SLIDE 1
GLADSTONE REGIONAL COUNCIL HELD AT THE GLADSTONE ADMINISTRATION - - PDF document
GLADSTONE REGIONAL COUNCIL HELD AT THE GLADSTONE ADMINISTRATION - - PDF document
MINUTES OF A BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT COMMITTEE MEETING OF GLADSTONE REGIONAL COUNCIL HELD AT THE GLADSTONE ADMINISTRATION CENTRE BOARDROOM 101 GOONDOON STREET, GLADSTONE ON 13 MARCH 2013 COMMENCING AT 9.00AM PRESENT Carolyn Eagle (Committee
SLIDE 2
SLIDE 3
Gladstone Regional Council Business Improvement Committee Meeting Minutes 13 March 2013 – Page 3 of 8. Chairperson Initials: ……………
It was noted that the timeline for implementation of the new systems is:- testing prior to June 2013; implementation commencing 1 July 2013. Officers advised that it is proposed to audit the implementation of these new systems as part of the internal audit plan for 2013/14. It was suggested that the audit include in its scope, an assessment of the internal controls around data migration. ACTION ITEM:
No. Item to be Actioned By Whom By When 5.2.1 That any internal audit of the implementation of the new safety and incident management systems include an assessment of the internal controls around data migration Internal Auditor As part of the 2013/14 internal audit plan
6.0 RISK MANAGEMENT
6.1 STATUS REPORT – RISK REGISTER The meeting noted the Risk Register Status Report. Officers reported that whilst Council has been unable to table a complete risk register for the current meeting, all the consultation work has been completed and the register now only requires a general 'tidy up' of the data. Officers advised that a complete register will be available to the Committee at its June 2013 meeting. It was suggested that Officers provide a presentation to the Committee on the risk register at the June 2013 meeting to help members understand the processes that have been applied in developing the register up to completion. It was noted that external audit are interested in reviewing the register and will be producing a list
- f risks from an external audit perspective based on the audit work to date. Officers expressed an
interest in obtaining the external audit risk listing. ACTION ITEM:
No. Item to be Actioned By Whom By When 6.1.1 A complete Gladstone Regional Council Risk Register to be tabled at the June 2013 BIC meeting Finance & Risk Coordinator 12 June 2013 6.1.2 Officers to provide the Committee with a presentation on the development of the Risk Register CFO, Commercial & Risk Officer and Coordinator Finance & Risk 12 June 2013 6.1.3 That the Risk Register be produced as an A3 document to allow members to more easily review the data BI Coordinator 12 June 2013
SLIDE 4
Gladstone Regional Council Business Improvement Committee Meeting Minutes 13 March 2013 – Page 4 of 8. Chairperson Initials: ……………
7.0
AUDIT MATTERS External Audit
7.1 REVIEW OF EXTERNAL AUDIT STRATEGY & PLANNING MEMORANDUM Peter Nottingham from the Queensland Audit Office joined the meeting at this point via telephone link. The meeting noted that William Buck have been appointed as Council's external auditors for the next three years, with the option for a further two year extension. Junaide Latif explained that the Queensland Audit Office (QAO) this year are taking back responsibility for the sign off on financial statements. Accordingly whilst William Buck will perform the audit field work associated with the financial statements, there will be an extra step in the process whereby QAO will review the financial statements and associated audit work and perform the official sign off / certification of the statements. The meeting worked through the client strategy document as tabled, with the following key points noted/discussed: 1. Key changes to the audit process: * the financial statements reporting deadline for 2013 has been brought forward by one month with all local governments needing to have financial statements completed by October 2013. * External audit is now required to also sign off on the financial sustainability statement. 2. Key risks that external audit will be focussing on as part of the upcoming audit work will include: * Property, Plant and Equipment, particularly the valuation and impairment assessments; * Preparation of Consolidated Financial Statements (inclusive of the Gladstone Airport Corporation) - It was noted that there will need to be some consideration given to how financial information is presented in a consolidated statement given that the Gladstone Airport Corporation is a profit entity and local government is a not for profit entity. 3. Gladstone Airport Corporatisation - the meeting discussed a number of issues associated with the Gladstone Airport Corporation including the transfer of assets and asset titles; service level agreements and the associated financial issues. The meeting discussed the audit timetable. It was noted that Council Officers are comfortable with the timetable proposed and confident that the timeframes included in the strategy can be met. Junaide Latif advised that William Buck would appreciate the opportunity of participating in all future Business Improvement Committee meetings either in person or via telephone link. The Queensland Audit Office indicated an interest in participating in key meetings such as those where the financial statements are being considered.
