SECRETARIAT AUDIT AND RISK COMMITTEE (SARC)
THURSDAY 24 JUNE 2010
ROOM 106, PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS
Members:
Alan McQuillan, Chairperson
Colm McKenna
Attendees:
Trevor Reaney, NIA
Stephen McCormick, NIAO
Richard Stewart, NIA
Paula McClintock, NIA
Eddie Kelly, NIA
Glenda Grant, NIA
David Johnston, NIA, Secretary
1 APOLOGIES
Apologies were received from Stephen Moutray MLA and Brian Moreland. It was noted that Mr Moutray was leaving the Assembly Commission and tribute was paid to him for his contribution to the work of SARC. 2 ASSEMBLY ACCOUNTS 2009-10
2.1 Richard Stewart gave SARC an overview of the NI Assembly Resource Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2010. Minor wording amendments were proposed in relation to Information Security in the Statement on Internal Control and to notes 14, 22.2 and 28. These were approved by the Accounting Officer and SARC.
2.2 Stephen McCormick reported that the NIAO audit of the accounts was complete and that the draft report was almost ready for issue. NIAO was content that the handling of Ormiston House and the accrual in relation to equal pay were correct and conformed to the appropriate accounting standards. Responses would now be sought to the issues raised in the Interim Management Letter, which will be included in the end of year Report to those charged with Governance. Stephen advised that NIAO would be raising the issue of Office rental charges; an issue in relation to invoices for Research and Secretarial costs; and the handling of one procurement contract.
Overall, Stephen advised that the Comptroller and Auditor General would be giving an unqualified audit opinion in relation to the accounts. Stephen McCormick agreed to send a copy of the draft NIAO Report to those charged with Governance to the Accounting Officer by lunchtime on Tuesday 29 June 2010.
ACTION: STEPHEN McCORMICK
2.3 In light of the above information, SARC recommended that, subject to the agreed amendments outlined in paragraph 2.1 above being made, the 2009-10 Accounts should be signed by the Accounting Officer and submitted to NIAO.
ACTION: TREVOR REANEY
2.4 The Chairperson and Accounting Officer thanked the Finance Office staff and the staff of the NI Audit Office for all their work resulting in such a smooth and successful process.
A copy of the finalised version of the Accounts is to be sent to SARC members.
ACTION: PAULA McCLINTOCK
2.5 The Accounting Officer informed SARC that the Assembly’s 2008-09 Accounts had been nominated by the Comptroller and Auditor General for a Building Public Trust Award.
OUTSTANDING AUDIT RECOMMENDATIONS SCHEDULE
3.1 Alan McQuillan reported that he had met recently with Brian Moreland and Eddie Kelly to discuss the schedule. The Chairperson is keen for progress to be made by the September SARC meeting. He requested that the Secretariat Management Group (SMG) review the schedule contents and the risks involved, writing off or relegating issues as appropriate and providing a two-line reason where this is done. The aim is to have a three to four page up-to-date document by September SARC. This would prioritise on a risk basis and “red flag” recommendations not implemented by their due date. Important (eg anti-fraud) recommendations should be given prominence. It was agreed that some recommendations could be completed very quickly, some had been overtaken by subsequent events and some were simply no longer relevant because of changes in processes and systems. It would also be better management of risk to eliminate minor matters in the backlog and focus management effort on the key issues and on managing risk going forward.
Trevor Reaney stated that the introduction of the schedule had been a useful tool for SMG, and it was hoped that the awareness-raising session for Heads of Business to take place in early September 2010 would further reinforce the need to implement agreed recommendations on time. It was also suggested that Internal Audit’s consultancy role could help to remove potential minor recommendations at source.
A revised schedule, as outlined above, is to be considered by SMG and submitted to the September SARC meeting.
ACTION: TREVOR REANEY / BRIAN MORELAND / EDDIE KELLY
RECENT FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENCE
It was agreed that Dear Accounting Officer (DAO) letters would continue to be circulated to SARC members with the papers for each SARC meeting. The Chairperson enquired as to how other relevant financial correspondence from which lessons could be learnt was disseminated within the organisation. The Accounting Officer advised that all such correspondence was copied to the Director of Resources, the Head of Finance and the Head of Internal Audit. It was agreed that the circulation list for relevant financial correspondence would be extended to include the non-executive members of SARC.
ACTION: TREVOR REANEY
5 A.O.B.
5.1 It was agreed that Alan McQuillan, Colm McKenna, Trevor Reaney, Brian Moreland and Eddie Kelly would liaise in August on the content of the Heads of Business seminar planned for 3 September 2010.
ACTION: ALAN McQUILLAN / COLM McKENNA / TREVOR REANEY / BRIAN MORELAND / EDDIE KELLY
6 DATE OF NEXT MEETING
6.1 It was agreed that SARC would meet on Thursday 30 September 2010 at 10.00 am in Room 106, Parliament Buildings. |
