To present a joint report by the Head of Learning and the Head of Service (Highways, Waste and Property).
Minutes:
The joint report of the Head of Learning and the Head of Highways, Waste and Property was presented for the Committee’s consideration. The matter was referred to the attention of Scrutiny by the Audit and Governance Committee in the wake of an Internal Audit review of school transport which had resulted in a Limited Assurance opinion meaning that significant weaknesses had been identified in the system of internal controls with regard to School Transport.
The Highways Service Support Manager reported that the Internal Audit review report on School Transport was presented to the Audit and Governance Committee on 21 September, 2017. The report included an Action Plan setting out 16 items which required addressing over a period of time, according to priority. As well as the Internal Audit action plan, the Head of Resources/Section 151 Officer, Head of Learning and the Head of Highways, Waste and Property met in August, 2017 to establish a programme of short, medium and long-term actions. The Learning Service has appointed a Consultant to work as a Project Manager on this matter. The Learning Service also benefits from the specific time allocation of an officer in the Transformation Service team who has specialist knowledge of IT systems and who will work with other authorities in North Wales which already utilise the Transport ONE software system to which Anglesey has also subscribed. The ONE system is designed to enable bus and taxis routes to be tracked to ensure that the optimum routes are adopted thereby providing better value for money.
The Officer proceeded to highlight the progress made since September, 2017 as set out in the report including progress against the recommendations made in the Internal Audit action plan.
The Head of Learning reported that an internal audit review of school transport arrangements was requested after over-expenditure on the school taxi services was identified in 2016/17. The school bus service continues to spend within budget and in terms of expenditure per head, is the cheapest in Wales. The demand for school transport is constantly changing with a significant increase in the number needing a school taxi service; consequently, a review of school transport policy will be held to ascertain whether in some cases, a service is being provided unnecessarily or is being duplicated. However, work over the past few months means that the service is now better informed as to the nature and extent of the demand for transport and is working on putting in place the systems to better enable it to manage the demand in line with statutory requirements. Work on evaluating and tracking bus and taxi routes has begun and as a result, it is anticipated that the overspend will be reduced this year. This is before work on systems has commenced. The Education Service has received funding through the Council’s Invest to Save initiative to improve business processes. This will be used to establish a system to help plot bus and taxi routes digitally to achieve economy in the use of the service. This work is currently being undertaken manually. There is some data cleansing work to be undertaken before the Transport ONE software system can be fully utilised to ensure that the database from which the system will draw is up to date and accurate. It is expected that this work will be completed by July this year with a view to fully implementing the ONE system by September, 2018.
The Committee considered the information presented and made the following points –
• The Committee noted the progress made since the presentation of the Internal Audit review report in September, 2017. The Committee noted and welcomed the measures being taken to make the transport to school service more efficient and cost-effective.
• The Committee further sought clarification of the actions taken to ensure that the safeguarding elements of the school transport system are compliant and up to date. The Head of Highways, Waste and Property explained the arrangements with regard to DBS both for bus and taxi operations in terms of certification, renewal and spot checking. Safeguarding awareness sessions have also been arranged by the Human Resources Service for bus and taxi operators. The Head of Learning said that the Council’s safeguarding thresholds are appropriately high and that continuing efforts are made to improve safeguarding arrangements as far as is possible.
The Committee noted the information presented and assurances given and was satisfied that the Highways, Waste and Property Service and the Learning Service are jointly taking actions to address the issues raised by the Internal Audit review of school transport and are putting in place measures to improve the School Transport service’s efficiency, accountability and value for money. The Committee requested a further update on progress for its June, 2018 meeting ahead of the scheduled completion of the action plan in September, 2018.
It was RESOLVED that the Committee –
• Notes the Internal Audit Action Plan with regard to School Transport dated September, 2017.
• Notes and is satisfied that progress is being made against then recommendations contained in the Internal Audit report and that there is a commitment by both services to complete the action plan by September, 2018
• Notes that the Corporate Safeguarding Arrangements Board has already considered the Internal Audit Report at its meeting on 8 December, 2017 and is monitoring the safeguarding issues.
• Notes the recommendation made by the Audit and Governance Committee that an action plan be created and monitored and overseen by a Project Team.
• Refers the matter back to the Audit and Governance Committee following Internal Audit’s monitoring of the action plan. The Committee notes that the IA service has in place a follow-up and monitoring process to ensure that the management steps in relation to all reports with a Limited Assurance opinion have been implemented effectively and that the Head of Audit and Risk will report to the Audit and Governance Committee on progress within the specific timetable agreed.
ADDITIONAL ACTION PROPOSED: That the Corporate Scrutiny Committee be updated on progress at its June, 2018 meeting ahead of the scheduled completion of the Action Plan in September, 2018