Agendas, reports and minutes

Present:

Mrs M Davidson, Mr B Fernie, Dr D Alston, Mr R Balfour, Mr D Bremner, Mrs C Caddick, Mrs H Carmichael, Mr A Christie, Mr B Clark, Dr I Cockburn, Mr A Duffy (Substitute), Mr H Fraser (Substitute), Mr A Henderson, Mr E Hunter, Ms L MacDonald, Mr G MacKenzie, Mr A MacKinnon, Mr B Murphy, Mr A Rhind, Mr G Rimell, Mr J Stone

Non-Members also present:

Mr D Fallows, Mr G Farlow

Officials in Attendance:

Ms M Morris, Assistant Chief Executive
Mr D Yule, Director of Finance
Mr N Gillies, Director of Transport, Environmental and Community Services
Mr H Fraser, Director of Education, Culture and Sport
Mr N Rose, Head of Internal Audit and Risk Management
Miss D Sutherland, Principal Auditor
Mr J Grieve, Corporate ICT Manager
Ms L Johnstone, ICT Delivery Manager
Ms T Page, Customer Service Manager
Mr D Beaton, Computer Auditor
Mr E Boyd, Principal Engineer Energy and Engineering
Mr D Roberts, European Officer
Miss J MacLennan, Democratic Services Manager
Miss C Maragh, Administrative Assistant
Miss J Green, Administrative Assistant

An asterisk in the margin denotes a recommendation to the Council. 
All decisions with no marking in the margin are delegated to Committee.

Mrs M Davidson in the Chair

1.  Apologies for Absence
Leisgeulan

Apologies for absence were intimated on behalf of Mr K Gowans, Mr D Hendry, Mr N MacDonald, Mr J Rosie and Ms G Ross.

2.  Declarations of Interest
Foillseachaidhean Com-pàirt

The Committee NOTED the following declarations of interest:-

Item 3 – Mr B Murphy (Non-Financial)
Item 6 – Mr H Fraser (Financial)
Item 7 – Mr A Duffy and Mrs H Carmichael (Non-Financial)
Item 9 – Mr E Hunter, Mr B Murphy, Mr A Henderson and Mr R Balfour
(all Non-Financial)

3.  Internal Audit Reviews and Progress Report
Ath-bhreithneachaidhean In-sgrùdaidh agus Aithisg Adhartais

Declaration of Interest – Mr B Murphy declared a non- financial interest in this item on the grounds that of being a Director of Linnhe Leisure but, having applied the test outlined in Paragraphs 5.2 and 5.3 of the Councillors’ Code of Conduct, concluded that his interest did not preclude his involvement in the discussion.

There had been circulated Report No. AS-9-13 ( (107kb pdf) dated 10 June 2013 by the Head of Internal Audit and Risk Management which summarised a final report issued since the date of the last meeting, together with details of work in progress and other information relevant to the operation of the Internal Audit Section.

In relation to the Internal Audit Section, it was advised that planned work which was currently in progress would be the subject of a future report.

Also, during the period, the Section had been involved in a variety of other work, including Irregularity/ Fraud Investigations, Grant Claims, Joint Board work and work for other organisations or Committees, work to support the Statement on Internal Control 2012/13, Advice and Assurance and the Computer Audit.

In regard to Staffing Resources, Vacancies and Progress Against Plan, it was confirmed that staffing proposals had been presented to and agreed by the Finance, Housing and Resources Committee on 5 June 2013 and this would now provide for a Trainee Auditor and allow an Auditor post to be filled thus ensuring that there would be no significant impact on the number of planned audit days.

Discussions had also been held between the Chair of the Audit & Scrutiny Committee, the City Leader, Chair of the Inverness City Arts Working Group, Corporate Manager and Head of Internal Audit and Risk Management and it had been agreed that a review would be undertaken in regard to how public art in Inverness had been financed and delivered through the Inverness Common Good Fund over the past three years.

During discussion, Members made reference to the considerable amount of work involved for Officers in regard to the process which had been introduced by the Scottish Government to review all live LEADER project files. In this regard, it was suggested that assurances should be sought at Ministerial level that future guidance on LEADER projects should be robust and more than just an ‘aide memoire’ as was currently the case.

It was also suggested that a further report in regard to the LEADER process and how it was progressing, taking account of information from communities as to their experiences with the process, should be submitted to a future meeting.

