Issue - meetings

Report by Grant Thornton UK LLP, External Auditors

A report on the Audit of Best Value and Community Planning was published in February 2006 by the Accounts Commission and the Commission agreed to require a further report on the best value audit of Argyll and Bute Council as at 31 December 2007.  This report was issued in December 2008 and the Commission acknowledged that the Council had made progress in a number of key areas, including corporate leadership and strategic direction, but concluded that overall there was a clear need to increase the pace of change and ensure a number of systems and processes for supporting best value were successfully implemented.

As part of their 2008 – 2009 audit, Grant Thornton UK LLP, the Council’s External Auditors followed up the progress made by the Council in addressing the improvement agenda and prepared a response to the 2008 best value audit which was before the Committee for consideration.  The audit covered the following key areas: an evaluation of progress in achieving Improvement Plan objectives; an assessment of the overall achieved improvement to date; and an assessment of the prospects for future improvement.

Decision

Noted the contents of the report and that these will be followed up by Internal Audit.

(Reference: Report Grant Thornton UK LLP dated 18 November 2009, submitted)