Agenda and minutes
Venue: Conference Room 4B - Tŷ Hywel. View directions
Contact: Clerk: Kathryn Hughes Deputy Clerk: Buddug Saer
No. | Item |
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Introductions, apologies and declaration of interests - oral item Minutes: 1.1
The
Chair welcomed Manon Antoniazzi and Kimberly Cowan who were both observing
the meeting. 1.2
Eric Gregory declared that
he was a Non-Executive Director on the Cabinet
Office Modern Electoral Registration Programme and a business representative
for the Parliamentary Review of Health and Social Care in
Wales. |
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Minutes of 6 February, actions and matters arising Minutes: ACARAC
(02-17) Paper 1 - Minutes of 6 February 2017 ACARAC
(02-17) Paper 2 – Summary of actions 2.1
The minutes of the meeting on 6 February were agreed and the
updates on actions captured in paper 2, were noted. 2.2
In
relation to the one outstanding action – (paragraph 10.4) Circulate feedback from attendance by Estyn ACAC members at other ACAC
meetings, the Chair had received a report of findings. He was pleased to
note that the areas of good practice identified in the report, which he agreed
to share with the Committee members, were largely a reflection of this
Committee’s approach. |
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Internal Audit Update Report Minutes: ACARAC (02-17) Paper 3 – IA update report 3.1
Gareth Watts introduced his update report. He outlined the work
being carried out on the audit of Assembly Members’ expenses, the final report
on which would be circulated in advance of the June meeting. 3.2
He had also worked with officials to scope the forthcoming audit
of integrated support for Assembly Committees and completed a review of the
migration of data from the legacy CODA finance system to the new Microsoft
Dynamics NAV system. 3.3
The review he had carried out of the Commission’s Investment and
Resourcing Board (IRB) was due to be discussed by the Board on 21 March. Gareth
agreed to circulate the report, along with details of the actions agreed by the
Board, to the Committee in advance of the June meeting. 3.4
The Internal Audit contract with TIAA would expire in 2017 and
Gareth and the procurement team had finalised the specification document to
start the tender process. The panel for reviewing tenders consisted of the Head
of Internal Audit, the Director of Finance and a Senior Procurement
Officer. |
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Latest Internal Audit Report Minutes: ACARAC
(02-17) Paper 4 – Data Analytics (Payroll) review ACARAC
(02-17) Paper 5 – Project Management 4.1
Gareth
presented two audit reports, both of which were welcomed by the Committee. 4.2
The
Data Analytics review demonstrated the integrity and robustness of the payroll
data and had indicated no evidence of any fraudulent behaviour. The Committee
questioned the validation necessary to prove the integrity of the data within
the HR/Payroll system. Gareth assured the Committee that data was thoroughly
checked and exception reporting took place where necessary. He then described
some of the reporting functions of the new finance system which included
contract spend analytics. 4.3
Gareth
introduced his second report on the review of the Commission’s approach to
project management where four recommendations had been identified and agreed by
management. 4.4
Given
the challenges that lay ahead for the Commission to deliver an ambitious set of
objectives, the Committee encouraged officials to develop clear criteria for
prioritising projects, and to focus on benefits realisation. 4.5
The
Committee again questioned the lack of project progress reporting within the
Corporate Performance (KPI) Report. Dave agreed to consider including the
Directors’ updates on progress of projects, which were provided quarterly to
IRB, as annexes to future KPI Reports. 4.6
Dave
was pleased to see real progress since Gareth’s previous review in 2015. He
described the process in place at the fortnightly IRB meetings to assess
resource and budget implications of projects, as well as how they contributed
to achieving the Commission’s strategic goals and priorities. He would take on
board the Committee’s suggestion of detailing prioritisation criteria in a more
formal manner. 4.7
The
Committee questioned the scrutiny of business cases and officials recognised
improvements were needed to capture lessons learned and to monitor benefit
realisation. It was agreed that further guidance was needed, including around
the development and iterations of business cases. Gareth also agreed to
circulate a useful report he had recently found on agile project management
methodology to Committee members. 4.8
Officials
welcomed the discussion on programme and project management and the Committee
welcomed a review of change management principles and processes which was
scheduled for September 2017. The current project guidance would be updated and
developed collaboratively by members of the Community of Practice and other key
stakeholders. Actions Data Analytics (Payroll) audit -
Gareth to provide the Committee with
further information regarding the sample sizes used for data analytics. Project