In regard to Planned Work in Progress, and specifically the TEC Services Grass Cutting Contract, it was noted that an issue raised with regard to overtime working would be raised separately with the Director of the Service following the meeting.

In regard to the final report issued since the date of the last meeting, it was confirmed as follows:-

Housing and Property – Compliance with the Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme (CRCEES), 2010/11 and 2011/12

The objectives of the review had been to ensure that there were adequate processes and procedures in place to produce a complete and accurate record of the Council’s CO2 emissions as reported within the Council’s 2010/11 Footprint report, adequate processes and procedures were in place to record, measure and report CO2 emission output within the Council's responsibility, appropriate arrangements were in place to produce accurate and timely Carbon Reduction Commitment monitoring and evaluation reports and adequate processes and procedures were in place to forecast, measure and record anticipated CO2 emission output and there were processes and procedures in place to acquire carbon cost allowances in an appropriate and timely manner.

In this regard, it was confirmed that effective procedures were in place surrounding CRCEES registration and timely submission of annual compliance reports.  In addition, there were appropriate mechanisms in place to acquire the requisite amount of CO2 allowances within the designated time period.

However, it was further reported that not all objectives of this audit had been fully achieved due to the lack of safeguards and procedures in place to prevent and detect emission data inaccuracies embedded within the 2010/11 data records. As a result, limited assurance had been given and two recommendations made – one which had been classified as high priority and one as low priority – both of which had been accepted by management and were due to be resolved by 31 July 2013.

The Committee NOTED the final report as detailed and the current work of the Internal Audit Section, including the ongoing resourcing issues within the Section.

It was also AGREED that, in regard to the review of all live LEADER project files, assurances should be sought at Ministerial level that future guidance would be more robust and not just an ‘aide memoire’ as had been the case in the past.

It was further AGREED that a report in relation to the LEADER process and how it was progressing, taking account of information from communities as to their experiences with the process, should be submitted to a future meeting.

4.  Updates of Actions Arising from Internal Audits of Business Community Planning, Fuel Cards and CareFirst
Fios as Ùr mu Ghnìomhachd ag Èirigh bho In-sgrùdaidhean air Dealbhadh Gnothachas Coimhearsnachd, Cairtean Connaidh agus CareFirst

There had been circulated Report No. AS-10-13 (128kb pdf) dated 11 June 2013 by the Head of Internal Audit and Risk Management which provided an update on progress in implementing the actions arising from three reports which had been presented at the last meeting on 28 March 2013 as follows:-

• Administration of Fuel Cards (follow up)
• CareFirst (follow up)
• Business Continuity Planning

In terms of the Administration of Fuel Cards, it was reported that the required actions, detailed in Appendix 1 to the report, had all now been completed.

In respect of the high priority action in regard to fuel monitoring, an options appraisal had been completed and a meeting had taken place between the Director of Transport, Environmental and Community (TEC) Services, Director of Finance, Head of Internal Audit and Risk Management, Head of Roads and Community Works, Head of Procurement and the Fleet and Maintenance Manager during which it had been established that information on fuel drawings using the Council’s Vectec system (relating to drawings from in-house fuel tanks) and using fuel cards (relating to external drawings at agency garages) had been held in different systems and managed by different staff and that these needed to be reconciled before fuel consumption could be managed effectively. It had been concluded that monitoring by TEC Services Stores staff was the best immediate solution but the introduction of vehicle tracking would provide a better long term solution and a number of actions in this respect had therefore been agreed and had been summarised within the report.

In regard to CareFirst, the actions taken to date had been summarised in Appendix 2 to the report and these showed that the high priority action had been addressed with two medium priority actions remaining outstanding as follows:-

(i) production of corporate third party guidelines and the need for a process to
    ensure that all third parties were made aware of the Council’s information
    security policies. In this respect, it was advised that an Information Security
    Policy was due to be completed by the end of June 2013. It was also
    necessary for ICT Services to review all ICT contracts, including those
    resulting from software procurements by other Services, to ensure that non-
    disclosure agreements were included and this was now in progress; and
(ii) Password controls and the need to ensure that users did not re-use existing
    passwords. Although this action had been progressed, it was dependent on
    a new software release from the supplier which was to be available by
    January 2014 and in the meantime passwords continued to be reset securely
    on a quarterly basis. Additional security was also provided through the need
    to access the Highland Council network before CareFirst could be accessed.

