Minutes of Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee Meeting

BYRON SHIRE COUNCIL

Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee Meeting Minutes 16 November 2023

Minutes of the Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee Meeting held on Thursday, 16 November 2023

File No: I2023/1807

PRESENT:

Councillors:	Cr M Swivel	Present
	Cr A Hunter	Present
Independent Members:	Patrick Grier (Chairperson)	Present
	Michael Georghiou	Present
	Bernard Grinberg	Present
Staff:	Mark Arnold (General Manager)	Present
	Esmeralda Davis (Director Corporate and Community Services)	Present
	Phil Holloway (Director Infrastructure Services)	Present
	Heather Sills (Manager Corporate Services)	Present
	James Brickley (Manager Finance)	Present
	Colin Baker (Manager Business Systems and Technology)	Present
	Amber Watt (Strategic Risk Coordinator)	Audio-Visual
	Mila Jones (Governance and Internal Audit Coordinator)	Present
	Malcolm Robertson (Manager Open Space and Facilities) – Report 7.3	Present
	Cameron Clark (Manager Utilities)	Present
	Storm Townsend (Minute taker)	Present
Other Attendees:	Adam Bradfield (Thomas, Noble and Russell)	Apology
	Gearoid Fitzgerald (NSW Audit Office)	Apology
	Jarrod Lean (Grant Thornton)	Audio-visual
	Jackson White (Grant Thornton)	Audio-visual
	Julian Vivoli (VC Engineers)	Present

Patrick Grier (Chair) opened the meeting at 2:00pm and acknowledged that the meeting was being held on Bundjalung Country.

Attendance via AUDIO-VISUAL LINK:

Amber Watt (Strategic Risk Coordinator) attended via audio-visual link.

Jarrod Lean (Grant Thornton) and Jackson White (Grant Thornton) attended via audio-visual link at 3:00 pm.

Apologies:

Apologies from Adam Bradfield (Thomas, Noble and Russel) and Gearoid Fitzgerald (NSW Audit Office) were received.

Declarations of Interest – Pecuniary and Non-Pecuniary

There were no declarations of interest.

Adoption of Minutes from Previous Meetings

Report No. 3.1 Minutes of the Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee Meeting held 19 October 2023

File No: I2023/1571

Committee Recommendation:

That the minutes of the Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee Meeting held on 19 October 2023 be confirmed. (Hunter/Georghiou)

The recommendation was put to the vote and declared carried.

Business Arising from Previous Minutes

There was no business arising from previous minutes.

Mark Arnold (General Manager) joined the Meeting at 2:08pm.

Staff Reports - Corporate and Community Services

Report No. 4.1 2024 Agenda Schedule

File No: I2023/1614

Committee Recommendation:

That the Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee considers and endorses the Agenda Schedule for 2024 (Attachment 1 E2023/107822). (Hunter/Georghiou)

The recommendation was put to the vote and declared carried.

Procedural Motion

Committee Recommendation:

That Council change the order of business to deal with Report 7.3 next on the Agenda. (Grier)

The recommendation was put to the vote and declared carried.

Jarrod Lean and Jackson White of Grant Thornton joined the meeting via audio visual link at 3:00pm.

For Information Only

Report No. 7.3 Update information regarding proposed Caravan Parks internal audit

File No: I2023/1628

Committee Recommendation:

That Council considers conducting a service review on caravan parks incorporating the comments from the Committee in the scope of the review. (Grinberg/Hunter)

The recommendation was put to the vote and declared carried.

Confidential Reports - Corporate and Community Services

Procedural Motion

Committee Recommendation:

1. That in respect to:

a) Report 5.1, pursuant to Section 10A(2)(d)i of the Local Government Act, 1993, the Committee moves into Confidential Session to discuss the report Internal Audit Report Quarter 1 2023-2024;

b) Report 7.1, pursuant to Section 10A(2)(d)i of the Local Government Act, 1993, Council resolves to move into Confidential Session to discuss the report Section 355 Committee Service Review; and

c) Report 7.2, pursuant to Section 10A(2)(f) of the Local Government Act, 1993, Council resolves to move into Confidential Session to discuss the report Cyber Security Quarterly Update.

2. That the reasons for closing the meeting to the public to consider this item be that the report contains:

a) Reports 5.1 and 7.1 commercial information of a confidential nature that would, if disclosed prejudice the commercial position of the person who supplied it; and

b) Report 7.2 matters affecting the security of the council, councillors, council staff or council property

3. That on balance it is considered that receipt and discussion of the matter in open Council would be contrary to the public interest, as:

a) Reports 5.1 and 7.1 the nature and content of internal audit reports is for operational purposes; and

b) Report 7.2 exposes information security risks and vulnerabilities that could assist. (Grier)

The recommendation was put to the vote and declared carried.

Report No. 5.1 Confidential - Internal Audit Report Quarter 1 2023-2024

File No: I2023/1617

Committee Recommendation:

That the Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee:

1. Notes the Internal Auditors Summary of Internal Audit Recommendations for Quarter 1 2023-2024 at Attachment 1 (E2023/113666) and their Internal Audit Status Update October 2023 at Attachment 5 (E2023/113667).

2. Recommends to Council that it endorses the recommendations from the Executive Team to close off five internal audit recommendations from Quarter 1 2023-2024 as listed in Table 1 of this report (a summary from Attachment 1).

3. Notes the preliminary report of the Internal Audit of Property Services (Community Buildings) (Attachment 2 E2023/109245) and endorses that a final version be presented to the Committee Meeting in May 2024; and

4. Recommends to Council that it endorses that Management implement the recommendations made in the Internal Audits of:

a) Developer Contributions (Attachment 3 E2023/109247)

b) Disaster Recovery Planning (Attachment 4 E2023/111230) (Georghiou/Swivel)

The recommendation was put to the vote and declared carried.

Cr Hunter, Cr Swivel, Georghiou and Grier voted in favour of the motion.

Grinberg voted against the motion..

For Information Only

Report No. 7.1 Confidential - Section 355 Committee Service Review

File No: I2023/1646

Committee Recommendation:

That the Committee notes the report and the proposed next steps detailed within the Report. (Hunter/Grinberg)

The recommendation was put to the vote and declared carried.

Report No. 7.2 Confidential - Cyber Security Quarterly Update

File No: I2023/1625

Procedural Motion

Committee Recommendation:

That the meeting move out of confidential session. (Grier)

The recommendation was put to the vote and declared carried.

Report No. 7.4 Delegation of Functions 2023

File No: I2023/1608

Report No. 7.5 Annual Legislative Compliance Status Report 2022-2023

File No: I2023/1616

There being no further business the meeting concluded at 4:06pm.

Venue	Conference Room, Station Street, Mullumbimby
Date	Thursday, 16 November 2023
Time	2.00pm