Agenda item

Under the National Audit Office (NAO) Code of Audit Practice, the Authority’s external auditor, Grant Thornton, is required to consider whether the Authority has put into place proper arrangements to secure economy, efficiency and effectiveness in its use of resources.  The auditor is no longer required to give a qualified/unqualified opinion on the Value for Money (VFM) conclusion but instead provides a more detailed view of overall arrangements in an Annual Report.

The report categorises the Authority’s arrangements under specific criteria, namely:

·       Financial sustainability;

·       Governance; and

·       Improving economy, efficiency and effectiveness.

The external auditor’s Annual Report 2021-22, including their opinion measured against the above criteria, is attached FOR INFORMATION.

The Committee received for information the Annual Report on Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Authority’s Value for Money (VFM) arrangements as submitted by the external auditor, Grant Thornton.

Under the National Audit Office Code of Practice, the external auditor was required now to consider whether the Authority had put into place proper arrangements to secure economy, efficiency and effectiveness in its use of resources in 2021-22 rather than giving a qualified/unqualified VFM conclusion.

The criteria under which the Authority’s VFM arrangements were judged was:

·       Financial sustainability;

·       Governance; and

·       Improving economy, efficiency and effectiveness.

The external auditor had to consider whether there were any risks of significant weakness in the Authority’s arrangements for securing economy, efficiency and effectiveness in its use of resources.  There were no significant weaknesses identified in the Authority’s arrangements in all three of the above areas and good progress had been achieved overall since the previous Annual Audit Report but 7 improvement recommendations were made as set out within the report circulated.

In terms of the improvement recommendations made, the following key points were highlighted:

·       The work on financial sustainability had demonstrated that the Authority had a strong history of delivering a balanced budget and in 2021-22, this was achieved.  There was, however, an overspend in the region of £1.3 million which was due largely to higher than expected pay awards for Firefighters and Professional and Support staff which was bridged through the use of reserves.

·       The Medium Term Financial Plan was embedded within the annual budget setting cycle to provide a longer term view of priorities and demand for services.  In terms of the production of the Authority’s annual Statement of Accounts, reference was made to the need to build more time in for submission of the draft Accounts to the External Auditor.

·       The Community Risk Management Plan had links with the Authority’s strategic objectives which were clear.  It was less clear, however, how each objective was monitored and how staff understood their role in delivering against this process.

·       The Authority held a vast amount of data but there was no overarching management strategy in place, hence the recommendation made.

Reference was made to the need for some minor corrections needed to the Annual Audit Report for 2021-22 as circulated.  These were:

·       That there were 26 Members of the Fire & Rescue Authority, not 29 (page 10);

·       There was a need to include a narrative around why there may be outstanding actions against prior recommendations in future;

·       The box in Appendix B stated that all recommendations made were on a statutory basis which was confirmed by the external auditor to be incorrect.

The External Auditor advised that these corrections would be made prior to publication of this document on the Authority’s website.

The Committee asked what arrangements would be in place for reporting back of actions against each of the improvement recommendations made.  The Clerk advised that such action would be reported back through the Audit and Governance Committee in due course.  Councillor Brazil MOVED (seconded by Councillor Roome):

          “that a report setting out the management actions instigated to                  address each of the 7 improvement recommendations in the                     Annual Audit Report for 2021-22 be submitted to the next                          meeting of the Committee”.

Upon a vote, this was declared CARRIED unanimously.

RESOLVED

          (a).     that a report setting out the management actions instigated to                     address each of the 7 improvement recommendations in the                     Annual Audit Report for 2021-22 be submitted to the next                          meeting of the Committee; and

          (b).     Subject to (a). above, the report be noted.