Issue - meetings

The Committee considered the report of the Head of Audit Partnership concerning the adoption of a skills matrix to help inform the selection process for the Committee and identify training needs for new and existing Members.  It was noted that the adoption of the matrix would allow each Member of the Committee and named Substitutes to complete a self assessment against a range of skills and experience.  The results of the self assessment would be used to develop an appropriate training programme.

In response to questions, the Head of Audit Partnership said that the questions had been extracted from a publication by the National Audit Office called “The Audit Committee Self-Assessment Checklist” published in 2012 and from the “CIPFA Guidance for Audit Committees” published in 2005.  He would circulate copies of both publications and a short briefing paper on the specific aspect of Audit Committee training to all Members and Substitute Members of the Committee.

The Committee supported the introduction of the skills matrix subject to the deletion of the reference to having an understanding of the Council’s “culture” as this could be misinterpreted.

RESOLVED:  That subject to the deletion of the reference to having an understanding of the Council’s “culture”, the skills matrix attached as Appendix 1 to the report of the Head of Audit Partnership be adopted and used to inform the Committee’s training programme.