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 Minutes: 1.1 No
apologies
were received and no interests
were declared. |
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Minutes of 18 June, actions and matters arising Minutes: ACARAC
(04-18) Paper 1 - Minutes of 18 June 2018 ACARAC
(04-18) Paper 2 – Summary of actions 2.1 The minutes of the
meeting on 18 June were agreed. 2.2
The Chair thanked Dave Tosh for circulating a revised SIRO report
which now included GDPR preparations and cyber-security statistics. No other
actions were outstanding. |
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Annual Report and Accounts Minutes: ACARAC
(04-18) Paper 3 – Annual Report and Statement of Accounts 2017-18 – cover paper ACARAC
(04-18) Paper 3 – Annex A – Annual Report and Statement of Accounts 2017-18 3.1
Nia Morgan presented the latest version of the
Commission’s Annual Report and Accounts. She sought the Committee’s
recommendation to the Accounting Officer that the financial statements for
2017-18 be signed. 3.2
The external audit carried out by WAO had not
resulted in any audit adjustments to the draft accounts which were reviewed at
the 18 June 2018 meeting. The final outturn for 2017-18 remained an under spend
of £0.3m against budget, as reported in the draft accounts. This was a 0.6%
under spend when compared with the £52.5m budget. 3.3
The Committee welcomed the streamlined content of
the report with the use of referencing to other reports and information
sources. 3.4
Early indications were that the actual audit costs
for 2017-18 would not exceed the estimated fee of £57,958, as set out in the
Audit Plan and the WAO would keep the Committee informed of any deviations from
this. |
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WAO Update Report Minutes: ACARAC
(04-18) Paper 4 - WAO update 4.1
The WAO confirmed that no matters had arisen since
the June meeting and that they continued to propose an unqualified audit
opinion for the Commission. 4.2
The WAO would work with the Finance team to address
a few minor points raised at the lessons learned meeting. Consideration would
also be given to accelerating processes to allow presentation of the statement
of accounts earlier next year, although it was recognised that the Pension
timetable may not allow for this. This would be reported back to the Committee
in order to inform its forward work programme.
4.3
The WAO would inform the Committee of any delays
caused by further investigations into the drawing down of funds from the Welsh
Consolidated Fund for payment of the Standards Commissioner, although Ann-Marie
was confident that any delay would not impact on the signing of the accounts. 4.4
The Chair welcomed the positive working relationship
between officials and the auditors which was reciprocated by officials. 4.5
The Committee agreed that the Accounting Officer
should sign the 2017-18 financial statements. Action |
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Feedback from the TIAA Chairs Conference and Reflections on Independent Adviser Role Minutes: Oral item via presentation 5.1
Keith Baldwin was invited to share his feedback from
the TIAA Audit and Risk Assurance Committee Chairs conference which he attended
in April 2018, as well as his reflections on his role as an Independent Adviser
to the Commission and member of the Committee.
5.2
His first presentation focused on three key themes
from the TIAA conference: cyber security; whistleblowing; and effective
governance 5.3
In terms of cyber security Keith felt assured, from
discussions in Committee meetings, that the Assembly Commission were adequately
prepared in this area and had demonstrated a clear programme for future
development. He referred to a check-list of things to improve assurances around
cyber-security and to a ‘spider diagram’ as an example of presenting
cyber-security maturity. Dave advised that the ICT team were looking at
producing something similar for the Commission. 5.4
In terms of whistleblowing, again Keith felt that
the Commission had a robust policy and procedures in place although he did
question whether this had been tested. Gareth Watts explained that he planned
to attend a course later in the year run by Public Concern at Work to ensure
that our procedures were as up to date as possible. His findings would be
shared with Manon and Dave. 5.5
Keith then presented a list of pointers for an
effective Audit Committee which he elaborated on in his next presentation by
focusing on what this could mean for the Commission. 5.6
His next presentation focused on his Committee
membership and role as an Independent Advisor. He felt the Assembly had
developed into a strong and mature organisation especially in terms of risk
management and internal audit. 5.7
He expressed some concern about the loss of
experience and knowledge as a result of his departure and the Chair’s departure
in 2019. 5.8
Much of his presentation focused on a list of
suggested pointers for an effective committee, as referenced in the previous
presentation. The Chair agreed that much of this was already in place in the
Commission, although assurance and risk
management processes should continue to be developed. The Chair added that the
Terms of Reference clearly set out the role of the Committee and the forward
work programme was shared on a regular basis for members to influence the items
to discuss. 5.9
Overall, Keith’s experience had been positive,
enjoyable and rewarding. The Committee and officials thanked him for his
contributions and commitment to the role and wished him all the best for the
future. |
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Update on finance system project (1+ year on) Minutes: ACARAC (04-18) Paper 5 - Update on
finance system replacement project (NAV) 6.1
Nia presented the update report,
outlining the significant number of benefits being realised by the project.