In terms of Business Continuity Planning, it was reported that the majority of actions were not due to be implemented until 31 July 2013 or thereafter. However, Appendix 3 to the report highlighted that six individual actions had now been completed and good progress was being made by both TEC and ICT Services who were responsible for completion. Also, a Business Continuity Plan had been drafted and presented to the Weekly Business Meeting and Service Management Teams.

In addition to the above reports, three further reports presented at the last meeting had also resulted in a limited assurance opinion being given, namely the LEADER Programme 2011/12, Car Park Income Collection and Investigation into Missing Public Convenience Income and specific details of each had been provided within the report.

At this point, the Chair welcomed the positive progress which had been made on the issues which had been identified at the previous meeting.

With regard to the update on the Administration of Fuel Cards, it was stressed that this was an extremely important issue for the Council and as such it was vitally important that the situation was closely monitored, particularly in relation to vehicle tracking which it was considered would offer the best long term solution. In this respect, it was noted that a further follow-up audit would be undertaken in due course and a further report submitted to the Audit & Scrutiny Committee at that time. 

Thereafter, the Committee NOTED the good progress in implementing the actions arising from the three reports which had been presented to the last meeting on 28 March 2013 as detailed.

It was also AGREED that a further follow-up audit should be undertaken in regard to the Administration of Fuel Cards and a report submitted to the Committee in this regard in due course.

5.  Risk Management Strategy
Ro-innleachd Rianachd Cunnairt

There had been circulated Report No. AS-11-13 (158kb pdf) dated 11 June 2013 by the Head of Internal Audit and Risk Management which referred to the review of the Council’s Risk Management Strategy and highlighted minor revision.

In this regard, it was confirmed that Section 5.2.1 – Performance & Risk Management System – had been revised to ensure that information security risks were recorded.

Also, Section 5.3.2 – Risk Management Framework – had been revised to include Information Security as an area of specific risk.

The Committee NOTED the content of the report and the minor revisions as detailed.

6.  Statement on Internal Control and Annual Report 2012/13
Aithris mu In-Smachd agus Aithisg Bhliadhnail 2012/13

Declaration of Interest – Mr H Fraser declared a financial interest in this item as the owner of a business and confirmed that he would leave the room if there was any detailed discussion on the new Contractors’ Framework Agreement for Construction Works

There had been circulated Report No. AS-12-13 (188kb pdf) dated 11 June 2013 by the Head of Internal Audit and Risk Management which included an assessment of the adequacy, reliability and effectiveness of the Council’s system of internal financial control and provided information for the Council’s Corporate Governance Assurance Statement. This was contained within the Statement on Internal Control which had been attached to the report. 

In addition, the annual report provided an overview of the Internal Audit Section’s activities and performance data for 2012/13.

During a summary of the report, it was confirmed that, in order to comply with the requirements of the CIPFA/LASAAC Code of Practice on Local Authority Accounting, a Statement on Internal Control had to be produced.

In this regard, and on the basis of the work undertaken during the year, it was considered that the key systems operated in a sound manner and that there had been no fundamental breakdown in control resulting in material discrepancy.  It was therefore the audit opinion that reasonable assurance could be placed upon the adequacy and effectiveness of the Council’s internal control systems for the year to 31 March 2013.

In terms of the Annual Report, it was advised that this provided an overview of the Section’s activities during 2012/13 and the first year’s new performance data.

At this point, the Chair acknowledged the remarkable amount of work undertaken by the Section during a time of staff vacancies and conveyed her thanks to all those involved on behalf of the Committee.

During further discussion, reference was made to School Meals Income and the monitoring of systems and specifically the requirement for the separation of duties between staff dealing with income collecting and banking. In this respect, concern was expressed that the instruction to school based staff to input into Saffron had resulted in compliance from only 60% of schools and it was hoped that this could be increased to 100% in due course.

It was also suggested that further discussion should be undertaken in due course with NHS Highland in relation to the auditing of the Integration of Care.

Thereafter, the Committee otherwise NOTED the content of the report and the audit opinion provided.

7.  Action Tracking Report
Aithisg a’ Leantainn Gnìomhachd

Declaration of Interest – Mr A Duffy and Mrs H Carmichael declared non-financial interests in this item as a Director and a Trustee respectively of Inverness Leisure but, having applied the test outlined in Paragraphs 5.2 and 5.3 of the Councillors’ Code of Conduct, concluded that their interests did not preclude their involvement in the discussion.

