Independent Person to Chair the Audit Committee
An independent person is to chair St Albans City and District Council’s key Audit Committee following a review.
Previously, the position was filled by a Councillor rather than someone from outside the organisation.
The change is the result of a Council decision to improve the Committee’s effectiveness and bring it into line with best practices.
The Audit Committee is a key element of the Council’s corporate governance, tasked with ensuring high standards of financial and risk management.
Experts from the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) were asked to carry out the review and recommended the independent chair among other reforms.
CIPFA is a professional body which sets accountancy governance standards across the public sector.
The Council is now recruiting for the new post of Audit Committee Chair which has an allowance of £3,000-a-year plus expenses.
Applicants are required to be impartial and independent-minded with experience of audit, finance, governance or risk management.
Councillor Paul De Kort, Lead Councillor for the Budget and Financial Strategy, said:
Full Council accepted the recommendations of the Audit Committee review at its July meeting and we are now implementing them.
Those recommendations were arrived at by CIPFA independently of anyone at the Council, either officers or Councillors.
The Committee has the important role of scrutinising the financial activities of the Council in depth. An impartial Chair with no connections to the Council should ensure that task is carried out vigorously and with an independent perspective.
The deadline for applications for the position of Chair is 5pm on Tuesday 30 August.
A recruitment pack together with more information about the post can be found here: https://www.stalbans.gov.uk/independent-chair-audit-recruitment.
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Contact for the media: John McJannet, Principal Communications Officer: 01727 819533; john.mcjannet@stalbans.gov.uk.