial statements would be presented to the IJB at a meeting scheduled to be held on 19 November 2021.

The Audit Director made reference to the covering letter, the independent auditor’s report and the draft letter of representation. He provided an overview of Audit Scotland’s proposed 2020/21 Annual Audit Report and advised that the audit opinions on the IJB’s accounts were unqualified and that the accounts presented a true and fair view of the financial position of the IJB. He indicated that the very positive year-end position was due to additional Scottish Government funding to cover Covid-19 related costs which had produced an inflated year-end surplus. However, this position masked continuing financial challenges for the IJB. In relation to the letter of representation, he advised that this contained nothing of particular concern and that all matters were standard representation items. An additional recommendation had been added in relation to COVID-19, consistent with other organisations, to reflect the different circumstances we were working under this year.

The Audit Director thanked the Chief Finance Officer and her team, for their help and support throughout the process and advised members that the quality of the working papers provided during the audit process were of a very high standard.  

The Chief Finance Officer also thanked the HSCP finance team and the team from Audit Scotland for the work undertaken as part of the audit process and noted that the quality of the work provided was of a very high standard. Further that paragraph 17 in the Letter of Representation required to be removed as it did not relate to the IJB. 

Following discussion, the Audit Director advised that typos within the report, which had been raised by the Vice Chair, would be corrected and agreed to consider and, where appropriate, amend the wording to provide greater clarity in the reports prior to submission to the IJB.

DECIDED: That the Audit Scotland reports, as amended, be noted.
Report by Chief Finance Officer.
5

Under reference to item 7 of the Minute of the meeting of the IJB held on 25 June 2021, the Chief Finance Officer submitted a report relative to the audited annual accounts for the IJB for 2020/21, a copy of which was appended to the report.

The report intimated that the audited annual accounts to 31 March 2021, which had been prepared in line with proper accounting practice and statute, had been submitted to the appointed auditor. The audited financial statements would be presented to the IJB at a meeting scheduled to be held on 19 November 2021.

 

It was noted that, during the course of the audit, a small number of presentational adjustments had been identified and had been updated in the audited annual accounts. There were no unadjusted misstatements which, due to materiality, had not been reflected in the annual accounts.

The Chief Finance Officer advised that the minor word and presentational changes suggested by members during the meeting would be made and agreed with Audit Scotland prior to being submitted to the IJB for approval.

It was noted that, following approval of the audited accounts by the IJB, a summary document would be produced capturing the performance highlights and key messages from the audited accounts for wider publication.

DECIDED

(a) That the IJB Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Committee recommend to the IJB that the audited annual accounts 2020/21, as amended, be approved for signature; and

(b) That it be noted that, following approval of the audited accounts by the IJB, a summary document would be produced capturing the performance highlights and key messages from the audited accounts for wider publication.

Report by Head of Strategic Planning & Health Improvement.
6
The Head of Strategic Planning & Health Improvement submitted a report setting out a summary of the Directions issued to Renfrewshire Council and NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde for the period June 2020 to September 2021, a copy of which was appended to the report.

The report intimated that the issuing of Directions was the method through which the IJB commissioned the parent organisations to deliver the priorities outlined within the Strategic Plan. Directions were legally binding and the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014, along with the associated guidance and legislation, provided the framework for which they operated within.

The report advised that the only Directions issued related specifically to the financial allocations and budgetary resources of the IJB and as such, the report did not provide details of the contents or a commentary on their impacts as it was considered that this level of oversight was facilitated through the normal performance management and scrutiny arrangements of both the IJB and the HSCP.

DECIDED: That the contents of the report be noted.
Report by Change & Improvement Manager.
7
Under reference to item 5 of the Minute of the meeting of this Committee held on 10 September 2021, the Change & Improvement Manager submitted a report providing an update on the activity being progressed by the HSCP to implement the revised IJB Risk Management Framework and updates to the IJB’s risk register.

The report intimated that the risk management framework set out the principles by which the HSCP and IJB identified and managed strategic and operational risks impacting upon the organisation and formed a key strand of the IJB’s overall governance mechanisms. 

It was noted that following further assessment, no new risks had been added this period. One issue had been included in the register relating to ongoing challenges in recruiting and retaining staff.

DECIDED:

(a) That the further work which had been undertaken to implement the revised Risk Management Framework across operational services within the HSCP, as detailed in section 4 of the report, be noted; and

(b) That the updates which had been made to currently identified risks, and the additional issue which had been added to the register following further assessment and engagement with the HSCP and partners, as detailed in section 5 of the report, be noted.

Note that the next meeting of this Committee will be held at 10.00 am on 18 March 2022.

 

 

At the conclusion of the meeting, in terms of the Committee's terms of reference, members of the Committee will meet with Audit Scotland without officers present.

8
DECIDED: That it be noted that the next meeting of this Committee would be held at 10.00 am on 18 March 2022.


At the conclusion of the meeting, in terms of the Committee’s terms of reference, members of the Committee met with the Audit Scotland without officers present.
 

Declarations of Interests

Member NameItem Ref.DetailsNature of DeclarationAction
No declarations of interest have been entered for this meeting.

Visitors

Visitor Information is not yet available for this meeting