It was confirmed that the Audit and Scrutiny Committee received an annual update to provide assurance that the agreed actions arising from audit reports had been satisfactorily implemented.

In this regard, there had been circulated Report No. AS-13-13 (242kb pdf) dated 11 June 2013 by the Head of Internal Audit and Risk Management which provided information on the most recent action tracking which had been undertaken since the last update provided on 20 September 2012 and which covered the period from 1 July 2012 to 31 May 2013.

During a summary of the report, it was confirmed that, out of a total of 127 audit recommendations, 110 actions had been satisfactorily implemented, 16 actions had not been implemented but had revised target dates and 1 previous agreed action had subsequently not been undertaken as the role of Service Risk Facilitator had been removed from the risk management process and therefore the agreed action had become redundant.

There were seven audits which had a total of 16 actions with revised target dates and these had been summarised within the report as follows:-

Electronic Content and Document Management System
Phoenix e1 System
BACS Payments
AXIS Counter Receipting and Income Management
Corran Ferry Income Collection
Matters Arising from the Statement of Internal Control
Car Park Income Collection

During discussion, concern was expressed in regard to the timescales associated with the outstanding actions for the Electronic Content and Document Management System and the Phoenix e1 System and it was suggested that a report should be submitted to the next meeting to confirm at that time that these actions had been resolved.

The Committee NOTED the action tracking information provided, including the revised target dates for the completion of outstanding actions and the assurance provided at Section 3.1 of the report.

It was also AGREED that a report should be submitted to the next meeting to confirm that all outstanding actions in relation to the Electronic Content and Document Managing System and the Phoenix e1 System had been resolved.

8.  Corporate Complaints Process
Pròiseas Ghearainean Corporra

Members were advised that the Council’s Corporate Complaints handling process had been reviewed further to the decision of the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) that all Scottish Local Authorities should implement a standardised 2 Stage Complaints Handling Procedure.  Highland Council had implemented the new complaints procedure in accordance with the Ombudsman’s guidance, set criteria and timescales.

In this regard, there had been circulated Report No. AS-14-13 (68kb pdf) dated 23 May 2013 by the Assistant Chief Executive which provided an update on the implementation of the complaints process.

During a summary of the report, it was advised that the new process focused on ensuring that the Council adhered to the new timescales and the two stage process set out by the SPSO.  Emphasis was placed on resolving complaints at the earliest opportunity and it was essential that quality assurance was monitored as any complaint not resolved at stage two could be referred by the customer to the Ombudsman.

In this respect, the two stage process encompassed Stage 1 (complaint dealt with within 5 days) and Stage 2 (complaint dealt with within 20 days).

Information was also provided on the general complaints handling principles, monitoring and managing performance, lessons learned and the next steps.

In summary, it was confirmed that robust quality checking was key and Customer Service management reviews had been built into the process to ensure that complaint responses were of a good quality and standard. 

During discussion, it was suggested that it would be helpful to receive further information on how the figures presented in the report compared with previous years and for specific numbers to be highlighted (instead of percentages) wherever possible.

It was also suggested that there was a role for the Audit & Scrutiny Committee in monitoring complaints across the Council, perhaps on a 6 monthly or an annual basis, in order to gain an insight into how and where complaints were received and how they were handled.

Thereafter, the Committee NOTED:-

i.  the implementation of the new Complaints Procedure; and
ii. the action to be taken to ensure that the procedure was fully embedded
    and that complaints were dealt with within the agreed timescales. 

9.  Standards Commission: Investigation into Complaints 
Coimisean nan Inhbhean: Sgrudadh Ghearainean

Declarations of Interest – Mr E Hunter, Mr B Murphy, Mr A Henderson and Mr R Balfour all declared a non-financial interest in this item on the grounds of having been named in the report but, having applied the test outlined in Paragraphs 5.2 and 5.3 of the Councillors’ Code of Conduct, concluded that their interests did not preclude their involvement in the discussion.

There had been circulated Report No. AS-15-13 (35kb pdf) dated 3 June 2013 by the Assistant Chief Executive which provided information in relation to complaints received by the Standards Commission during the period 2011/12 and 2012/13 relating to alleged breaches of the Councillors’ Code of Conduct by Members of Highland Council and the outcome of the Standards Commission’s investigations into these complaints.

