This Committee was formerly known as the Audit
Committee. It was renamed at
Council on 18 October 2007.
The Governance Audit and Risk Management Committee
has the following powers and
duties:
a)
to ensure that the
Council’s governance framework is in line with current
guidance and best practice;
b)
to review the
Council’s governance framework and annual improvement plan
and monitor progress;
c)
to review the
Council’s risk management strategy and monitor progress on
risk management;
d)
to monitor the
Council’s insurance arrangements;
e)
to review the
Council’s emergency planning and business continuity
arrangements and monitor progress on emergency planning and
business continuity;
f)
to review the
Council’s Health and Safety arrangements and monitor progress
on Health and Safety;
g)
to approve the
financial statements of the authority, in particular:
·
the outcome of reviews
of the effectiveness of the internal control arrangements including
internal audit
·
changes in and
compliance with accounting policies and practices
·
unadjusted
mis-statements in the financial
statements
·
major judgemental
areas
·
significant
adjustments resulting from the audit
·
any relevant issues
raised in the external auditor’s report to those charged with
governance
·
the Annual Governance
Statement prior to sign-off
h)
to review the Treasury
Management strategy and monitor progress on treasury management in
accordance with CIPFA codes of practice;
i)
to monitor compliance
with internal controls;
j)
to consider matters
arising from External Audit work which are required to be
communicated to those charged with governance under the Statement
of Auditing Standards (ISA260);
k)
to receive and
consider the Annual Audit and Inspection Letter (or equivalent) and
make recommendations as appropriate;
l)
to scrutinise/comment
on the Internal Audit three year strategic plan and annual
plan;
m)
to monitor progress
against the Internal Audit plan and receive summaries of audit work
completed and key recommendations;
n)
to consider all
individual Internal Audit reports on a regular basis;
o)
to scrutinise/comment
on the External Audit plan and fees;
p)
to monitor progress
against the External Audit plan and receive summaries of audit work
completed and key recommendations;
q)
to consider individual
External Audit reports and inspection reports carried out by
external agencies as appropriate and at the request of the
Committee;
r)
to review the
management response to audit and regulatory recommendations and
progress on implementation of recommendations;
s)
to recommend action
where audit and regulatory recommendations are not being
implemented;
t)
to monitor on a
regular basis the Council’s approach to tackling fraud and
corruption and promote an anti-fraud culture;
u)
to consider the
appointment of co-opted members and review the adequacy of meeting
frequencies in response to the Committee’s remit;
v)
to appoint and maintain appropriate Lead Members from the
Committee to monitor, review and update on specific areas of the
Committee’s remit.
Information on how to submit a
petition,
deputation or
public question is available on the
council website.
