Agenda item

(Copy herewith)

Councillor Meredith addressed the Committee on behalf of the people of Talavera. He advised they were angry with the prospect of the situation the Council is in and want to see the money returned.

Councillor Beardsworth addressed the Committee. She asked what advice was given to the Cabinet regarding the loan and if the advice given to Councillor David Macintosh during Cabinet on the 17^th July 2013 was taken on board. She also asked how long it would take to complete the audit of NTFC and can the public be assured that papers, reports and documents regarding the audit would be published for transparency. She advised that it was rumoured that when First Land LTD went to the site they were advised by NTFC that only warehouses can be built on the site.

The Chief Finance Officer began by elaborating on the report. He stated that the report covers both the chronology of events and the background work PWC have completed. A number of issues were highlighted to the committee

1)    This review is one of a number of reviews alongside KPMG and the police.

2)    An internal review is taking place reviewing Council’s policy and procedure.

4.2.2 of the report was alluded to outlining the risks in relation to the Audit Committee review.

Senior Audit Manager from PWC elaborated on the report further. He advised theAuditCommitteehadaskedInternalAudittoconducta reviewintothecircumstancessurroundingtheloan to theFootballCluband inparticulartoconsidertherelevantpoliciesandproceduresthatare applicableto a transactionof thisnature.Thisreviewwillfocusonwhetherthe currentpoliciesandproceduresareadequate andwhethertheywereadheredtointhisinstance.

It was advised that areportfortheAuditCommittee would be producedon theadequacyandeffectivenessoftheexistingpoliciesand proceduresand anythatwerein placeat thetimeofthisagreement.Lessonslearned will also be considered that shouldbe incorporatedinto policiesand proceduresgoingforward.

The Senior Audit Manager referred to the scope of the Audit in Appendix 2 of the report.

Councillor Stone stated that she felt it would be best to have an independent Chair for neutrality purposes. She also advised that while scoping is good the committee is in danger of missing the tensions between Officers and Members and the roles of Officers and Members need to be understood.

The Senior Audit Manager advised that the review is designed to look at Council policies and procedures and ensure internal mechanisms are adequate. He also stated that the review is to ensure the Council have adequate Safe guards in place.

The Chair stated that residents of his Ward are also concerned with the NTFC loan and that he voted with the rest of the council for the Internal Auditors to investigate this matter fully, and so chairing will remain as is.

In response to questions regarding a risk assessment the Senior Audit Manager referred the Committee to Risk Management in Appendix 2 of the report.

In response to questions regarding a credit assessment on the football club the Senior Audit Manager stated that it would depend on what is stated in Council procedure regarding credit ratings and if not in there this may be one of the recommendations from PWC.

The Senior Audit Manager stated that PWC have capacity and don’t expect the report to take more than 9 or 12 months.

The Chair proposed that this agenda item be a rolling agenda item at every Committee.

Councillor Marriot stated that this item needed to be discussed in far greater detail and that a separate meeting be held.

The Chair advised that if a great deal of information is uncovered at any particular point then he is happy to hold a separate meeting and would rely on ongoing contact with PWC regarding this.

In response to questions regarding debt recovery strategy and collateral The Senior Audit Manager referred the Committee to Financial controls in Appendix 2 of the report.

RESOLVED

The Committee AGREED the proposed scope by the Council’s internal  auditors  Price WaterhouseCoopers, of the review by theauditcommitteeintotheinternal processesandproceduresoftheloanto NTFC,and,developmentofland at Sixfields.

TheCouncil’sinternalauditors AGREED to supportthereviewto beundertaken by the Audit committee.