During a summary of the report, it was confirmed that there had been three complaints which had not been considered to have been a breach of the Code and which had not therefore been investigated by the Public Standards Commissioner, a further three complaints which had been investigated but not upheld and one complaint which had been investigated and upheld (and subsequently reported to the Highland Council at its meeting on 9 May 2013.

In this regard, details of the all the complaints which had been lodged, together with the outcomes, had been attached as Appendix 1 to the report.

During discussion, reference was made to the complaint against Councillor Alex Graham which had been listed in the report as ‘in progress’ and it was advised that confirmation had now been received that this complaint had not been upheld.

Reference was also made to the complaints which had been listed in the report as ‘not investigated’ and it was suggested that in future it should be made clear that the Public Standards Commissioner had been in full possession of all the facts and had concluded that these were spurious complaints (and as such there was no requirement for any investigation) or there should be no reference to such complaints in reports submitted to the Committee. In this regard, it was suggested that the comments made by Members at the meeting on this issue should be conveyed to the Standards Commission and that they should also be advised that the length of time taken in some cases to consider and determine outcomes often caused considerable additional stress to the Councillors involved.

Thereafter, the Committee NOTED that, in respect of the complaints against Highland Council Members which had been dealt with during 2011/12 and 2012/13, the Standards Commission had upheld one complaint as detailed in the report.

It was also NOTED that confirmation had now been received that the complaint against Councillor Alex Graham had not been upheld.

It was AGREED that comments made by Members at the meeting in regard to complaints which were shown as ‘not investigated’ and also the length of time taken to consider and determine outcomes in some cases should be conveyed to the Standards Commission.

10.  External Scrutiny: Assurance and Improvement Plan Update 2013-16  Sgrudadh bhon Taobh A-muigh: Fios as Ur mu Bhanrantas agus Plana Leasachaidh 2013-16

There had been circulated Report No. AS-16-13 (42kb pdf) dated 21 May 2013 by the Chief Executive which confirmed that the annual update of the Assurance and Improvement Plan (AIP) 2013-16 for Highland Council had been produced by Audit Scotland, drawing on the assessment by four external scrutiny bodies, and had shown that no additional scrutiny was required. In this regard, the Assurance and Improvement Plan had also been considered at the Highland Council meeting on 9 May 2013.

During a summary of the report, it was confirmed that, whilst there had been no areas identified where additional scrutiny was required, the Scottish Housing Regulator would ask the Council to complete a Homelessness Inquiry Submission and might perform on-site work to understand changes in the performance indicators for homelessness.

In addition, there were areas where further information was required for a judgement on additional scrutiny to be made – community learning and development services provided for the Council through High Life Highland, Social Work Services for adults and children’s services where it was too early to tell the impact of service integration, the impact of the Council’s programme of self-evaluation on service users and self-evaluation in schools and nurseries and in shifting the balance of care for older people from residential to home care.

In relation to external scrutiny, two further areas into scope for external assessment were compliance with the duties of the Equalities Act 2010 and the new audit of Community Planning Partnerships. Also, the Assurance and Improvement Plan had indicated the following scrutiny of the Council over the next three years – contributing to the national audit ‘Reshaping Scotland’s public sector workforce (April 2013), contributing to the national audit ‘Scotland’s Public Finances: Addressing the Challenges (follow up) (May 2013), Community Learning and Development (May to June 2013), Homelessness Inquiry Submission (August to September 2013), Joint Inspection of Children’s Services (October to November 2013) and Review of new arrangements for the delivery of social care services (timing to be confirmed for 2014/15).   

During discussion, reference was made to the inspection of community learning and development and specifically the introduction of a Statutory Instrument which was to come into force at the beginning of September and would extend the current levels of inspection to include an assessment of how well partners were improving learning, increasing life chances and promoting and securing wellbeing. In this regard, it was suggested that this represented an extraordinarily wide remit for Inspectors which could result in a considerable number of additional inspections and that discussions should be undertaken with Inspectors and also Audit Scotland at an early date in relation to the potential implications for Local Authorities.

In response, the Director of Education, Culture and Sport confirmed at the meeting that discussions had already been held with Inspectors and a draft Action Plan was currently being drawn up which was to be presented to the Inspectors in the first instance and thereafter a report would be submitted to the Adult & Children’s Services Committee.

At this point, the Chair made reference to inspection of the development of the integration of Adult Care Services and suggested that discussions should be undertaken in this regard with Audit Scotland at an early date (and prior to the planned inspection in 2015/16).

