MINUTES of the duly convened Audit Committee Meeting of The Hills Shire Council held in the Council Chambers Norwest on 18 August 2020
This is Page 1 of the Minutes of the Audit Committee Meeting of The Hills Shire Council
ITEM SUBJECT PAGE
ITEM-1 CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES 3
ITEM-2 DRAFT STATUTORY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FY 2019/2020
3
ITEM-3 INTERNAL AUDIT REPORT 4
ITEM-4 IT SECURITY STRATEGY 4
ITEM-5 GENERAL MANAGER'S EXPENSES 4
ITEM-6 STATUS REPORTS - AUDIT COMMITTEE MEETING - 18 JUNE 2020
4
QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE 5
MINUTES of the duly convened Audit Committee Meeting of The Hills Shire Council held in the Council Chambers Norwest on 18 August 2020
18 PRESENT
Mayor Dr M R Byrne (In the Chair) Clr M G Thomas
Clr A N Haselden Clr S P Uno Clr A J Hay OAM Mr Michael Blair OAM
Adjunct Professor Jim Taggart OAM
19 APOLOGIES Mr Johnny Teong
20 IN ATTENDANCE
Michael Edgar – General Manager Kerrie Wilson – Internal Auditor
21 TIME OF COMMENCEMENT 7.06pm
22 TIME OF COMPLETION 9.22pm
23 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST Nil.
24 ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES
7.40pm Adjunct Professor Jim Taggart OAM left the meeting during during Item 2.
25 DISSENT FROM COUNCIL'S DECISIONS Nil.
26 ADJOURNMENT & RESUMPTION Nil.
MINUTES of the duly convened Audit Committee Meeting of The Hills Shire Council held in the Council Chambers Norwest on 18 August 2020
The Mayor advised in accordance with the Code of Meeting Practice that this meeting is being recorded.
ITEM-1 CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES
A MOTION WAS MOVED BY MR MICHAEL BLAIR OAM AND SECONDED BY ADJUNCT PROFESSOR JIM TAGGART OAM THAT the Minutes of the Audit Committee Meeting held on 18 June 2020 be confirmed.
THE MOTION WAS PUT AND CARRIED.
27 RESOLUTION
The Minutes of the Audit Committee Meeting of Council held on 18 June 2020 be confirmed.
APOLOGIES
A MOTION WAS MOVED BY COUNCILLOR HAY OAM AND SECONDED BY COUNCILLOR HASELDEN THAT the apology from Mr Johnny Teong be accepted and leave of absence granted.
THE MOTION WAS PUT AND CARRIED.
28 RESOLUTION
The apology from Mr Johnny Teong be accepted and leave of absence granted.
7.40pm Adjunct Professor Jim Taggart OAM left the meeting during during Item 2.
ITEM-2 DRAFT STATUTORY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FY
2019/2020
A MOTION WAS MOVED BY COUNCILLOR HAY OAM AND SECONDED BY COUNCILLOR THOMAS THAT the Recommendation contained in the report be adopted.
THE MOTION WAS PUT AND CARRIED.
29 RESOLUTION
1. The presentation from Council’s External Auditor be received.
2. The Financial Statements (Attachment 1) as required by Section 413 of the Local Government Act 1993 be referred to Council on 25 August 2020 and the external auditor is requested to present their findings at that meeting.
MINUTES of the duly convened Audit Committee Meeting of The Hills Shire Council held in the Council Chambers Norwest on 18 August 2020
ITEM-3 INTERNAL AUDIT REPORT
A MOTION WAS MOVED BY COUNCILLOR HASELDEN AND SECONDED BY COUNCILLOR UNO THAT the Recommendation contained in the report be adopted.
THE MOTION WAS PUT AND CARRIED.
30 RESOLUTION
The report be received.
ITEM-4 IT SECURITY STRATEGY
A MOTION WAS MOVED BY COUNCILLOR HASELDEN AND SECONDED BY MR MICHAEL BLAIR OAM THAT the Recommendation contained in the report be adopted.
