Minutes of the VSS Audit and Risk Committee

Tuesday 7 December, 11:00am

Remote – via Teams

ARC Members Present:

Colm Doran (CD)                       ARC Member (Chair)

Briege Lafferty (BL)                   ARC Member

Brian Gilfedder (BG)                  ARC Member

VSS Officers in Attendance:

Andrew Walker (AW)                Chief Executive Officer

Tara Lewsley (TL)                     Head of Corporate Services

Victora Murray (VM)                  Finance Manager

Melissa McCartan (MM)             Business Support Officer (Minutes)

Others in Attendance:

Andrew Allen (AA)                    NIAO

Tanya Hamilton (TH)               TEO

Catriona McHugh (CMcH)         Cavanagh Kelly (Internal Audit)

A      Apologies

Apologies received from John Cahill, ARC Member.

B Minutes

Minutes of the previous meeting held on 17 October 2023 were approved.

C      External Audit Update

AA provided the Committee with an update on the Draft Report to those Charged with Governance (RTTCWG), highlighting key findings. AA extended his thanks to the VSS finance team for their help with completing the audit.

It was noted that the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) will certify the 2022-23 financial statements with an unqualified audit opinion, without modification. AA highlighted no report on the accounts was required this year.

The Committee noted two priority 1 recommendations have been identified, which relate to grants to groups – procurement and other issues. The Committee also noted and discussed one priority 2 and one priority 3 recommendation, relating to regularity of individual grants and bank reconciliation.

AA provided explanations as to NIAO’s rationale for applying these ratings. The Committee noted VSS will provide the management response to these recommendations at the next Committee meeting in January 2024.

CD raised a query relating to the priority 1 recommendations and asked VSS if there are appropriate frameworks and best practice guidance in place across the funded organisations. This was clarified by TL and noted by the Committee.

BG raised a query relating to a prior year recommendation on pg. 25 of the report, which was clarified and noted.

The Committee expressed thanks to NIAO and VSS staff for facilitating this audit and noted it is an excellent achievement for the organisation. The Chair asked VM to pass on a note of thanks to all involved at VSS.

The ARC is content to note the draft RTTCWG and recommend the Annual Report and Accounts to the VSS Board for approval.

D      Date of Next Meeting

The VSS Audit & Risk Committee meeting is scheduled to take place on 17 January 2024.