Minutes

Minutes of the Audit Panel of the Metropolitan Police Authority held on 1 December 2003 at 10 Dean Farrar Street, Westminster, London SW1H 0NY.

Present:

Members:

• Sir John Quinton (Chair)
• Eric Ollerenshaw (Deputy Chair)
• Diana Johnson
• Rachel Whittaker

MPA Officers:

• Peter Martin (Treasurer)
• Peter Tickner (Director, Internal Audit)
• John Crompton (Committee Services)

MPS Officers:

• Keith Luck (Director of Resources)
• Sharon Burd (Director of Finance)

Also attended: Kash Pandya (District Auditor) and Jon Hayes (Audit Manager)

Part 1

8. Apologies

(Agenda item 1)

No apologies were submitted.

9. Declarations of interests

No declarations were made.

10. Minutes of the meeting held on 15 September 2003

(Agenda item 3)

Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting of the meeting held on 15 September be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

11. Chair’s and members’ update

(Agenda item 4)

No reports were submitted.

12. Annual audit letter for 2002/03

(Agenda item 5)

The draft annual audit letter for 2002/03 was submitted to the Audit Panel for comment. The Panel noted that the District Auditor had met the Treasurer, Director of Resources and the Management Board of the MPS to discuss the draft letter and accounts.

The District Auditor explained that the audit of the accounts was not yet complete, and there were some gaps in the draft letter. In addition, a very recent further issue had been identified in connection with the recording of third party liabilities in the accounts for 2002/03, which might require an entry in the previous year’s accounts. It was not anticipated that this further work would lead him to amend his intention to issue an unqualitied audit opinion. It was hoped that the final letter would be sent to the MPA by the end of December for circulation to all members of the Authority.

The Panel proceeded to consider each section of the draft letter. A number of drafting matters were identified, these included:

• Using the phrase “civil” staff in the letter and accounts rather than “civilian”;
• In the section headed “Legality of transactions” clarifying the description of the role of the Deputy Clerk;
• Appendix 2 Best Value performance plan – in the penultimate paragraph the phrase “Greater London Authority” to be replaced by “Metropolitan Police Authority”;

The Panel noted that the District Auditor had concerns about the Performance Indicators. In this connection, it was noted that following the MPS Management Board it had been agreed that an explanatory sentence would be added to the Performance Management section.

The District Auditor stated that under Auditing Standard SAS 610 he was now required to submit a further letter to members of the Panel concerning “matters of substance” which had arisen during the audit process. Copies of the proposed letter dated 1 December were tabled.

In summing up the Panel’s consideration of the draft letter the Chair said it was pleasing to note the good progress which had been made in financial reporting and systems which meant that the District Auditor was now in a position to say that it was no longer necessary to qualify the annual accounts. However, the letter had highlighted areas of residual weaknesses and there was clearly no room for complacency.

Resolved – That the audit letter be noted.

13. Internal Audit – progress report

(Agenda item 7)

Members considered a report that outlined the progress made in achieving the 2003/2004 Internal Audit Plan.

Resolved – That the progress made in achieving the 2003/04 internal audit plan be noted.
The meeting ended at 11.00 a.m.

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