Agenda and minutes

Apologies had been received from Cllr John Greenwell.

The meeting was quorate.

The Committee elected a Chair.

Mr David Davidson nominated Cllr Tom Weatherston and Mr John Raine seconded the nomination.

Cllr Tom Weatherston was duly elected as Chair of the Integration Joint Board Audit Committee.

The HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE INTEGRATION JOINT BOARD AUDIT COMMITTEE agreed that the Chair of the Audit Committee should rotate on an annual basis as per the rotation of the Chair of the Integration Joint Board.

The HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE INTEGRATION JOINT BOARD AUDIT COMMITTEE agreed that when the Chair of the Integration Joint Board was from NHS Borders the Chair of the Audit Committee would be from Scottish Borders Council and vice versa.

The Chair sought any verbal declarations of interest pertaining to items on the agenda.

The HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE INTEGRATION JOINT BOARD AUDIT COMMITTEE noted there were none.

The minutes of the previous meeting of the Health & Social Care Integration Joint Board Audit Committee held on 27 March 2017 were approved. 

Action Tracker

5.1       Action 2:  Mrs Jill Stacey confirmed that the action was now complete.

5.2       Action 3:  Mrs Jill Stacey confirmed that the action was now complete.

5.3       Action 4:  Mrs Jill Stacey suggested the Audit Committee may wish to recommend to the Integration Joint Board that it undertake a self-assessment within the next 18 months.

The HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE INTEGRATION JOINT BOARD AUDIT COMMITTEE agreed to recommend that the Health & Social Care Integration Joint Board undertake a self-assessment.

The HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE INTEGRATION JOINT BOARD AUDIT COMMITTEE noted the action tracker.

Mrs Jill Stacey gave an overview of the conclusion of Integration Joint Board Internal Audit Annual Report 2016/17 highlighting the 3 key areas that the internal audit had focused on; Corporate Governance; Financial Management; and Performance Management.

Discussion took place and focused on the membership of the Integration Joint Board; baseline information for performance management; agenda setting; Executive Management Team attendance; managing risk in decision making; risk register; sharing of Audit Committee agendas of all 3 organisations; meetings of Audit Committee chairs of all 3 organisations; exploration with other Integration Joint Boards the independence of their Audit Committees; transparency through publication of agendas and meeting papers; Executive Leadership section to be updated to recognise the changes that had occurred during 2016; consideration of wider assurances from partners; joint performance reporting; issuing of directions; partners responsibility for clinical and care governance - the commissioner requires assurance but the governance arrangements remain with the provider bodies; and induction package of documents for new members. 

Mr Paul McMenamin recorded his thanks to Mrs Stacey for the substantial piece of work that had been undertaken in terms of assurance and a clear forward plan for development.

The HEALTH & SOCIAL CAREINTEGRATION JOINT BOARD AUDIT COMMITTEE considered the Internal Audit Annual Report 2016/17 for the Scottish Borders Health & Social Care Integration Joint Board as detailed in Appendix 1 of the report and provided commentary thereon.

The HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE INTEGRATION JOINT BOARD AUDIT COMMITTEE agreed that the Executive Leadership section be updated to recognise the changes that had occurred during 2016.

The HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE INTEGRATION JOINT BOARD AUDIT COMMITTEE agreed that the audit committee chairs of all 3 organisations (NHS Borders, Scottish Borders Council, Integration Joint Board) should meet on a six monthly basis for the purposes of assurance.

The HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE INTEGRATION JOINT BOARD AUDIT COMMITTEE agreed that other Integration Joint Boards be approached to see how they had addressed the independence of their Audit Committees.

The HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE INTEGRATION JOINT BOARD AUDIT COMMITTEE agreed that a revised report be brought back to the next meeting of the Audit Committee and a summary document be produced for the next Health & Social Care Integration Joint Board meeting.

Mr Paul McMenamin gave an overview of the content of the statement of accounts for 2016/17.  Since being issued the accounts had been slightly amended and the current draft would be submitted to the External Auditor.  The final accounts would be submitted to the Audit Committee and Integration Joint Board later in the year.

Discussion focused on some potential rewording in regard to:  independence of the audit committee; the chief officer role; and legal services in regard to CNORIS.

The HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE INTEGRATION JOINT BOARD AUDIT COMMITTEE noted the report and considered the unaudited Annual Accounts for 2016/17.

Mrs Jill Stacey advised that the first version of the local code of corporate governance had been approved by the Integration Joint Board in 2016 and since that time CIPFA SOLACE had updated their good governance framework for local government.  She had taken the opportunity to refresh the local code and confirmed that it was in keeping with the annual governance statement within the draft accounts.  Mrs Stacey spoke of the layout which had been divided into the 7 core principles and suggested the committee may wish to consider how to disseminate the document to Board members.

Discussion took place and focused on:  annual review of the local code; dissemination of the local code as part of a package of documents for Board members; terms of reference for the Integration Joint Board; identifying a development session for Board members to understand the role of voting and non voting members, the complexities of service delivery in relation to integration; working up scenarios to assist the development session; and preparation of an executive summary.

The HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE INTEGRATION JOINT BOARD AUDIT COMMITTEE agreed that the full Board approve its Local Code of Corporate Governance for health and social care integration as detailed in Appendix 1 of the report.

The HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE INTEGRATION JOINT BOARD AUDIT COMMITTEE agreed to the annual review of its governance arrangements and reporting of the outcome of that review in an Annual Governance Statement scrutinised by the Integration Joint Board Audit Committee in advance of Integration Joint Board approval.

The HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE INTEGRATION JOINT BOARD AUDIT COMMITTEE agreed that a development session be held for Board members focusing on a suite of learning, including understanding the code of corporate governance, Board members roles and terms of reference for the Board.

There was none.

The Chair confirmed that the next meeting of Health & Social Care Integration Joint Board Audit Committee would take place on Monday 25 September 2017 at 2.00pm in Committee Room 2, Scottish Borders Council.