Management audit -
Gareth to circulate
outcome of IRB review discussion in advance of the June meeting. -
Dave to consider
prioritisation criteria for projects. -
Dave to consider inclusion
of IRB ‘Directors updates’ as annexes to the KPI Report. -
Gareth to circulate report
on agile project management methodology. |
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Consider Internal Audit's outline audit plan for 2017-18 Minutes: ACARAC
(02-17) Paper 6 – Internal Audit Plan 2017-18 5.1
The
Committee approved Gareth’s audit plan for 2017-18. Gareth assured the Committee that his key
areas of focus were in line with the Commission’s corporate risks. The Committee
questioned whether there was enough focus on the Assembly Business function as
this was where the forthcoming changes would be concentrated. The Committee
were satisfied with Gareth’s response around covering the change management
elements in the review planned for September 2017, and for flexing his plan to
accommodate specific areas of concern during the year. 5.2
Gareth
would be using internal resource to assist him with his review of integrated
support for Committees. He had also
added indicative days to the audit plan to ensure the Committee understood his
commitments. |
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Review the Internal Audit Charter and Internal Audit's compliance with Public Sector Internal Audit Standard (PSIAS) Minutes: ACARAC
(02-17) Paper 7 – Internal Audit Charter cover paper ACARAC
(02-17) Paper 7 – Internal Audit Charter ACARAC
(02-17) Paper 8 – EQA Interim Report 6.1 The
Committee noted the revised Internal Audit Charter for 2017-18 and welcomed the
interim External Quality Assessment Report, produced by Andrew Munro, Head of
Internal Audit at the Scottish Parliament. The report concluded that the
internal audit service generally conforms to internal auditing standards as set
out by, and in accordance with, HM Treasury’s Internal Audit Quality Assessment
Framework. The Committee congratulated Gareth on such a positive result and
requested the final report be circulated out of committee. Action -
Gareth
to circulate the EQA Final Report to Committee members. |
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External Audit update report Minutes: ACARAC (02-17) Paper 9 – Update
report 7.1 Matthew
Coe introduced the WAO update report. The proposed fee was slightly higher than the previous
year but included some contingency which may not be required if the audit work
continued smoothly. The interim work was proceeding without any major issues
identified. 7.2
The
Committee then discussed the results of the WAO benchmarking exercise of public
sector annual reports and governance statements which had been incorrectly
scored for the Commission. The WAO, Nia and the Committee agreed the revised
scoring. The WAO would share best
practice identified from the exercise and would also advise on plans to repeat
such exercises in the future. 7.3
Nia
was pleased with the continuity of the WAO audit team, particularly given the
added pressures of implementing the new finance system. She informed the
Committee that there were no concerns about the capacity of the team to
maintain a smooth audit process. Action -
WAO
to advise of plans to repeat the benchmarking exercise for annual reports and
governance statements with other public bodies and share best practice ideas
with the Assembly Commission. |
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Review of Joint Working Protocol - oral item Minutes: Oral
item 8.1
Both
Matthew, Nia and Gareth agreed that their working relationship was effective
and would continue to be open and transparent. |
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Draft Governance Statement 2016-17 Minutes: ACARAC
(02-17) Paper 10 – Draft Governance Statement for 2016-17 – cover paper ACARAC
(02-17) Paper 10 – Draft Governance Statement for 2016-17 9.1 Claire
introduced the draft Governance Statement. She reported that the process
building up to the drafting of the statement was well established, with Heads
of Service providing detailed assurance statements to inform the drafting of
Directorate-level statements. Hugh’s scrutiny at a Management Board meeting
added a further layer of assurance. Claire agreed to share a revised version of
the Governance Statement and an outline of the Annual Report with the Committee
before Easter recess. 9.2
Attendees agreed to provide feedback to the
Clerking team after the meeting. 9.3
The Committee commended officials on producing a
comprehensive draft statement. They suggested highlighting the key corporate
risks and elaborating on the value for money initiative. Actions -
Claire to circulate
revised draft and outline Annual Report before the Easter recess. -
Attendees to provide
feedback on the draft Governance Statement to the Clerking team. |
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Review the overall Assurance Framework Minutes: ACARAC
(02-17) Paper 11 – Assurance Framework update ACARAC
(02-17) Paper 11 – Annex A – Assurance FW map ACARAC
(02-17) Paper 11 – Annex B - Assurance FW April 16-Mar 17 10.1
The
