Resolved

That the Risk and Assurance Committee:

1          Accepts the apology from Cr Te Taru White tendered at the meeting.

Love/Clark

CARRIED

4.1

Risk and Assurance Committee Minutes - 15 June 2020

Resolved

That the Risk and Assurance Committee:

1          Confirms the minutes, Risk and Assurance Committee Minutes - 15 June 2020 as a true and correct record.

Love/Robertson

CARRIED

5.1

2019/20 Draft Annual Report review

Presentation - Risk and Assurance - Draft Annual Report Review 2019-20: Objective ID A3657221   

Bruce Robertson declared an interest in Agenda Item 8.5, 2019/20 Draft Annual Report Review and did not participate in any discussion relating to the Awatarariki Fanhead.

Finance & Transport Operations Manager Debbie Hyland, Corporate Planning Lead Graeme Howard, Financial Accounting Team Lead Nolene Naude and Audit Director, Audit New Zealand Leon Pieterse presented the report.

09:42am – Cr Andrew von Dadelszen entered the meeting.

Key Points:

·       Currently awaiting finalisation of results from Quayside Holdings Limited before proceeding with next steps; expected the final results to be available before the end of October 2020

·       Presented the draft financial and non-financial performance results of the Council for the year ending 30 June 2020

·       Council’s draft operating surplus for year two of the Long Term Plan 2018-2028 was $2.8 million which was $0.2 million higher than the budgeted surplus of $2.6 million

·       Council’s Long Term Plan 2018-2028 included 33 performance measures with targets for 2019/20; achieved 28 (85%) of the targets that were set for the year ended 30 June 2020

·       While COVID-19 has had an impact on a number of Council’s services, Council still managed to see improvement in some of the levels of service, including resource consent processing times and the replacement of non-compliant burners in the Rotorua Airshed

·       Final reviews were currently being carried out by staff and Audit New Zealand and changes.

·       Staff anticipate that the final 2019/20 Annual Report would be presented for adoption by Council in November/December 2020.

Key Points - Members:

·       Acknowledged the impact of a hugely disruptive year; the second half of 2019/20 saw the emergence of COVID-19 which has had an unprecedented impact

·       Thanked staff for their commitment to continued service delivery

·       Noted that a report on a “Comprehensive Procurement Plan” for quarried rock material would be considered by Council at its meeting on 29 October 2020.

Key Points – External Auditor, Leon Pieterse:

·       Provided an overview of the overall audit process and the envisaged timeline for the Annual Report sign-of

·       2020 had been a challenging year in the audit area; COVID-19 had caused a delay in the finalisation/sign-off of audits

·       Was comfortable that the control environment was reliable and would result in an efficient audit

·       The PUT-option was still outstanding since the methodology required a review by an independent external party; feedback was expected to be completed by the end of October 2020

·       Was satisfied with the Regional Infrastructure Fund payments/process and the COVID-19 Disclosure Statement

·       The consolidation of accounts was however still outstanding as Quayside Holding’s audit still needed to be completed.  Audit NZ was currently working alongside Quayside on progressing the finalisation.

Item for Staff Follow Up:

·       Executive Summary 2019/20 Draft Annual report (Page 77) to be updated by providing clarification on the status of the Regional Coastal Environment Plan (RCEP), indicating that the Plan had been signed off by the Minister of Conservation.

Resolved

That the Risk and Assurance Committee:

1          Receives the report, 2019/20 Draft Annual Report review.

von Dadelszen/Clark

CARRIED

Resolved

Resolution to exclude the public

1        Excludes the public from the following parts of the proceedings of this meeting as set out below:

The general subject of each matter to be considered while the public is excluded, the reason for passing this resolution in relation to each matter, and the specific grounds under section 48(1) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 for the passing of this resolution are as follows:

2          That Leon Pieterse – Audit Director, Audit New Zealand be permitted to stay in the public excluded section of the meeting due to his knowledge of the matter under discussion, being the 2019/20 Draft Annual Report review.

[Love/Robertson]

[CARRIED]

5.2

Setting audit fees for the upcoming LTP 2021-2031 audits

Finance & Transport Operations Manager Debbie Hyland and Audit Director, Audit New Zealand Leon Pieterse presented the report.

Key Points:

·       After three years with no increases, there were cost pressures that would be addressed in the setting of the 2021-31 LTP audit fees

·       The 2021-31 LTP audit fees would be set on the fee established for the 2018-2028 LTP audit (excluding any additional fee recoveries) plus an increase of 7.5% (an inflationary increase of approximately 2.5% per annum).

