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
One
apology received from Ann-Marie Harkin (WAO). 1.2
The
Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked the Clerking team for their
support in this, his first meeting as Chair. 1.3
No
interests were declared. |
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Minutes of 11 February, actions and matters arising Minutes: ACARAC
(02-19) Paper 1 - Minutes of 11 February 2019 ACARAC
(02-19) Paper 2 – Summary of actions 2.1
The minutes of the meeting of 11 February were agreed. 2.2
Action 2.2 (Welsh Consolidated Fund - WCF): Gareth had met the new
Deputy Director responsible for WCF at Welsh Government on 21 March who agreed
to exchange information in order to avoid a re-occurrence of the issues raised
last year. The Chair welcomed this
update and thanked Gareth for his efforts. |
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Internal Audit Update Report Minutes: ACARAC
(02-19) Paper 3 – update report 3.1
Gareth
Watts presented his update report which provided the Committee with a flavour
of his activities above and beyond internal audit work. |
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Internal Audit Plan 2019-20 Minutes: ACARAC
(02-19) Paper 4 – Internal Audit Plan 2019-20 3.1
Due to this meeting being so soon after the February
meeting, there were no internal audit reports to present. Any reports approved before the June meeting would
be shared with the Committee in advance. 3.2
Gareth confirmed that he was covering the role of
designated Data Protection Officer for the Commission and explained the
arrangement that had been put in place with the office of the Public Services
Ombudsman for Wales to provide cover for the data protection and GDPR function
during a period of maternity leave. 3.3
Gareth had also been involved in discussions with
the Electoral Commission around proposed changes to governance arrangements
contained in the Senedd and Elections (Wales) Bill. He agreed to provide a note of potential
implications for the Assembly Commission when more information was available. 3.4
In relation to the review of procurement, Committee
members discussed how the Commission could better engage with small Welsh
suppliers. One member of the Committee
advised of attendance at a meeting with the local Chambers of Commerce where
this issue had been discussed. Dave Tosh
agreed to discuss with Ann Beynon and Jan Koziel (Head of Procurement) options
to engage with relevant organisations to inform the Commission’s procurement
strategy to better understand supply chain barriers to engaging with the public
sector. 3.5
The Committee questioned the focus of audit work on
the Business Directorate. Gareth and Siwan
Davies had discussed the timing of future audits and the scope of that work,
but Siwan was in the process of appointing a Head of Committee Service, who
would be responsible for leading this work.
3.6
The Chair welcomed the opportunity to be involved in
discussions with Gareth and Siwan on the terms of reference for the end to end
Committee review. 3.7
Gareth thanked the Committee for their comments and
was happy to receive further suggestions about his audit plan by email. He agreed to share the review of the
Leadership Team and Executive Board with the Chair and was happy to re-schedule
the sickness absence review to ensure a report was approved in time for the
autumn Public Accounts Committee (PAC) scrutiny session. 3.8
Gareth confirmed that his annual report, to be
presented in June, would capture any outstanding recommendations. Actions –
(3.4) Gareth to provide a note of
potential implications for Assembly Commission governance arrangements arising
from proposals relating to the Electoral Commission contained in the Senedd and
Elections (Wales) Bill. –
(3.5) Dave to discuss
with Ann Beynon and Jan Koziel options to engage with relevant organisations to
inform the Commission’s procurement strategy to better understand supply chain
barriers. –
(3.6) Gareth and Siwan to
engage in discussions with Bob on plans for assurance reviews within the
Assembly Business Directorate. –
(3.8) Committee members
to provide comments to Gareth on the 2019-20 Internal Audit Plan. –
(3.8) Gareth to share his
report on the review of Leadership Team and Executive Board with Chair when
available. - (3.8) ... view the full minutes text for item 4. |
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Internal Audit Charter and Internal Audit's Compliance with Public Sector Internal Audit Standard (PSIAS) Minutes: ACARAC (02-19) Paper 5 – Internal Audit Charter 3.10
Gareth advised that there
had been no updates to the Internal Audit Charter or the Public Sector Internal
Audit Standards (PSIAS). He also confirmed
continued compliance with PSIAS and that the next External Quality Assessment
(EQA) was due by April 2022. |
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Update from WAO Minutes: ACARAC
(02-19) Paper 6 – WAO update 4.1
Gareth Lucey presented his update paper and advised
that the proposed audit fee would remain the same as last year pending internal
verification. 4.2
He confirmed the completion of the initial planning
work in February and March. The final audit would commence on 13 May and any
issues would be reported to the Committee in due course. 4.3
The Committee were encouraged with the progress of
the audit work and welcomed the fixing of the fee at last year’s rate. |
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Review of Joint Working Protocol Minutes: ACARAC
(02-19) Paper 7 – Joint working Protocol 4.4
Both Gareth Lucey and Gareth Watts agreed that the
current protocol remained relevant and up to date. They updated the Committee
on how they had complied with the protocol over the past 12 months. |
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Draft Governance Statement for 2018-19 Minutes: ACARAC
(02-19) Paper 8 – draft AGS 5.1
The Chair expressed his appreciation at such a
comprehensive draft Governance Statement at this early stage. 5.2
Manon Antoniazzi described the process of gathering assurances
from Heads of Service and Directors to inform the Governance Statement and the
challenge session which was attended by Hugh Widdis in February. 5.3
Comments and suggestions were made to the draft
statement which would be incorporated before presenting it back to the
Committee in June as part of the Commission’s Annual Report and Accounts. 5.4
In response to a question about the revised KPIs,
Dave agreed to share the proposals with the Committee ahead of presenting them
