Agenda of Finance Policy Committee

Finance Policy Committee 1 August 2017

2.1 Minutes of the Audit and Risk Management Committee - 30 June 2017

TRIM REFERENCE: 2017/1636

AUTHOR: Kathy Woolley, Director Corporate and Commercial Services

EXECUTIVE Summary

The Audit and Risk Management Committee met on 30 June 2017 and the minutes of that meeting are provided to the Finance Policy Committee for consideration.

Link To Delivery/OPerational Plan

The recommendation in this report relates to the Delivery/Operational Plan strategy “1.3 Our City - Ensure a robust framework that supports the community’s and Council’s current and evolving activities, services and functions”.

Financial Implications

Nil

Policy and Governance Implications

Nil

Recommendation

1 That the recommendations made by the meeting of the Audit and Risk Management Committee held on 30 June 2017 be adopted.

2 That the Council note that the development applications audit process has been satisfactorily finalised following the provision of additional information to Committee members.

further considerations

Consideration has been given to the recommendation’s impact on Council’s service delivery; image and reputation; political; environmental; health and safety; employees; stakeholders and project management; and no further implications or risks have been identified.

SUPPORTING INFORMATION

The Mayor noted that this was likely to be the last meeting of the current membership of this Committee and thanked the independent members for their assistance during their tenure.

Further information on the development applications audit has been provided to the Committee members by the Internal Auditor since the meeting was held in accordance with the minutes. The Chairperson has advised that after consulting with committee members the additional information from the Internal Auditor has clarified the issues raised and thus has finalised the matter.

Correspondence to the General Managers of Dubbo and Bathurst Councils has been prepared regarding the proposed changes to the way that joint initiatives are decided upon. The three General Managers meet regularly to discuss this and other opportunities to share resources and learnings.

Attachments

1 Minutes of the Meeting of the Audit and Risk Management Committee held on 30 June 2017

ORANGE CITY COUNCIL

MINUTES OF THE

Audit and Risk Management Committee

HELD IN Committee Room 3, Civic Centre, Byng Street, Orange

ON 30 June 2017

COMMENCING AT 9.13am

1 Introduction

Attendance

Voting Members: Mr P Burgett (Chairperson), Cr J Davis OAM (Mayor), Cr R Kidd, Mr A Fletcher

Non-Voting Members: General Manager, Director Corporate and Commercial Services, Internal Auditor

Invited: Mr J O’Malley Audit Partner (Intentus Chartered Accountants), Director Development Services

The Mayor advised that this may be the last meeting of the Committee in this format as the elections have been called for 9 September and all Committees are disbanded at the conclusion of the Council. The Mayor thanked the Committee members for their contribution and assistance to Council.

1.1 Apologies and Leave of Absence

RESOLVED Cr J Davis/Mr A Fletcher

That the apologies be accepted from Mr David Klein (Director Financial Audit Services, Audit Office of NSW) and Cr J Whitton for the Audit and Risk Management Committee meeting on 30 June 2017.

1.2 Acknowledgement of Country

1.3 Declaration of pecuniary interests, significant non-pecuniary interests and less than significant non-pecuniary interests

Cr R Kidd declared a non-pecuniary insignificant interest in item 3.6 Action Item number A2017A03.07 as he had engaged Council in an arm’s length transaction to carry out private works at his residence in the past. The works involve surfacing of a driveway.

2 Previous Minutes

RESOLVED Cr J Davis/Mr A Fletcher

That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Audit and Risk Management Committee held on 24 March 2017 (copies of which were circulated to all members) be and are hereby confirmed as a true and accurate record of the proceedings of the Audit and Risk Management Committee meeting held on 24 March 2017.

3 General Reports

3.1 Audit Office - Update on process

TRIM Reference: 2017/1040

Recommendation Cr R Kidd/Cr J Davis

That the Audit Office information be acknowledged.

3.2 Audit Office - First interim phase management letter

TRIM Reference: 2017/1041

Recommendation Cr R Kidd/Mr A Fletcher

That the Audit Office first interim phase management letter for 2016/17 be noted.

3.3 Management Letter - final - 2015/16

TRIM Reference: 2017/1082

Recommendation Cr R Kidd/Cr J Davis

The Audit and Risk Management Committee note the final management letter for the 2015/16 external audit.

