Issue - meetings

To receive the external auditors report for both Hampshire County Council and the Hampshire Pension Fund for the year ending 31 March 2018.

The Committee received and noted the external auditors report for both Hampshire County Council and the Hampshire Pension Fund for the year ending 31 March 2018.

In response to Members’ questions it was confirmed that:

• The audit had been conducted to a materiality level and lower value transactions had not specifically been reviewed. The reporting had a set tolerance level and focused upon procedural management within the County Council and not recovering small errors or anomalies.

• The audit had been completed using data analytics software. Members heard that previous audits had been based upon samples from the entire population of data whereas data analytics enabled the entire population of information to be analysed to produce a more holistic interpretation. It was noted that this approach had allowed for a more realistic evaluation of the data and increased value in terms of providing meaningful feedback.

• Data protection procedures between the County Council and the external auditors were extremely thorough and in accordance with General Data Protection Regulations. It was confirmed that the initial transfer of data from the County Council was encrypted and certain personal fields were removed. Once complete, the data was deleted in it’s entirety from the auditor’s devices. Furthermore, Members were reassured to hear that the auditors themselves were subject to external review to ensure their data security and compliance.