Agenda item

To present the report of the Head of Audit and Risk.

The Annual Report of the Internal Audit Service for 2017/18 was presented for the Committee’s consideration. The report provided an analysis of the performance of the IA Service for the period from 1 April, 2017 to 31 March, 2018 and contained the annual opinion of the Chief Audit Executive (i.e. the Head of Audit and Risk) on the adequacy of the Council’s risk management, control and governance processes for the reporting period.

The Head of Audit and Risk reported that based on the work and activities carried out by the Internal Audit Service during 2017/18 as documented in Appendix A she was able to confirm that for the 12 months ended 31 March, 2018 the Isle of Anglesey County Council had an adequate and effective framework for risk management, governance and internal control. While she did not consider there to be any areas of significant corporate concern, some areas require the introduction or improvement of internal controls to ensure the achievement of objectives and these are the subject of monitoring. There were no qualifications to this opinion.

With regard to performance, the Officer said that a comparison of the Service’s performance against target and benchmarked with the Welsh Chief Auditors Group (Appendix D) shows that it is in the top quartile in five areas and in those areas that it performs less well by comparison e.g. cost, it is because Anglesey is a smaller sized authority. The Officer also highlighted that the Internal Audit Service places value on training and development and has invested significantly to ensure that members of the team continue their professional development and stay abreast of emerging risks and developments in the sector. 

The Committee considered the information provided. The Committee noted in relation to performance that against a target of 44 (compared with a WCAG average of 69), the Service’s actual performance is 29. The Committee also noted that the opinion concludes that there are no areas of significant corporate concern, despite several areas where the assurance level was limited and where progress was slow or off target having been brought to its attention over the course of the year.

In relation to the Service’s performance the Head of Audit and Risk said that having checked the basis for the WCAG average, she had found that some councils define an audit differently  and include the verification of information as an audit hence the higher WCAG average of 61. Benchmarked with the six North Wales authorities the performance of Anglesey’s Internal Audit compares well. With regard to there being no areas of corporate concern, the Head of Audit and Risk said that there are only 4 red risks now outstanding so on the balance of all the work done she could confirm  that it was her view that there were no areas of significant corporate concern. There were however areas which require improving which is also noted in the opinion.

It was resolved to accept the Annual Report of the Internal Audit Service for 2017/18 and to accept also the Head of Audit and Risk’s overall audit opinion in relation to the adequacy and effectiveness of the Council’s framework of governance, risk management and control for the year ending 31 March, 2018.

ADDIOTIONAL ACTION: None