3.4 Development Applications Process Review

TRIM Reference: 2017/1261

Recommendation Cr R Kidd/Mr A Fletcher

1 That the report on the Development Applications process review be acknowledged.

2 That a copy of the LEAN Review of Development Services Department be distributed to the Committee out of session excluding the confidential item on staffing issues.

3 That the Internal Auditor report to the Committee out of session his reasoning on how the LEAN Report findings addressed each of the six audit objectives in the original Internal Audit Development Applications process review scope.

4 That the report be circulated to Committee members out of session and comments be made back to the Chairperson no later than 21 July 2017.

5 That the Chairperson consider members feedback provided out of session and confirm the foreshadowed extraordinary meeting of the Committee on 28 July 2017.

The Mayor, Cr J Davis OAM left the meeting with the time being 10:10am

The External Auditor – Mr J O’Malley left the meeting with the time being 10:30am

3.5 Internal Audit Programme Status Report as at June 2017

TRIM Reference: 2017/1252

Recommendation Cr R Kidd/Mr A Fletcher

That the Internal Audit Program Status Report as at June 2017 be noted.

3.6 ARMC Action List as at June 2017

TRIM Reference: 2017/1273

Recommendation Mr A Fletcher/Cr R Kidd

1 That the report by the Internal Auditor on ARMC Action List as at June 2017 be acknowledged.

2 That action items marked as completed be deleted from the ARMC Action List.

3 That the process of not deleting items in Section 1 of the Action list revised such that recommendations of deletions can be made in update report.

4 That action item numbers 2017A03.08 and 2017A03.01 should be marked as amber not green.

5 That the General Manager and the independent members of the Committee discuss the external resourcing of the internal audit function.

6 That the status of action item number 2016A04.01 be aligned with the three projects agreed to be undertaken by the General Managers at the most recent meeting of the BOD Alliance General Managers and ARMC Chairpersons.

7 That action item number 2016A06.01 be progressed by the General Manager following discussion with the General Manager of Bathurst Regional Council providing feedback on the Internal Audit QA Review scoping document.

3.7 Independent Members - Audit and Risk Management Committee

TRIM Reference: 2017/1304

Recommendation Mr A Fletcher/Cr R Kidd

That the report on the Expression of Interest process for independent members of the Audit and Risk Management Committee be noted.

3.8 Internal Audit and Process Improvement Plan 2017/18

TRIM Reference: 2017/1332

Recommendation Cr R Kidd/Mr A Fletcher

1 That the 39 days allocation to Council’s Internal Audit Program for 2017/18 be amended to confirm the planned Internal Audit reviews as follows:

a Contaminated Lands Policy implementation - 14 days

b Employee entitlements - payroll, leave entitlements, defined benefits and other superannuation liabilities treatment - 10 days

c S94/s64 review – 15 days

d Removal of ad hoc General Manager project days – 4 days

2 That the Internal Audit Program for 2018/19 be amended to allocate the proposed 39 days to Internal Audit reviews as follows:

a Related parties review – 5 days

b Security review – 5 days

c Fraud and Corruption review – 5 days

d Assets Management Plans review - 20 days

e Ad hoc General Manager’s projects – 4 days

3 That amendment of the Internal Auditor’s Position Description be proposed to Dubbo Regional Council and Bathurst Regional Council with a view to removing the need for two joint initiative proposals being prepared annually.

4 That if recommendation 3 is implemeted, given the freeing up of six days in the Internal Auditor’s timetable, that an additional Internal Audit item for six days duration be scoped from the following risk areas:

a Complaints handling ( Risk ID 5385)

b Airport security (5396)

c Aquatic Centre safety (5422)

d Events management (5426)

5 That the Process Improvement Projects by other resources be reviewed by the Director Corporate and Commercial Services to separately identify compliance activities and process improvement activities and report progress on these to future meetings under a designated agenda item (the Chairperson undertook to provide his thoughts on the allocation of the currently listed tasks).

MATTER ARISING

Recommendation Cr R Kidd/Mr A Fletcher

1 The Committee noted a verbal report by the Director Corporate and Commercial Services advising that the Council has arranged to hold a function for all Council Committees, and that members of the ARMC will be advised of the details of the event once finalised.

