Corporate report

UKHSA Advisory Board: Audit and Risk Committee minutes

Updated 12 March 2024

Date: 13 March 2024

Sponsor: Cindy Rampersaud

1. Recommendation

The Advisory Board is asked to note the minutes of 18 January 2024 meeting of the Audit and Risk Committee. The minutes were agreed on 5 March 2024.

2. Minutes (confirmed), Audit and Risk Committee, 18 January 2024

Present at the meeting were:

• Cindy Rampersaud – Non-Executive Member of UKHSA Advisory Board (Chair)

• Sir Gordon Messenger – Non-Executive Member of UKHSA Advisory Board

• Jon Friedland – Non-Executive Member of UKHSA Advisory Board

In attendance were:

• Andy Brittain – Director General Finance, DHSC

• Jenny Harries – Chief Executive

• Anna Kinghan – Director of Engagement, National Audit Office

• Ian Peters – Chair of Advisory Board

• Emma Reed – Director Emergency Responses and Health Protection, DHSC

• Andrew Sanderson – Chief Financial Officer

• Donald Shepherd – Director of Finance

• Alex Sienkiewicz – Director of Corporate Services

Eight attendees had their name and title redacted.

Apologies were received from:

• Simon Blagden – Non-Executive Member of UKHSA Advisory Board

3. Introduction and apologies

24/001 The Chair welcomed all attendees to the additional meeting of the Audit and Risk Committee and noted apologies. The Chair of UKHSA Advisory Board had been invited for key discussion on the governance statement of the Annual Report and Accounts. 

24/002 Jon Friedland was welcomed as a new member of the Audit and Risk Committee whose scientific expertise would be utilised by the committee.

4. Minutes of the previous meeting

24/003 The minutes from the last meeting on 5 December 2023 (enclosure ARC/24/001) were agreed subject to a minor amendment. 

5. Matters arising

24/004 The action list (enclosure ARC/24/002) was noted. The Chair requested to add an item on commercial risk for the next meeting.

6. Update from the National Audit Office

24/005 The National Audit Office provided an overview on the audit on the Annual Report and Accounts since previous updates to the committee. It was acknowledged that the disclaimed opinion for 2022 to 2023 was disappointing and an outline of events since the November 2023 audit committee was set out. 

24/006 Since the previous committee meeting, NAO had received revised modelling information for the Covid Vaccine Unit (CVU). After reviewing the complexity of modelling data that fed into the main model, a report was presented to UKHSA management explaining the difficulty in achieving assurance before the statutory deadline to lay the Annual Report and Accounts.

24/007 The time taken to get transaction detail impacted the amount of time available to assure the accounts.

24/008 The increase in audit fee was queried given the decision in respect to concluding the audit on the CVU model. NAO advised the audit of CVU required additional meetings, engagement of modelling and statistics experts, and reflected the attempts to gain assurance over accounts.  The revised fee reflected this additional work.

24/009 In terms of how the disclaimer would be reported, NAO stated that the audit report needed to be mindful of strict ISA accounting requirements which required language that was consistent with the conclusion for the disclaimed opinion, and therefore could not provide partial assurance. The Comptroller and Auditor General’s report would note that there was significant progress on the transaction listings from the starting point of 2021 to 2022 accounts and there would be an opportunity to reflect this in the governance statement. UKHSA staff efforts in achieving this progress were acknowledged.

24/010 UKHSA raised concerns in respect to the narrative and how it was presented in the draft documentation provided by NAO. The governance statement would be updated to provide consistency with the audit report and press notice and reflect:

• the progress made in year through the Finance and Control Improvement programme

• the context of the CVU coming into UKHSA

• the challenges in assuring a model that was based on assumptions and had needed to be updated to reflect significant post-balance sheet events after the end of the financial year – the nature of epidemiology driving UKHSA’s work would be a consistent impact on UKHSA’s accounts

24/011 The Audit and Risk Committee noted:

• the draft audit certificate (enclosure ARC/24/003)

• the draft Comptroller and Audit General’s report (enclosure ARC/24/003a)

• the Audit Completion Report (enclosure ARC/24/003b) including findings and recommendations

• the draft letter of representation (enclosure ARC/24/003c) which would include the unadjusted error table and be signed by the Chief Executive at the same time as the Annual Report and Accounts

24/012 UKHSA management confirmed that unadjusted misstatements (pages 25 and 26 of the report) would not be adjusted.

24/013 Planning meetings were expected in February for the next year’s audit process. The importance of planning sufficient resource for the complexity in next year’s audit was reiterated. An update on the planning, resource, and broader cultural piece to embed ‘right first time’ principles would be discussed at the next committee meeting.

7. UKHSA Annual report and Accounts 2022 to 2023

24/014 The Chief Financial Officer noted that the increased materiality of CVU when transferred to UKHKSA l was a primary factor in the disclaimed opinion.

24/015 UKHSA had commissioned an analytical review of the CVU model from DHSC analysts which was included with the update paper (enclosure ARC/24/004). The report had not audited the CVU demand model in detail, but was generally positive about the governance of the CVU’s modelling process. UKHSA would look broadly across the agency to ensure there was assurance on the use of modelling and robust governance that would fit the dynamic risk variance of public health driven work.

24/016 The Audit and Risk Committee agreed that in the circumstance, UKHSA should reluctantly, accept the disclaimed opinion.

24/017 The Audit and Risk Committee endorsed the annual report and accounts to be signed by the Chief Executive, subject to:

• revised forewords by the Chief Executive and Chair of the Advisory Board

• final adjustment to wording of the governance statement which should reflect the progress of the account issues since the previous disclaimed opinion, context on externalities affecting the CVU model and consistency with the final press statement or audit report from the NAO