Audit Committee
Minutes of Proceedings - Wednesday 16 October 2024
Audit Committee - Minutes of Proceedings 16 October 2024.pdf (148.34 kb)
Meeting Location: Room 21, Parliament Buildings
Present:
Alan Chambers MLA (Chairperson)
Diane Forsythe MLA (Deputy Chairperson)
John Blair MLA
Present by video or teleconference:
Ciara Ferguson MLA
Apologies:
Nick Mathison MLA
In Attendance:
Nick Mitford, Assembly Clerk
Elaine Farrell, Assistant Clerk
Laura Gourley, Clerical Supervisor
Alison Ferguson, Clerical Officer
Ray McCaffrey, Research Officer (agenda item 5)
The meeting commenced at 10.03 a.m. in open session
1. Apologies
As above.
2. Declaration of Interests
No interests were declared.
3. Draft Minutes
Agreed: The Committee agreed the minutes of the meeting held on 5 June 2024.
4. Matters arising
The Committee considered the correspondence from the Department of Finance dated 11 October 2024 in respect of the 2024-25 October Monitoring Round which issued to all Departments.
Mr Blair joined the meeting at 10.05 a.m.
Agreed: The Committee agreed to write to the Department of Finance, as well as the Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO); the Northern Ireland Public Service Ombudsman (NIPSO); and the Northern Ireland Assembly Commission, to seek further information on any submission to made under the October Monitoring Round process, which will be considered at the next Audit Committee meeting in November.
5. RaISe briefing – Committee Quorum
The Assembly Research Officer, Ray McCaffrey, joined the meeting at 10.06 a.m.
Mr McCaffrey briefed the Committee on his research paper on Committee Quorum.
This was followed by a question and answer session.
The Chairperson thanked Mr McCaffrey for his briefing.
Agreed: The Committee agreed not to consult on an increase to the quorum for the Audit Committee and to monitor the situation going forward.
6. Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO) – Draft budget 2025/26
The following officials from the NIAO joined the meeting at 10.16 a.m.
Dorinnia Carville, Comptroller and Auditor General
Rodney Allen, Chief Operating Officer
Brian O’Neill, Director
Anu Kane, Corporate Services Manager
The officials briefed the Committee and this was followed by a question and answer session.
The Chairperson thanked the officials for their briefing.
7. Northern Ireland Public Service Ombudsman (NIPSO) - Draft Budget 2025/26
The following officials from NIPSO joined the meeting at 10.50 a.m.
Margaret Kelly, Ombudsman
Sean Martin, Acting Deputy Ombudsman
Kirsty McCool, Head of Governance
The officials briefed the Committee and this was followed by a question and answer session.
Mr Blair left the meeting at 11.26 a.m.
Mr Blair rejoined the meeting at 11.30 a.m.
8. Correspondence
Noted: The Committee noted the following items of correspondence:
- Correspondence from the Committee for Finance dated 27 June 2024 on the monthly outcome covering April and May 2024;
- Correspondence from the Committee on Procedures dated 4 July 2024 on potential work areas for the Committee;
- Correspondence from a member of the public dated 17 July 2024 on Cubbies;
- Correspondence from the Business Office dated 4 July 2024 on the NIAO report on Public Bodies Response to Misrepresented Soil Analysis;
- Correspondence from the Business Office dated 4 July 2024 on the NIAO report on the Review of Waste Management in Northern Ireland;
- Correspondence from the Business Office dated 5 July 2024 on the NI Assembly Commission’s Annual Report and Accounts 2023-24;
- Correspondence from the Business Office dated 5 July 2024 on the NIAO Annual Report and Accounts 2023-24;
- Correspondence from a member of the public dated 26 June 2024 on issues not relating to the Committee’s remit; and
- Correspondence from the Committee for Finance dated 10 October 2024 on the 2024-25 Outturn and Forecast Outturn Information – August (R05) position.
9. Any other business
There was no other business
Agreed: The Committee agreed to move into closed session.
The meeting moved into closed session at 11.40 a.m.
10. Discussion on draft budget submissions
The Committee discussed the draft submissions from the NIAO and NIPSO.
Agreed: The Committee agreed to write to the Department of Finance to seek its views on the draft budget submissions by NIAO, NIPSO and NIAC.
Agreed: The Committee agreed to write to the Public Accounts Committee to seek its view on the draft budget submission by NIAO.
Agreed: The Committee agreed to defer any decision on the draft budget submissions from NIAO and NIPSO until it receives the views of the Department of Finance and the Public Accounts Committee.
11. Date, Time and Place of the next meeting
The next meeting of the Audit Committee will take place on 13 November at 10.00 a.m. in the Senate Chamber, Parliament Buildings.
The meeting was adjourned at 11.53 a.m.
Alan Chambers MLA
Chairperson, Audit Committee
13 November 2024