MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE AUDIT COMMITTEE HELD ON ...

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5. MATTERS ARISING a) Student union financial strategy RT informed members that the increased activities reported to the last meeting by the Student Union Liaison Officer had been well received by students and had resulted in an increased uptake of NUS membership which in turn increased the SU income for the year. b) Declaration of personal interest The Clerk updated the Committee on the outcomes of the discussion with the previous committee Chair and the Principal with regard to his position of Trustee of the Public Governance Institute set up by KPMG. It had been agreed the Principal take up the invitation to be a trustee of this new group but to decline any remuneration as a result of the position. The previous Chair had accepted that the position would be beneficial to the College as a networking opportunity and for the development of best practice within the organisation. Members noted and supported the action taken by the previous Chair. b) Corporation papers IAS confirmed that they were now receiving corporation papers for information, and had received copies of the Due Diligence reports. 6. REPORT FROM THE AUDIT AND RISK MANAGEMENT GROUP Members received an update report on the work undertaken by this group. All items would be discussed separately on the agenda. The report was noted 7. RECOMMENDATION TRACKING EXCEPTION REPORT The report used to track the progress to date of audit recommendations was presented to members. Members discussed overdue items and their risk rating. The summary of outstanding items was reviewed. A revised schedule would be circulated to members following the meeting. Members discussed the contents of the report in detail and were satisfied that recommendations were being monitored and addressed appropriately. The report was noted. D Brown joined the meeting at 8.30am. 8. INTERNAL AUDIT REPORTS Support Services for Learners The aim of the audit was discussed and it was concluded that the overall strategic view as to whether the financial cost of the services provided was matched with the benefit to the learner of the College providing this service, still needed to be addressed. A more in depth review was required from a strategic position and it was agreed for this to be returned to the next meeting. The conclusions of the internal audit undertaken found the operational areas which could contribute or impact on student achievement and the learner experience were robust and concluded controls were suitably designed and operating with sufficient effectiveness to provide reasonable assurance that the related risk management objectives were achieved during the period. Train to Gain Members noted this was a high risk, high growth area for the College and although four recommendations had been made in the report, similar issues had been seen at other colleges in the sector especially forecasting and margins. Members noted the strategic decision to invest in the area of Train to Gain and the overall operating position of the area in 2007/08. The steps being undertaken to improve the overall margin and reduce the organisational risk of this provision were discussed. Members noted the LSC PFM report on Train to Gain would be available for the next meeting. The conclusions reported by the _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ __ Page 2 of 5 Created by Claire Kay
IAS were that the controls were suitably designed and operating with sufficient effectiveness to provide reasonable assurance that the related risk management objectives were achieved during the period subject to the recommendations made. Learner number systems The report provided good assurance in the key area of learner number systems outlining a robust system. The report also commented on the good progress made against recommendations for improvement in last year’s report. The conclusions reported by the IAS were that the controls were suitably designed and operating with sufficient effectiveness to provide reasonable assurance that the related risk management objectives were achieved during the period. Ofsted Inspection follow-up The report approved by the Committee at the last meeting was presented outlining the progress made against recommendations from the Ofsted inspection in 2005. IAS concluded that the College had appropriate mechanisms in place for implementing and monitoring progress of recommendations. Data Security IAS reported to the Committee the significant progress which had been made in the area of IT. The report made several recommendations to build on the existing good practice in data security within the College but none were high priority. Members questioned management about the location and security around sensitive data and data protocols and requested a cost benefit analysis on the use of encryption to improve data security. The conclusions reported by the IAS were that the controls were suitably designed and operating with sufficient effectiveness to provide reasonable assurance that the related risk management objectives were achieved during the period. Merger The Committee received the report presented to the Corporation meeting in July on the decision making process on merger. This report was an additional review requested in relation to the identification by the Committee that a risk review on merger should be undertaken. Members received the report and noted it was considered helpful to the Board at the time it was presented. The Committee resolved: to adopt the IAS reports considered by the Committee. 9. DUE DILIGENCE The Committee considered the key headlines from the due diligence report on ncn and how the risks identified were being mitigated in year. The report was noted. 10. IAS ANNUAL REPORT 2007/08 The draft Annual Report for 2007/08 was presented by Grant Thornton. Members noted this report formed an important part of the assurance mechanism for the statement on internal controls within the annual financial statements. The report concluded that controls were suitably designed and operating satisfactorily in the areas of risk management, corporate governance and internal system of controls, with the exception of the monitoring and management fees in connection with Train to Gain. Operational assurance was recorded as good in 5 out of the 7 areas in accordance with LSC guidance, and adequate in the area of managing risk in association with merger and economical and efficient use of resources. Members noted the increase of days and cost from budget was due to the additional review with regard to merger. Members requested the following changes to the report: • Text be altered to reflect the correct position with regard to merger • Identify specifically the additional work, time and cost of the merger review _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ __ Page 3 of 5 Created by Claire Kay
Page 1: PRESENT: Trevor Cooper - Chair Delr
Page 5: a first point of contact to ensure

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