Committee welcomed the revised Assembly Commission’s Assurance Framework and
appreciated how well used it was across the organisation. |
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Update on fraud and whistleblowing policies Minutes: ACARAC
(02-17) Paper 12 – Whistleblowing Policy and Fraud Policy Updates 11.1
Gareth
updated the Committee on the review of the Commission’s Whistleblowing and
Fraud policies. Information on whistleblowing and other methods of raising concerns
and complaints was published on the Assembly’s intranet pages and this included
a link to an independent email address. Gareth would be working with the Head
of HR to ensure there was sufficient awareness across the Commission. 11.2
There
had been no substantive updates to the Fraud Policy or the Fraud Response
Plan. 11.3
In
March 2017, the Assembly Commission ran a cyber security awareness week which
highlighted the potential risks from cyber-attacks, which included phishing
emails that could increase the risk of fraudulent activity. Dave confirmed that
constituency offices would receive cyber security awareness training. 11.4
Suzy
Davies and officials agreed to provide the Committee with feedback on how the
week was received by Commission staff, Assembly Members and Assembly Members’
support staff. Action -
Suzy Davies and Clerking team to gather
feedback on the cyber security awareness week amongst AMs, AMSS and
Commissioners. |
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Finance and Budget update Minutes: ACARAC
(02-17) Paper 13 – Finance and Budget update 12.1 Due
to the early scheduling of this meeting, Nia was unable to provide the
Committee with a year-end position as accounting adjustments were yet to be
processed. 12.2 A capacity
planning meeting at Management Board would further inform demands on the
2017-18 budget which would also be closely monitored by IRB. |
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Update on replacement Finance system project - oral item Minutes: Oral
item 13.1 Nia
and Keith provided the Committee with an update on the finance system
replacement project and implementation of the Microsoft Dynamics NAV system. A
project board, scheduled for Monday 20 March had been postponed due to a delay in
testing the functionality of publishing AMs expenses. The project team did not
believe that the issue was technically complicated to fix or would delay the
go-live date. 13.2 The
Chair noted the robust governance arrangements applied to this project and asked
for Keith to be kept informed of the go-live decision making process and
conclusions. Nia confirmed that she remained confident that the go-live date
would be 3 April and agreed to send all project related papers to Keith. Action -
Nia to ensure Keith is kept informed
of progress and decision making process at key stages.
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Consider the Corporate Risk Report Minutes: ACARAC
(02-17) Paper 14 – Corporate Risks ACARAC
(02-17) Paper 14 – Annex A – Corporate Risks Summary Report ACARAC
(02-1\7) Paper 14 – Annex B – Corporate Risks plotted 14.1 The Commission’s Corporate Risk Register
had been thoroughly reviewed by the Management Board at meetings in February
and March, which had resulted in a number of new risks being added. The Chair
commended the due diligence applied to identifying, capturing and closely
monitoring the most significant risks facing the Commission. 14.2 Discussions around the wider change
agenda, including communication and engagement in relation to all of the
corporate changes (constitutional and electoral reform, wider engagement and
Brexit) were ongoing between relevant Management Board members to ensure a
strategic and co-ordinated approach. |
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Critical examination of one identified or emerging risk - Constitutional change Minutes: ACARAC
(02-17) Paper 15– Constitutional Change Risks 15.1
Anna
and Adrian were present for this item. Discussions focused on the challenges
regarding the public perception of corporate and constitutional changes. 15.2
Committee
members welcomed the clear explanation of such a complex area, the analysis of
the individual risks and the on-going discussions around the interdependency
and combined impact of these. |
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Outline of ACARAC Annual Report - oral item Minutes: Oral
item 16.1
The
Chair would share a draft report with members for comment in April. |
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Departures Summary and Forward Work Programme Minutes: ACARAC
(02-17) Paper 16 – Departures summary
ACARAC
(02-17) Paper 17 – Forward Work Programme 17.1 The Committee noted one
departure from normal procurement procedure.
The Chair requested details of the current cost of caseworker training. 17.2 The Clerking team would
update and publish a revised forward work programme. 17.3 As this was Claire’s final
ACARAC meeting, the Chair formally thanked her on behalf of the Committee for
helping engender such a positive working relationship and wished her well in
the future. Next meeting is scheduled
for 19 June 2017. |
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Forward Work Programme |