SLIDE 5
Gladstone Regional Council Business Improvement Committee Meeting Minutes 13 March 2013 – Page 5 of 8. Chairperson Initials: ……………
ACTION ITEMS:
No. Item to be Actioned By Whom By When 7.1.1 That the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer provide a briefing to the Business Improvement Committee
- n the interim audit results
CEO & Chief Financial Officer 12 June 2013 meeting 7.1.2 That the Committee be provided with an update on the Gladstone Airport Corporation service level agreement and associated financial issues CEO & Chief Financial Officer 12 June 2013 meeting
Internal Audit
7.2 EXTERNAL & INTERNAL AUDIT OPEN ISSUES REPORT It was agreed:- to include due dates for all open tasks included in this report; that a status of 'ongoing' is not acceptable as a due date; and that a 'strikethrough' system be implemented to show where due dates are amended over time. The Chief Financial Officer advised that Items 5 & 6 'Verification of Rate Parameters' tasks are
- complete. It was agreed to note the report accordingly.
Officers advised that internal audit intend to include as part of next financial year's internal audit plan, a project to verify that the management actions proposed in response to the rating audit issues have been achieved. ACTION ITEMS:
No. Item to be Actioned By Whom By When 7.2.1 That the External & Internal Audit Open Tasks Report be amended in accordance with meeting discussion, viz:- include due dates for all open tasks included in this report; that a status of 'ongoing' is not acceptable as a due date; that a 'strikethrough' system be implemented to show where due dates are amended over time; and That items 5 & 6 'Verification of Rate Parameters' be marked as complete. BI Coordinator ASAP 7.2.2 That the 2013/14 Internal Audit Plan include a project to verify that management actions for the rating audits have been appropriately implemented Internal Audit 12 June 2013
7.3 EXTERNAL & INTERNAL AUDIT COMPLETED ITEMS REPORT Noted by Members.
SLIDE 6
Gladstone Regional Council Business Improvement Committee Meeting Minutes 13 March 2013 – Page 6 of 8. Chairperson Initials: ……………
7.4 INTERNAL AUDIT WORK PLAN PROGRESS REPORT It was suggested that it may be appropriate for the Committee to schedule a discussion around whether the level of internal audit resourcing is appropriate for an organization of this size. The meeting discussed progress with the Audit Plan. It was agreed that there may be insufficient time for the Internal Auditor to complete the entire Audit Program given the additional projects that have been added to the plan in response to issues that have arisen throughout the year. The Committee was comfortable with deferring the proposed 'Accounts Payable' project to the 2013/14 financial year. ACTION ITEMS:
No. Item to be Actioned By Whom By When 7.4.1 That the 'Accounts Payable' Internal Audit Project be deferred until the 2013/14 year Internal Auditor June 2013 7.4.2 Officers consider internal audit resourcing as part of the Annual Internal Audit Planning process and, where possible, consider benchmarking data on resource levels at other Queensland Local Governments Internal Auditor September 2013
7.5 INFRASTRUCTURE AGREEMENT INTERNAL AUDIT REPORT Noted by Members. 7.6 EMPLOYEE LEAVE INTERNAL AUDIT REPORT Noted by Members. It was agreed that the Committee be provided with periodic updates on employee leave balances in order to gauge how successful the employee leave strategies have been. It was agreed that it will take time to change the culture of the organization in respect to leave accruals. ACTION ITEMS:
No. Item to be Actioned By Whom By When 7.6.1 That Officers provide the Business Improvement Committee with periodic comparative updates on employee leave balances Manager People & Performance Each December
