Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence received.

Apologies had been received for Cllr Vaughan.

To enable Members to disclose to the meeting any disclosable pecuniary interest they may have in any matter on the agenda for the meeting, where that interest is not already entered in the Authority’s register of interests, and any other pecuniary or non-pecuniary interests in any such matter that Members may wish to disclose.

Members were mindful that where they believed they had a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in any matter considered at the meeting they must declare that interest at the time of the relevant debate and, having regard to the circumstances described in Part 3, Paragraph 1.5 of the County Council's Members' Code of Conduct, leave the meeting while the matter was discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with Paragraph 1.6 of the Code. Furthermore Members were mindful that where they believed they had a Non-Pecuniary interest in a matter being considered at the meeting they considered whether such interest should be declared, and having regard to Part 5, Paragraph 2 of the Code, considered whether it was appropriate to leave the meeting whilst the matter was discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with the Code.

To confirm the minutes of the previous meeting

It was confirmed that the Fire Authority Chairman, Cllr Carter, had attended the previous meeting. The minutes of the last meeting were then agreed and signed by the Chairman.

Pursuant to Standing Order 19, to receive any deputations to this meeting

There were no deputations for the meeting.

To receive any announcements the Chairman may wish to make.

There were no Chairman’s Announcements.

To consider the External Audit Planning report for the year ended March 31, 2018 and the Annual Audit Letter, which provides the Committee with a summary of the Audit findings for the year 2016/17.

The Committee received the External Audit Planning Report and Letter, presented by Ernst and Young.

It was highlighted that the Risk Strategy could be found on page 15 of the Planning Report and ‘risk of fraud in revenue and expenditure recognition’ had been allocated a red rating due to being a newly added risk as part of the audit process. Value for Money was also summarised in Section 3 of the report on page 22 of the pack.

Committee was reminded that the closure of accounts was earlier this year, with sign-off required by the end of July.

RESOLVED:

The Standards and Governance Committee:

A) Received and considered the External Audit Plan for 2017/18

B) Noted the Annual Audit Letter for 2016/17

To consider a report from the Chief Auditor, which asks Committee to approve the Internal Audit Charter for Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority and the internal audit plan for 2018/19.

The Committee considered a report from the Chief Internal Auditor regarding the Internal Audit Charter and Annual Internal Audit Plan for 2018/19, which highlighted proposed plans for the following year.

The report detailed the shared functions and partnership work alongside the County Council and Police as well as the systems specific to HFRS that had been developed through discussions with management and analysis of risk registers.

It was confirmed that work was being done to finalise the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) audit on Page 86 of the pack, as it was an area of change and high risks associated with the changes.

RESOLVED:

The Standards and Governance Committee approved the Internal Audit Charter for Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority and the internal audit plan for 2018/19.

To receive a report from the Chief Auditor, which asks Committee to note the progress of internal audit work for the period ending January 2018.

The Committee received a report from the Chief Internal Auditor, which provided Committee with an overview of internal audit work and the status of ‘live’ reports.

It was confirmed that further progress had been made since the publication of reports and still continued on the reports listed in the Plan.

RESOLVED:

The Standards and Governance Committee noted the progress of internal audit work for the period ending January 2018.

To receive a report from the Chief Officer, which details progress made towards the implementation of the internal audit management actions.

The Committee received a report from the Chief Internal Auditor, which provides an update on actions not yet completed within their target date and their status.

In the table on page 106 of the pack, members agreed that further justification for delays was necessary in order for the Committee to scrutinise effectively. Members were reassured that managers were confident in setting revised timescales for completion of projects and that the risks faced were not significant due to them being ‘business as usual’ actions. However, it was agreed that more detail would be provided to justify missed deadlines in future.

It was agreed in future, the Chairman of the Standards & Governance and Chairman of the Authority should be updated of progress in between meetings and informed of any potential slippage in timings.

RESOLVED:

A) The progress made towards the implementation of the internal audit  management actions was noted and continues to be monitored.

B) That The Chairman of the Standards & Governance Committee and the Chairman of the Authority are kept up to date of potential slippages in management actions going forward, as detailed above.

To consider a report from the Treasurer regarding the Employer Discretions Policy.

The Committee considered a report from the Treasurer regarding the employer discretions policy, of which Standards & Governance is the scheme manager.

The policy had been prepared for HFRA mirroring what was in place for HCC, apart from Part B (Optional Discretions), which states that consideration may be given to extending the standard 12 month period to transfer in previous pension rights into the LGPS up to a maximum of 24 months where there are extenuating circumstances, which were to be agreed by the Chief Finance Officer.

Such transfers would not happen automatically and so the process had improved with more accessible information online and factsheet that had also been prepared and sent out. It was confirmed that those aged 55 and over would remain to get automatic access to their pension.

RESOLVED:

A) The attached Employer Discretions Policy was approved

B) The Treasurer was given delegated authority to approve any minor amendments to the Employer Discretions Policy if required.