to the Commission for approval. Action -
(5.4) Clerking team to circulate the proposals for
KPI reporting to ACARAC before submitting for approval by the Assembly
Commission. |
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Annual Report and Accounts - timeline Minutes: ACARAC
(02-19) Paper 9 – timeline 6.1
Nia Morgan briefly described the process followed
last year, and the Committee members who were involved in reviewing the Annual Report
and Accounts, all agreed that it had worked well. Her intention was to issue a draft two weeks
in advance of the 17 June meeting. 6.2
The WAO also confirmed that they should be in a
position to present a final Audit Completion Report (ISA 260 Report) at the
June meeting. 6.3
In response to questions about signing, laying and
scrutinising the Annual Report and Accounts, Nia agreed to add further detail
to the timeline to include the scrutiny sessions. Action – (6.3)
Populate timeline to include the activity after it is presented to ACARAC in
July, e.g. signing by Assistant AGW, laying of the report with Table Office,
scrutiny sessions etc. |
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Draft SIRO Annual Report Minutes: ACARAC
(02-19) Paper 10 – Draft SIRO Annual Report 7.1
Dave presented the draft
SIRO report which highlighted the progress made, provided assurance that
information risks were being effectively managed and identified areas of focus
for the coming year. 7.2
The main focus for
2019-20 had been embedding the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and
working with the Youth Parliament project team to ensure compliance. There was
one incident of personal data loss requiring reporting to the Information
Commissioner’s Office (ICO) but no further action was required. 7.3
Training and raising
awareness of cyber security had also been a key area of focus during this
period. Dave confirmed that Assembly
Members and Assembly Members Support Staff were also offered these training
sessions but they remained a vulnerable area. 7.4
Ann Beynon had previously
circulated a Cabinet Office paper titled ‘Cyber
Security for FTSE 350 companies’ which would be discussed as part of the
cyber-security update item at a future meeting. |
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Corporate Risks Report Minutes: ACARAC (02-19) Paper 11 –
Corporate Risk ACARAC (02-19) Paper 11 –
Annex A – Summary Corporate Risk Register ACARAC
(02-19) Paper 11 – Annex B – Summary Corporate Risks plotted 8.1
The Committee noted
changes to the Corporate Risk Register.
They were pleased with the progress made in terms of Youth Parliament
but agreed with Dave that the safeguarding element and GDPR compliance were
long term risks that would need to be monitored on a regular basis. |
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Critical examination of one identified or emerging risk (Brexit) Minutes: ACARAC
(02-19) Paper 12 – Brexit Corporate Risks 9.1
The Chair welcomed Kathryn Potter and Carys Evans to
the meeting. The Committee appreciated the continued uncertainty around Brexit
but welcomed the information presented. 9.2
Kathryn, Carys and Siwan responded to questions
raised by the Committee which focused on how the work was being resourced, the
implications to the Assembly’s Standing Orders and the role of the scrutiny
committees. 9.3
The Committee were encouraged by the Commission’s
approach to managing this complex area and the resilience in deploying
resources from other service areas. They
also welcomed the use of academics and the knowledge that staff were gaining
from these experts. 9.4
An overview of the work being undertaken to
consider the corporate impact of Brexit was also provided by Gareth Watts and
Dave Tosh. They summarised the key areas
of procurement and supply chains, HR and ICT considerations and outlined the
work that had been done to date. 9.5
The Committee agreed to return to Brexit risks as a
substantive item at a future meeting. Actions – (9.2)
Siwan to update the Brexit corporate risk with latest details around capacity
and resources following consideration by the Assembly Commission. –
(9.4) Clerking team to add Brexit to the FWP as a
substantive item to be discussed when appropriate. |
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Annual Review of Fraud and Whistleblowing policies Minutes: ACARAC
(02-19) Paper 13 – Whistleblowing Policy and Fraud Policy Updates 10.1 Gareth confirmed that both policies
remained unchanged since they were reviewed in April 2018. No incidents of fraud or whistleblowing had been
reported but the Commission were conscious of the need to maintain awareness
levels and fully test the policies. |
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Finance Update Minutes: ACARAC
(02-19) Paper 14 – Update on the 2018-19 and 2019-20 Financial Position and the
2020-21 Budget 11.1
Nia updated the Committee on the current budget
position. The 2018-19 financial year had
been an eventful and busy period for the Commission with significant demands on
resources including for Assembly Reform, Brexit and the Youth Parliament. 11.2
The Finance Committee were yet to respond to the
Commission’s views around budget setting in line with the Welsh Block. Nia agreed to keep the Committee informed as
well as circulating a PAC report that was due to be considered by the Assembly
Commission the following week. Action -
(11.2) Nia to circulate the budget timetable, the
PAC report and the Commission’s response to Committee members. |
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Committee's Terms of Reference Minutes: ACARAC (02-19) Paper 15 – Updated Terms of
Reference 12.1 The Committee
agreed with the one revision to the terms of reference. An updated version would be published on the
ACARAC website. 12.2 The Chair wanted
to record that he would welcome Commission staff attending future meetings as
development opportunities, if Manon and the Directors felt it appropriate. |
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Departure Summary Minutes: ACARAC
(02-19) Paper 16 – Departure Summary 13.1 The Committee noted that there had been five
departures from normal procurement procedures. |
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Forward Work Programme Minutes: ACARAC (02-19) Paper 17 –
Forward Work Programme 14.1 The Committee noted the
revised forward work programme and agreed to the Clerking team re-arranging a
private session with the WAO. Next
meeting is scheduled for 17 June 2019. |