Agenda item

Guide time: 1.15 – 1.45pm

RESOLVED that:

a)  The panel notes the Joint Independent Audit Committee Annual Report 2021/22.

b)  The Panel agreed the Chair would write to the Home Secretary regarding the delays in the completion of external audits.

c)  The Panel requests the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner to present an update on the Estates Strategy to the Police, Fire and Crime Panel work programme.

The Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner (PFCC) stated that he was sure all present sent their best wishes to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II given emerging news about the state of her health.

 

The PFCC commented that the Joint Independent Audit Committee (JIAC) had supported the effective governance of the Office of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner (OPFCC) and assisted him to hold the Chief Constable to account.  The importance of the JIAC’s role in assisting, and the provision of critical oversight of the work of the PFCC was noted.  It was further considered best practice to bring the JIAC’s annual report to the Police Fire and Crime Panel. 

 

The Chair of the JIAC then presented the report and highlighted the following points:

 

·       The JIAC had recruited a new member and was undergoing a further recruitment exercise to fill the remaining vacancy.

 

·       The JIAC report provided a summary of activities from the financial year 2021/22 and provided assurance of good governance and practice.

 

·       The JIAC had considered its terms of reference in 2021/2022 and it was not proposed to make any changes to them at this point.

 

·       The JIAC was pleased to note that positive steps had been made to improve the quality of reporting and that the force and Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service (NFRS) had adopted the same format and structure for reports and in some cases had combined reporting bring consistency to the reports.

 

·       The JIAC also commented that the officers had been supportive of the JIAC’s work and operated in an open and transparent manner.

 

·       External audit had not yet signed off the 2020/2021 accounts. The JIAC and OPFCC had taken all possible action to try to address this. Not being a named party on the external audit contract had restricted the ability of the OPFCC to progress the matter to a conclusion. 

 

·           A project to bring enabling services back in-house was being progressed and the JIAC would continue to focus on the project as one of their key work streams.

 

·       The JIAC had taken part in an Estates Programme Workshop, to appreciate how estates had been impacted by different working modes, the link with capital budget, audits recommendations and the completed actions plans.  It had been identified that this would be a longer term project, estimated to be a 20 year programme. 

 

·       The Chair commended the work carried out by the JIAC and the due diligence shown in approaching the challenges dealt with during the year.

 

The Panel considered the Annual Report and members made the following points during the course of their discussion:

 

·       Delays in the completion of external audits caused concern and the Panel asked for clarification on how the OPFCC would manage associated risks. 

 

·       The Panel discussed the merits of the Chair of the Police Fire and Crime Panel also making representations to the Home Secretary. 

 

·       The OPFCC team should be commended for their efforts to resolve the outstanding issue relating to the auditing of the accounts.

 

·       Would the setting of the Parish Precept be affected by accounts remaining unsigned?

 

·       Was Darby House under-occupied and what action was being taken to maximise its cost-effectiveness?

 

·       Clarification on the status of the Police estates in terms of the short, medium and long term programme was sought.

 

·       The Panel considered it would be beneficial if the PFCC would consider providing an update on the estates strategy.

 

·       Clarification was sought regarding the decision to terminate the MINT LLP that had had been included in the report on changes to the delivery of procurement services considered by the JIAC.

 

The Chair of the JIAC made the following additional points during the course of the discussion:

 

·       As the external audit contract was part of a framework let by Public Sector Audit Appointments (PSAA) the JIAC was only able to make representations about the issues experienced.  The delayed signing off of accounts had not been limited to Northamptonshire. The external auditors had advised that they saw no causes for concern in Northamptonshire and that signing off the accounts should only represent a technical step.

 

·       The reference in the Annual Report to NFRS having made good progress with the provision of a capital programme reflected that NFRS had transferred across to the PFCC without a capital budget.  Now, with a capital budget they would be in a position to fund an estates programme and the good progress had been noted in the report. 

 

·       MINT LLP had been the vehicle through which procurement was provided.  The JIAC had considered the process to provide in-house procurement and had been assured of the benefits to making the change.

 

The Chief Finance Officer made the following points during the course of the discussion:

 

·       Each Police Force and PCC had separate contracts for internal audit and everyone in the East Midlands had used the same auditor which assisted with the audit of the regional collaborations.  The OPFCC had undertaken a tendering exercise for a new consolidated collaboration, the contracts for 2023/24 would be reviewed and awarded in due course.  NFRS had separate contract arrangements for auditing which would cease in March 2023 when they would be included in the new regional contract.

 

·       The external audit sector nationally had experienced challenges since the current contract had started in 2018 in terms of the technical requirements; increase in public sector audits, staff turnover, sickness and loss of expertise.  PSAA had since 2018/ 2019, publicised the number of accounts produced on time, and audited on time; and it was anticipated that the number that failed to be audited by the September 2022 deadline would increase in comparison to earlier years. In September 2021 the PFCC had written to the national lead of external audit following advice that external auditors would prioritise work on larger public organisations rather than police forces and Fire and Rescue services.

 

·      The 2020/2021 accounts for NFRS had been signed off, clean unqualified in February 2022. The external audit of police 2020/2021 accounts was still in-progress. Nationally, no external audits of 2021/2022 accounts had started.

 

·       The PFCC had, and the Chief Finance Officer would continue to make representations to the Home Office and PSAA.

 

·       The OPFCC had an active risk management procedure and regularly monitored risks and they would continue to monitor and update the risks associated with the 2021/2022 accounts remaining open.

 

·       It was anticipated that, should the accounts remain unsigned, any change to the figure for the Parish Precept would be minimal.

 

·       The Police already had a continuing pattern of condition survey for estates when NFRS governance transferred to the PFCC, whereas additional focus on NFRS estates was needed.

 

The PFCC made the following points during the course of the discussion:

 

·       Continued work on the estates strategy would look at the utilisation of all buildings, and formulating a programme of projects for the short, medium and long term, with a view to rationalising the entire estate.

 

·       Estates and the disposal of some buildings provided some complex and unexpected challenges.

 

·       The condition survey of the inherited NFRS buildings identified the need to invest in the region of a million pounds to update the estate to the required standard.

 

·       He could bring an update on estates to a future Panel meeting. It would be logical to do so after the 2023/2024 precepts had been presented.

 

RESOLVED that:

a) The panel notes the Joint Independent Audit Committee Annual Report 2021/22.

b) The Panel agreed the Chair would write to the Home Secretary regarding the delays in the completion of external audits.

c) The Panel requests the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner to present an update on the Estates Strategy to the Police, Fire and Crime Panel work programme.