7.7 SPLITTING ORDERS INTERNAL AUDIT REPORT Noted by Members.
8.0 BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT
8.1 RECORDS TASKFORCE – RECORDKEEPING IMPROVEMENT PROJECT REPORT Noted by Members. The meeting had a discussion on the recommendations of the Recordkeeping Improvement Project Report.
SLIDE 7
Gladstone Regional Council Business Improvement Committee Meeting Minutes 13 March 2013 – Page 7 of 8. Chairperson Initials: ……………
9.0 SELF DEVELOPMENT
There were no matters to discuss in respect to self-development at this time.
10.0 LEGAL AND LEGISLATIVE MATTERS
The Chief Executive Officer provided the meeting with a briefing on the following issues:
- 1. A loss of equipment (valued at $5000) which was stored at a remote work shed at Agnes
Water, reported on the 27 November 2012. The matter is in the hands of the Police who are
- investigating. Insurance claim pending.
- 2. A referral to the Crime and Misconduct Commission relating to a staff member making a
claim for payment for time that was not worked.
- 3. A complaint lodged with the Anti-Discrimination Commission relating to an employee
termination during the employment probationary period.
11.0 REFERRALS BY COUNCIL
Nil.
12.0 GENERAL BUSINESS
12.1 REPORT FROM COMMITTEE CHAIR - PRE-MEETING DISCUSSIONS BETWEEN CHAIR AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER The Chairperson reported on pre-meeting discussions between the Chair and Chief Executive
- Officer. The matters discussed pertained to those issues on the Committee's meeting agenda and
included: Occupational Health and Safety; Internal Audit; Risk Management; and The Audit Issues Matrix and the need for greater clarity on due dates. The Chairperson had also requested that the CEO provide the meeting with a report on the recent natural disaster flooding event and how it had impacted the organisation and community generally. 12.2 PREPARATION OF AN ANNUAL REPORT ON THE COMMITTEE’S ACTIVITIES FOR COUNCIL It was agreed that the Chairperson will prepare the annual report for Council on the Committee's activities for the September 2013 Committee Meeting. The report will assist Council with its statutory Annual Reporting requirement in respect to Internal Audit/Business Improvement.
SLIDE 8
Gladstone Regional Council Business Improvement Committee Meeting Minutes 13 March 2013 – Page 8 of 8. Chairperson Initials: ……………
ACTION ITEMS:
No. Item to be Actioned By Whom By When 8.1.1 That Officers table the business improvement / internal audit report extract from the 2011/12 Annual Report for the Committee's information BI Coordinator 12 June 2013
12.3 MEETING DATE FOR SEPTEMBER 2013 The Committee resolved to schedule its first quarter meeting for the 2013/14 financial year on the 13th September 2013. 12.4 REPORT ON EX-CYCLONE OSWALD NATURAL DISASTER EVENT The Chief Executive Officer provided the meeting with an overview on how the region had fared after the recent Ex-Cyclone Oswald Natural Disaster Event. The meeting noted that the region had fared reasonably well in what was a 1 in 2000 year flooding event. There has been approximately $70M of damage to community infrastructure with a considerable portion of that being State Government owned infrastructure. Organisationally, Council has learnt a lot in terms of disaster event emergency response management and will be conducting a formal review of its processes. As a region we have also learnt a lot about community resilience generally.
13.0 CLOSED SESSION - BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT COMMITTEE AND INTERNAL AUDIT
Council's management representatives left the meeting at this point and the Committee had a closed session with the internal and external auditors to discuss any matters that the Committee
- r audit representatives wished to raise. During the session, the Committee made enquiries and