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Partnership governance and accounts


Partnership Governance, accounts and annual reports

Governance 

As an open and transparent organisation you will find a wealth of information about the Devon Audit Partnership on this page.  This includes clarification of responsibilities, oversight and minutes from our Partnership Board meetings which can be found on the Website of our host organisation.

Governance reports:

Management Board – Terms of Reference

  • The Management Board comprises the Chief Finance Officer of each of the Councils or a duly authorised senior financial representative.
  • The Chair of the Management Board shall be on a rotational basis with each Council having a member serve as Chair for one year in every three years.
  • The Management Board shall meet a least quarterly and at such other times as the Board consider necessary.  The dates times and venue for any meetings shall be determined by the Management Board.
  • Each Board Member shall have one vote. If there is an equality of votes on any matter then it shall be referred to the Partnership to decide
  • All Board Members must be present at any meeting where the budget or annual audit plans are to be approved or approval is sought for amendments to either
  • The Board Members shall be entitled to send a representative but they must be authorised to make any decision that the Board Member would have been authorised to make had they attended.
  • The Host Council shall send to every Board Member at least [14] days before a meeting of the Management Board an invitation to attend the meeting and an Agenda of business to be discussed
  • The quorum for meetings of the Management Board shall be 3 with at least one member from each Council

Management Board Responsibilities

  • Recommending the budget subject to Partnership Committee approval
  • Approving all changes to budgets subject to the approval of the Partnership Committee
  • Approving permanent changes to staffing levels, grades and other employee issues (including terms and conditions of employment)
  • Recommending the audit plans for submission for approval to individual audit committees
  • Agreeing changes to audit plans that impact upon the Partnership
  • Receiving and approving performance reports from the Head of Internal Audit Partnership
  • The carrying out of any Performance Reviews
  • Setting and reviewing the performance of the Partnership
  • Resolving Disputes

Accounts

Our Accounts are prepared by Devon County Council and are subject to inspection by Devon County Council’s External Auditors. The Section 151 officer for Devon Audit Partnership is Angie Sinclair, Director of Finance, Devon County Council telephone number 01392 383000. Our accounts are published and available for review:

Head of Partnership Responsibilities 

The Head of Internal Audit Partnership will be responsible to the Partnership and each Council (as appropriate) for the following matters:

  • Management of the Partnership
  • Recruitment and staffing issues
  • Drawing up budgets, ensuring adequate budgetary control and ensuring that financial targets are set and reached
  • Ensuring that the Partnership meets professional and mandatory standards including the CIPFA Code of Practice for Internal Audit in Local Government in the UK.
  • Establishing an effective organisational framework
  • To liaise with each Council’s external auditor to ensure that the managed audit status is maintained.
  • Monitoring the Partnership’s performance against plans
  • Marketing and tendering for external contracts
  • Formally reporting to the Management Board, Partnership, the Councils and the Partnership Clients as required in this Agreement on the scope and adequacy of audit coverage and the issues arising
  • Ensuring that the Partnership has adequate and effective trading agreements with all the Councils and the Partnership Clients for the provision of audit services
  • Procurement of supplies and services
  • Making recommendations to the Partnership regarding the Partnership Client base, trading agreements, charging policies and other necessary matters
  • Responsibility for Accommodation

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