3.1

Risk and Assurance Committee Minutes - 1 December 2020

Resolved

That the Risk and Assurance Committee:

Confirms the Risk and Assurance Committee Minutes - 1 December 2020 as a true and correct record.

Clark/Robertson

CARRIED

4.1

Audit New Zealand Report to the Council for the year ending 30 June 2020

Tabled Document 1 - Audit New Zealand Report to Council - Under Separate Cover - Risk and Assurance Committee 4 March 2021: Objective ID A3744817 ⇨  

Cr Stuart Crosby declared a conflict of interest in this item and abstained from discussion and voting.

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

Key Points:

·       Report to Council on the audit of Bay of Plenty Regional Council for the year ending 30 June 2020 set out the findings from the final audit performed in September 2020

·       Audit NZ had identified areas where Council was performing well and recommended areas where improvements could be made and provided an update on actions taken by staff against previous recommendations

·       Highlighted the following new recommendations, with priority as “necessary”:

o   Council to provide group instructions to subsidiaries which should include accounting policies and disclosure requirements

o   Review GST on payments made through the Lakes Enhancement Scheme

o   Consider reviewing useful lives of the plant and equipment asset class

o   Ensure compliance with sections 64, 66 and 67 of the Local Government Act

·       Noted that staff was making good progress to address the recommendations highlighted by Audit NZ.

Key Points - Members:

·       Noted that the main reason why Audit NZ had raised the issue of “uncorrected disclosure deficiencies” was to avoid future qualification issues; furthermore continued close liaison between Quayside Holdings Limited (QHL), the Port of Tauranga Limited (POTL) and KPMG was aimed at ensuring a better alignment across the group

·       Acknowledged that the recommendation relating to the river and drainage flood damage item, as listed on page 26 of the report, had been closed.

Item for Staff Follow Up:

·       “Treatment of GST on Lakes Enhancement Programme” (Page 13, item 4.1) – for clarity, the title to be expanded to include in brackets the words “Nitrogen Buy-Back Scheme”.

Resolved

That the Risk and Assurance Committee:

1          Receives the report, Audit New Zealand Report to the Council for the year ending 30 June 2020;

2          Notes the management actions set out in the report.

Robertson/Clark

CARRIED

4.2

Chairperson's Report

General Manager, Corporate Mat Taylor presented the report updating members on the Risk and Assurance Committee’s activities and the updated Risk and Assurance Work Programme for 2021.

Resolved

That the Risk and Assurance Committee:

1          Receives the report, Chairperson's Report. 

Robertson/von Dadelszen

CARRIED

4.3

Internal Audit Status Update

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

Key Points

·            Referred to the Internal Audit Work Plan on page 26 of the agenda, summarising the current status of internal audit reviews for 2020/21.  The BOPRC Internal Audit team expected to complete the following internal audits by June 2021: Fraud Risk Assessment, Gravel Extraction process and the Mount Manganui / Rotorua Air Standards

·            Completed the internal audit review of Climate Change Impacts Risks & Mitigations, as per the 2020/21 Internal Audit Work Plan.  The scope of this audit was to provide assurance that mitigating actions and controls were operating as described and to evaluate their effectiveness in treating the key risks. Based on the results, the control environment relating to Climate Change Impacts Risks & Mitigations was rated as adequate.

Key Points - Members:

·            Noted that the four open Health & Safety improvement actions listed at the start of the quarter (1 September 2020) had been incorporated into Council’s Health & Safety continuous improvement work programme, which was ongoing and involved the simplification and consolidation of risks within Council

·            A measuring tool, currently used by Local Government New Zealand, was available to evaluate the effectiveness of mitigations in climate change (Councillor Crosby offered to provide further detail to staff)

·            Noted that the scope for the Mount Manganui / Rotorua Air Standards audit would be to provide assurance that mitigating actions and controls were operating as described and to evaluate their effectiveness in treating the key risks.

Resolved

That the Risk and Assurance Committee:

1          Receives the report, Internal Audit Status Update.

White/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:

Love/Robertson

CARRIED