2 The Committee expressed gratitude for Mr Fletcher’s contribution to the Audit and Risk Management Committee over many years noting that his tenure is expiring in December 2017 and that this is likely to be his final meeting.

The Meeting Closed at 11:21am.

Finance Policy Committee 1 August 2017

3.2 Request for Financial Assistance

TRIM REFERENCE: 2017/1599

AUTHOR: Linda McFadden, Divisional Administrative Officer - Corporate and Commercial Services

EXECUTIVE Summary

Council is in receipt of requests for financial assistance under section 356 of the Local Government Act 1993. The report provides details of applications received.

Link To Delivery/OPerational Plan

The recommendation in this report relates to the Delivery/Operational Plan strategy “3.3 Our City – Recognise that members of the community will take different leadership pathways, the Council will support this growth and development through appropriate activities, initiatives and assistance”.

Financial Implications

The overall donations/sponsorship budget for 2017/18 is as follows:

Program	Adopted Budget	Actual/ committed	Remaining balance
General Donations	$61,500.00	* $55,697.90	$5,802.10
Major Promotions	$51,072.00	$48,000.00	$3,072.00
Orange Harness Racing	$20,000.00	$20,000.00	$0.00
Racing Orange	$100,000.00	$100,000.00	$0.00
Waratah’s Sporting Club contribution	$94,188.00	$94,188.00	$0.00
Sports participants grants	$13,900.00	$0.00	$13,900.00
Sports capital improvements grants	$50,000.00	$50,000.00	$0.00
TOTAL	$390,660.00	$367.885.90	$22,774.10

* The allocation of 20 x $100 reserved for school prize giving is accounted for in the actual/committed column of the table.

Process for the application of the remaining budget allocation

A Council resolution is required to allocate funds to any external entity, including as a donation.

Applications are considered against the criteria outlined in the Donations Policy. There is an application form that should be submitted to commence the process of making a donation to another entity. The form contains details that inform Council that the donation aligns with the intentions the Council has established in the Community Strategic Plan.

Policy and Governance Implications

Nil

Recommendation

1 That Council decline the donation requests of $5,000.00 cash event/major promotion sponsorship and $1,680.00 fee-waiver from G & S Willoughby as the requests are outside the scope of Council’s donations and sponsorship policy.

2 That Council approve $225.00 fee waiver for the Central West Charity Tractor Trek Group to be funded from the General Donations Budget.

further considerations

SUPPORTING INFORMATION

1 G & S Willoughby - Santa Photos - is seeking a $5,000.00 cash event/major promotion sponsorship donation plus a $1,680.00 fee waiver donation for the use of the Cultural Centre for a five-week period. The total value requested is $6,680.00.

Calculation of the fee waiver is: 5 weeks x 16 hours + 1 day x 4 hours = 84 hours x $20.00 per hour = $1,680.00. The policy scope for fee-waiver requests for reduction in Council venue fees is 50% of the fee total up to a maximum of $500.00 ex GST. The applicant’s request exceeds the $500.00 maximum policy scope.

The applicant wishes to provide Orange residents with a “Santa Photos” service equivalent to the service provided by the Myer Stores before its Orange closure.

If Councillors wish to support this application, it will need to be advertised as the applicant is a partnership (not a not-for-profit organisation).

2 Central West Charity Tractor Trek Group Inc - Annual Tractor Trek - is seeking a $450.00 fee waiver for two over-night uses of the Orange Showground for camping by the participants in the Tractor Trek.

Calculation of the fee waiver is: 2 nights x 18 sites x $12.50 per site = $450.00. Policy allows a fee waiver of 50% up to a maximum value of $500.00, which is equivalent to $225.00.

The Annual Tractor Trek is run to raise funds to help children’s charities to assist transport to and from regional areas to Sydney for treatment appointments for children who are suffering from cancer and other terminal illnesses.

The applicant is a non-for-profit organisation and advertisement is therefore not required.

Attachments

1 G & JS Willoughby - The Orange Santa and Mrs Claus, IC17/12101 ⇩

2 Central West Charity Tractor Trek Group Inc - Annual Tractor Trek, IC17/13698 ⇩