Examples included: more effective use of staff resources; more efficient
business process and the elimination of non-compliance risks. 6.2 A
number of issues were encountered during the year since the system went live,
although the majority of these had been addressed by the software supplier. The
relationship with the supplier had improved significantly following the
appointment of a Customer Account Manager specifically for the Commission. 6.3 A
Service Improvement Plan was now in place and during a recent site visit from a
senior representative in April 2018, a number of minor but long-outstanding
issues were resolved. 6.4 The
Committee questioned what the next phase would entail. Nia confirmed that phase
three would replace Folding Space, the electronic Members’ allowances system.
Phase three would enable budgeting for Members’ staff and the publication of
expenses to be carried out directly from within the core finance system (NAV).
The phase was due to be completed by 1 April 2019. 6.5 The
Committee thanked Nia for this update and welcomed the efficiency savings the
system had generated. Action Nia to keep the Committee
updating on progress against key milestones on delivery of the next phase of
the finance replacement project. |
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Strategic Update Minutes: Oral
item 7.1
Dave and Manon led on the strategic update. Dave
commenced discussion with an update on Phase 2 of the Capacity Review. An
action plan was in place with leads and timescales identified. As a result of the
greater flexibility identified during the Phase 1 of the review, individuals
had been temporarily redeployed to areas such as the Brexit team to meet
immediate demand. 7.2
As well as the results of the Capacity Review, the
prioritisation criteria would prove a useful tool to assess calls on the
Commission’s Investment Fund. 7.3
Manon then updated the Committee on Assembly reform
and Brexit. Staff engagement had been a priority for Manon and at the end of
each Assembly term staff sessions had proved very engaging and collaborative.
Since her appointment, Manon had been encouraged by how committed staff were to
the organisation and hoped that the opportunities brought by the Capacity
Review and Assembly reform would bring more varied and interesting work which
in turn could increase morale. 7.4
Committee members were aware of the uncertainty
around Brexit. Manon assured the Committee that they were responding to
developments as and when they occurred and would continue to work closely with
colleagues across other legislatures. 7.5
Dave concluded this item by reminding the Committee
that any decision on new accommodation would have to be taken by the Welsh
Government and supported via a supplementary budget. The Llywydd was discussing
this with the First Minister at each bi-lateral meeting and the issue would
become more pressing if the Assembly agreed to an increase in the number of
Assembly Members. |
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Departures Summary Minutes: ACARAC
(04-18) Paper 6 – Departure Summary 6.1 The
Committee confirmed two departures from normal procurement procedure presented in
the paper, which were for IT hardware support and Dignity and respect training.
6.2 During
the discussion, the Committee noted the controls and planning around use of the
Commission’s learning and development budget. |
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Forward Work Programme Minutes: ACARAC
(04-18) Paper 7 – Forward Work Programme 9.1 The
Committee welcomed the forward work programme and asked the Clerking team to
ensure an induction programme was planned/established for new ACARAC members. Next meeting is scheduled
for 26 November 2018. |