The Committee NOTED the Assurance and Improvement Plan, attached as Appendix 1 to the report, which highlighted that no additional scrutiny of the Council was required for 2013-16.

The Committee also NOTED the positive comments made about the Council’s financial management, overall performance and its strong managerial and political leadership with an effective Administration and Opposition and governance arrangements and areas where further information was being sought (homelessness, community learning and development and self-evaluation processes) and that there were seven areas of scheduled audit and inspection activity identified to 2016, including those contributing to national audit reports.

It was AGREED that discussions should be undertaken with Audit Scotland in regard to the inspection of the development of the integration of Adult Care Services at an early date (and prior to the planned inspection in 2015/16).

11.  Audit Scotland National Reports
Aithisgean Nàiseanta Sgrùdadh Alba

There had been circulated Report No. AS-17-13 (50kb pdf) dated 5 June 2013 by the Head of Internal Audit and Risk Management which provided details of the most recent National Reports issued by Audit Scotland and the action taken within the Council to address the report findings.

In this regard, it was confirmed that four reports had been issued and considered by the relevant Strategic Committees as follows:-

• Health Inequalities in Scotland (presented to the Adult and Children’s Services Committee on 20 March 2013);
• Responding to Challenges and Change (presented to the Highland Council on 9 May 2103);
• Improving Community Planning in Scotland (presented to the Highland Council on 9 May 2013); and
• Protecting Consumers (presented to the Transport, Environmental and Community Services Committee on 16 May 2013). 

The respective Committee Minutes had also been circulated for information.

At this point, the Chair suggested that more detailed and specific information should be provided in future in relation to how the recommendations arising from National Reports, such as Health Inequalities, were to be followed up and monitored within the Council and through Committees.

The Committee NOTED the action being taken by the respective Committees to address Audit Scotland’s National Reports as detailed.

It was also AGREED that more detailed and specific information should be provided in future in relation to how the recommendations arising from National Reports were to be followed up and monitored within the Council and through Committees. 

11a.  EU Programme Audit (European Social Fund): Non-Compliance Finding on the ESOL Support for Migrant Workers Project 0274

There had been circulated Report No. AS-19-13 (41kb pdf) dated 27 March 2013 by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which explained that one ESF project (in relation to ESOL support for migrant workers and their families) which had been audited had been found to be non-compliant and consequently the EU grant had had to be repaid.

During a summary of the report, it was confirmed that, although the elements of the project not related to procurement had been found to be fully compliant, the procurement of the contractor used by the project had not met the requirements of the ESF Programme and the Programme Managing Authority had requested that the Council voluntarily withdraw the project and pay back the claimed grant which amounted to £69,579.96.

By way of explanation, it was advised that the contract had been placed directly with the contractor rather than tendered competitively. However, it was also advised that at the time that the project had been developed, it had not been uncommon across Council Services for funding to third sector bodies to be regarded as grant funding rather than as being about services to procure (and to follow procurement policy).  

In agreeing to pay back the claimed grant, the Council would avoid a non-compliance marking, reduce the risk of further targeted EU audits and reduce the overall non-compliance to the Programme across Scotland. This approach had been approved by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport based on the advice of the European Policy Team. In this regard, consideration had been given to re-working the grant application for those elements which had not related to procurement (amounting to around £27k) and applying retrospectively but this would have required considerable Officer time and raised the non-compliance finding with the original application with no guarantee of success.

The Committee NOTED the non-compliance with procurement in an ESF project run by the ECS Service as found in a European audit of the Scottish Government’s management of EU programmes which had led to the need to repay the ESF grant award amounting to £69,579.96 from the Education, Culture and Sport Service budget.

12.  Exclusion of the Public
Às-dùnadh a’Phobaill

The Committee RESOLVED that, under Section 50A(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, the public should be excluded from the meeting for the following item on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 6 and 9 of Part 1 of Schedule 7A of the Act.

13.  Internal Audit Review and Progress Report
Ath-bhreithneachaidhean In-sgrùdaidh agus Aithisg Adhartais

There had been circulated to Members only Report No. AS/18/13 dated 10 June 2013 by the Head of Internal Audit and Risk Management which summarised a final confidential report issued since the date of the last meeting as follows:-

Chief Executive’s Service – ICT Contract Payments

Following discussion, the Committee NOTED the terms of the report as circulated on the basis that Substantial Assurance had been given in this regard.

The meeting ended at 12 noon.