THE MOTION WAS PUT AND CARRIED.
31 RESOLUTION
The presentation be received.
ITEM-5 GENERAL MANAGER'S EXPENSES
A MOTION WAS MOVED BY MR MICHAEL BLAIR OAM AND SECONDED BY COUNCILLOR HASELDEN THAT the Recommendation contained in the report be adopted.
THE MOTION WAS PUT AND CARRIED.
32 RESOLUTION
1. The report be received.
2. The expenses tabled of $Nil be noted.
ITEM-6 STATUS REPORTS - AUDIT COMMITTEE MEETING - 18 JUNE 2020
A MOTION WAS MOVED BY COUNCILLOR UNO AND SECONDED BY COUNCILLOR HASELDEN THAT the Recommendation contained in the report be adopted.
33 RESOLUTION
The report be received.
MINUTES of the duly convened Audit Committee Meeting of The Hills Shire Council held in the Council Chambers Norwest on 18 August 2020
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35
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QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE SIM CARDS
Councillor Haselden asked if the Sim Cards that Council cannot clearly identify are still being paid as a fixed charge to Telstra or any other carrier and has Council qualified it?
The General Manager recalls having discussions with the previous IT Manager. This is more around Sim Cards and Devices that could not be located. The General Manager is reasonably confident that there was a process of cleaning up the phone bill but that was not to say that Council accounted for all the devices and Sim Cards. There was a process in place to find the Sim Cards and cancel them.
The General Manager will take the matter on Notice and bring a report back to the Audit Committee.
COMPETING AUDIT COMMITTEE
Councillor Uno heard some time ago that the Audit Office that was planning of setting up a competing Audit Committee. Does Council have an update on that?
The General Manager confirmed that the Hills Shire and other Councils made submissions.
With the deferral of the Local Government Elections for a further year, the Audit Office and the Office of Local Government are taking the extra time to work through these submissions before they report back to Councils on their finding, final regulations and requirements.
RANKINGS OF COUNCILS IN DEALING WITH DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS
Mr Michael Blair OAM commented about an article in the press a few weeks ago regarding the rankings of Councils in dealing with Development Applications (DA). Mr Michael Blair OAM expressed his concern to the Internal Auditor as the Hill Shire Council ranked 4th worst in dealing with Development Applications. Mr Michael Blair OAM asked how the status of this Council determined and who determined it? If this status is true, how does this performs with the KPI’s that Council sets in its Strategic Plan?
The General Manager stated that there are a number of reasons for the status. Council froze positions during COVID 19 which would have included positions for the Development Assessment Team but also positions in other areas of the organisation which provides comments on Development Applications. This could interfere with the timing of assessments. The other thing to bear in mind is that Council has all but stripped out of what we would call the easy wins in DA’s. There are numerous Compiling and Development Certificates issued and a lot of project homes are being constructed without the need for Development Applications. Development Applications that are not Complying Development and which usually require a referral to other agencies and other concurrences can also impact target times. Staff turnover are volumes of applications received also is a factor.
Council just recently in this year’s budget approved extra staff for the Development Assessment Team to try and tackle the workload. There is a challenge to the Group on how Council can shave 18% off our statistics to access $5m that is on offer from the State Government to improve Town Centres.
MINUTES of the duly convened Audit Committee Meeting of The Hills Shire Council held in the Council Chambers Norwest on 18 August 2020
The number of Development Applications is recorded through State Government portal.
Mr Michael Blair OAM asked how does this relate to the performance of the KPI that Council sets down in the Strategic Plan?
The General Manager stated that Council has “Stop the Clock” and other provisions which take some of the external issues in to consideration and this has also been recorded in Council’s Annual Report. There has been a deterioration in our KPI‘s
The Minutes of the above Meeting were confirmed at the Audit Committee held on 5 November 2020.
