Agenda item

(To receive a report which provides the Committee with the opportunity to consider the role of Overview and Scrutiny at Lincolnshire County Council and how the Audit Committee and the Overview and Scrutiny function might work together in the future)

Consideration was given to a report which provided the Committee with the opportunity to consider the role of Overview and Scrutiny at Lincolnshire County Council and how the Audit Committee and Overview and Scrutiny function might work together in the future.  Members were advised that it was felt that there could be some value in working more closely together, but whilst still respecting the boundaries of the committees.

Members were provided with an opportunity to ask questions to the officers present in relation to the information contained within the report and some of the points raised during discussion included the following:

·         Members were cautious about rushing into anything and it was queried whether there was a possibility of an overlap of the business of Audit and scrutiny;

·         The independent added member of the committee commented that they were not sure if there was any overlap, but thought it would be useful to see the Terms of Reference for both the scrutiny committees and the Audit Committee, and it would need to be known whether there was any overlap;

·         It was noted that there was a separation between governance and assurance and quality and performance, and it was important that members were able to explore all issues;

·         Members of Scrutiny Committees were kept informed of the discussions of the Audit Committee through the visibility of the work programme, the minutes of the meetings and officers;

·         There was a need to build an understanding of each others roles and the conversations taking place;

·         One issue to be addressed was how could the audit committee get assurance that the scrutiny function was working effectively?

·         Suggestions on how assurance arrangements could be improved could be included within the Annual Governance Statement;

·         It was not appropriate for Audit Committee to set recommendations for other bodies;

·         It was good practice to bring officers to the audit committee when limited assurance was reported;

·         It was important to make best use of resources;

·         It was important that appropriate information was provided to members when they were making decisions or recommendations;

·         There was a need for caution in that the Audit Committee did not become involved in the governance process, for example examining recommendations;

·         It was suggested that Democratic Services examine the Terms of Reference for the three committees which were most likely to overlap – the Audit Committee, Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee and Value for Money Scrutiny Committee;

·         There was a need for a further discussion regarding the number of scrutiny committees and their roles and whether there was a need for this to change;

·         It was important that the informal governance processes worked properly;

·         The questions for the Audit Committee were whether the risks were being managed and what boundaries were being worked within, and were the systems and processes supporting the governance framework.

It was suggested that further informal discussions on this issue take place during the Committee's training session which was scheduled for 30 March 2015.

RESOLVED

1.    That the role of Overview and Scrutiny at Lincolnshire County Council be noted;

2.    That how the Audit Committee and Overview and Scrutiny Function might co-operate further be discussed during the Committee Training scheduled for 30 March 2015.