Cambridgeshire County Council Annual Audit Letter - Final.…

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audit 2003/2004

Annual Audit and Inspection
Letter
Cambridgeshire
County Council
INSIDE THIS LETTER
PAGES 2 - 9
• Executive summary
• Key messages
• Council performance
• Accounts and governance
• Other work
• Looking forwards
• Closing remarks
PAGES 10 - 13
Appendices
• Appendix 1 - Audit and inspection reports
issued
• Appendix 2 - Scope of audit and inspection
• Ax 3 - Audit and inspection fee

Reference: CA005 Annual Audit and Inspection Letter
Date: January 2005
audit 2003/2004 ANNUAL AUDIT AND INSPECTION LETTER
Financial position
Working balances continue to be maintained at Executive summary
relatively low levels giving little flexibility to
meet unforeseen expenditure. Frameworks have
The purpose of this letter been put in place to provide better financial
management. The Council must ensure that This is our audit and inspection ‘Annual Letter’ to
sound governance and financial management Members for 2003/04, and is presented by the
arrangements are in place where pooled budgets Council’s Relationship Manager and District
are used to provide services jointly with health Auditor. The letter summarises the conclusions
bodies. and significant issues arising from our recent
audit and inspections of the Council.
Corporate governance We have issued separate reports during the year
having completed specific aspects of our Corporate governance has been strengthened
programme. These reports are listed at during the year by review of scrutiny and
Appendix 1 for information. enhancements to other arrangements.
Appendix 2 sets out the scope of audit and Risk management arrangements have been
inspection. progressed but there is still scope to integrate
them more fully with service and budgetary Appendix 3 provides information about the fees
planning. charged.
There will be a need to re-assess corporate
governance arrangements following the
implementation of ‘Reshaping for Excellence’.
Key messages
Systems of internal control
Council performance We have not identified any significant
weaknesses in the overall control environment. The Comprehensive Performance Assessment
(CPA) of 2004 has found that the Council has Arrangements are being implemented to
improved its performance to become rated as improve financial management and commitment
excellent in the way it serves its local people. In accounting. Progress needs to be monitored to
the assessment it scored four out of four for the ensure that these arrangements are effective.
way it is run and also for its overall service
performance. It is clear about its ambitions and Other accounts and governance
has clear plans for the future. It is currently issues
reorganising services to ensure it has the
capacity to continue to deliver improvements to We have concluded from our work on standards
the way it works and the services it provides. of financial conduct and the legality of
transactions that the arrangements are
satisfactory. There are no matters of significance The accounts
arising from our work that needs the attention of
We gave an unqualified opinion on the Council’s Members.
accounts on 30 November 2004.
The core accounting processes provide a sound
basis for the production of the financial
statements. The statements were prepared in
good time to meet the earlier deadline. Our
audit work on the statements did not identify
any significant errors nor any other issues to
draw to the attention of those charged with
governance.

Annual Audit and Inspection Letter – Audit 2003/2004 Cambridgeshire County Council
– Page 2
audit 2003/2004 ANNUAL AUDIT AND INSPECTION LETTER
CPA improvement report Action needed by the Council
Cambridgeshire has improved its performance • Continue to monitor the implementation of
rating from ‘good’ to ‘excellent’. the CPA improvement plan.
In November 2004 the Council received an • Ensure sound governance and financial
assessment of its corporate performance. The management arrangements are in place
main findings are included in the following where pooled funds are used to provide
summary. services jointly with health bodies.
The Council remains clear about the key issues • Re-assess corporate governance
and challenges facing the area and engages well arrangements following the implementation
with the five strategic partnerships to ensure of ‘Reshaping for Excellence’.
that local priorities are reflected in its ambitions.
• Continue to monitor the effectiveness of the
The Council has remained focussed on its core
financial management (IFM) and
priorities and has seen improvements in most of
commitment accounting (CRIP) initiatives.
its priorities as a consequence.

It has achieved well against most of its
priorities. Educational attainment has improved.
It has improved or maintained its performance Council performance to match that of the best performing councils for
GCSE grades and key stages two and three for The Comprehensive Performance Assessment of
maths, English and science. Performance also 2004 has found that the Council has improved
matches that of the best councils for key stage its performance to become rated as excellent in
three for information and communications the way it serves its local people. In the
technology (ICT). Performance in transportation assessment it scored four out of four for the way
is also positive. The Council has met its local it is run and also for its overall service
public service agreement targets for road safety;
performance. It is clear about its ambitions and
is achieving best performance for the condition
has clear plans for the future. It is currently
of principal roads; and has brought about high
reorganising services to ensure it has the
levels of usage of bus transportation. It is also
capacity to continue to deliver improvements to
achieving best performance for the percentage
the way it works and the services it provides.
of waste recycled or composted and the number
of kilograms of waste collected per head of
CPA scorecard population. Planning performance has improved.
The Council’s rating for social care has remained
as ‘good’ for the social care of children and ‘fair’
EXHIBIT 1 for adults. Recent Audit Commission inspections
for waste management and highways rated both Element Assessment
services as ‘good’ with ‘excellent prospects for
Overall 4
improvement’.
Current performance Out of 4
Overall the Council has improved 64 per cent of
Education 4
its performance indicators between 2002/03 and
Housing N/A
2003/04. Thirty five per cent of performance
Use of resources 4 indicators match the performance of the best
Social care (children) 3 performing councils whilst only 19 per cent
Social care (adults) 2 represent worst performance. The Council and
Benefits N/A its partners are performing well on cross-cutting
issues that impact on the quality of life of local Environment 4
residents. It is improving community safety with Libraries and leisure 2
most crime figures showing a decrease.
(Note: 1=lowest, 4=highest)

Annual Audit and Inspection Letter – Audit 2003/2004 Cambridgeshire County Council
– Page 3
audit 2003/2004 ANNUAL AUDIT AND INSPECTION LETTER
The Council is not improving performance in We found that the Council is participating in a
some non-priority areas. Usage of libraries is number of national projects associated with
below average and satisfaction is low. e-government such as Mobile Computing,
e-procurement and Smart Card Inter-operability. The Council is well managed and is currently
It is developing a corporate and structured re-structuring services and developing
approach to achieving the e-Government partnerships to help ensure it has the capacity
agenda. to continue to deliver improvement.
Considerable progress has been made on major
contributory projects such as the Other performance work
Cambridgeshire Community Network, the
Community Portal, and a shared Contact Centre Early intervention for children
with several district councils and the e-business As part of improvement planning the Council
suite. identified early intervention for children as an
area where performance audit could contribute Our work identified some key issues needing to
to evaluation and progressing the agenda. The be addressed in order to maintain progress to
Council has a strong commitment to prevention meet the 2005 deadlines. These included:
as part of its improvement of children’s social
• establishing an appropriate information
care services.
governance group to ensure corporate-wide
Our work looked at the effectiveness of early standards and compliance with the
intervention services for children aged up to four information governance agenda;
years identified as vulnerable.
• establishing the role and objectives of
We found that the Council has a positive divisional e-champions;
approach to improving services as well