Resolved

That the Risk and Assurance Committee:

1          Receives the report, Setting Audit Fees for the upcoming LTP 2021-2031 Audits.

Robertson/von Dadelszen

CARRIED

Resolved

Resolution to exclude the public

1        Excludes the public from the following parts of the proceedings of this meeting as set out below:

The general subject of each matter to be considered while the public is excluded, the reason for passing this resolution in relation to each matter, and the specific grounds under section 48(1) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 for the passing of this resolution are as follows:

2          That Richard Williams - Tax Partner and Rachael Gemming - Tax Associate, Ernst & Young New Zealand be permitted to stay in the public excluded section of the meeting due to their knowledge of the matter under discussion, being the IRD Risk Review of Bay of Plenty Regional Council.

[Love/Robertson]

[CARRIED]

5.3

Committee Chairperson's Report

General Manager, Corporate Mat Taylor updated members on the Audit and Risk Committee’s activities and provided an overview of the work programme for the remainder of 2020.

Key Point:

·       Risk and Assurance Workshop planned for 24 November 2020 to review Council’s Financial Strategy/Risks associated with the Long Term Plan and the Risk Management Framework.

Resolved

That the Risk and Assurance Committee:

1          Receives the report, Committee Chairperson's Report.

von Dadelszen/Clark

CARRIED

5.4

Chairman's Discretionary Fund 2019/20

Cr von Dadelszen declared an interest in Agenda Item 9.4, Chairman’s Discretionary Fund 2019/20 and refrained from participating in the discussion.

General Manager, Corporate Mat Taylor presented the report.

Key Point - Members:

·       Noted that the correct naming was “Rotary Youth Awareness (RYDA)” and not “Rotorua Youth Awareness (RYDA)”.

Resolved

That the Risk and Assurance Committee:

1          Receives the report, Chairman's Discretionary Fund 2019/20.

Love/Robertson

CARRIED

5.5

Expenditure and Koha Report for the year ended 30 June 2020

Finance & Transport Operations Manager Debbie Hyland and Financial Accounting Team Lead Nolene Naude presented the report.

Key Points:

·       The report provided open and transparent financial information about Council’s supplier spend/payments to third parties including suppliers, contractors and consultants for the year ended 30 June 2020

·       Noted that the redacted information in the report pertained to personal information of individuals.

Item for Staff Follow Up:

·       Future Expenditure and Koha Reports to include a third report: grouping of expenditure information by category.

Resolved

That the Risk and Assurance Committee:

1          Receives the report, Expenditure and Koha Report for the year ended 30 June 2020.

von Dadelszen/Clark

CARRIED

5.6

Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 - Annual Report 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020

Legal and Commercial Manager Jessica Easton presented the report.

Key Points:

·       There were 75 requests for official information during the period

·       Council had responded to three investigations of complaints to the Office of the Ombudsmen

·       Council had maintained high standards of service in responding to requests for official information with 100% compliance in meeting statutory timeframes.

Resolved

That the Risk and Assurance Committee:

1          Receives the report, Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 - Annual Report 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020.

von Dadelszen/Clark

CARRIED

5.7

Internal Audit Update and Audit Plan

Risk & Assurance Manager Steven Slack and Principal Internal Auditor Aaron Huggins presented the report.

Key Points:

·       Noted that the Risk and Assurance Workshop planned for 24 November 2020 to review Council’s Risk Management Framework would provide an opportunity for members:

o   to review the plan for the next three years

o   to assess risks relating to gravel extraction

o   to identify strategic priorities/consider risks relating to the Long Term Plan 2021-2031

o   to review the potential impact of legislative reform/Three Waters/freshwater reforms/sector risks.

Resolved

That the Risk and Assurance Committee:

1          Receives the report, Internal Audit Update and Audit Plan;

2          Approves the Internal Audit Work Plan 2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23, including the detailed work plan for 2020/21.

Robertson/Clark

CARRIED

Resolved

Resolution to exclude the public

1        Excludes the public from the following parts of the proceedings of this meeting as set out below:

The general subject of each matter to be considered while the public is excluded, the reason for passing this resolution in relation to each matter, and the specific grounds under section 48(1) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 for the passing of this resolution are as follows:

Love/Robertson

CARRIED