Issue - meetings

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

It was resolved to note Internal Audit’s assurance provision and priorities going forward.

The report of the Head of Audit and Risk which updated the Committee on the work of the Internal Audit section as at 1 December, 2021 was presented for consideration. The report outlined the audits completed since the previous update in September, 2021, the current workload of Internal Audit and its priorities for the short to medium term.

The Head of Audit and Risk highlighted the four audit reports finalised in the period, two of which – Investment in Assets and Gypsies and Travellers Accommodation resulted in a Reasonable Assurance opinion with no issues being raised. The review of Council Sundry Debts recovery and the Impact of Covid-19 produced a Limited Assurance opinion and eight issues/risks requiring management action of high to moderate impact were raised. An action plan to address those issues has been agreed with management and a timeline of 20 June, 2022 has been set. In addition, the Director of Function (Resources)/ Section 151 Officer has commissioned a consultant to address the issues and risks raised in the Action Plan and a project with milestones has been developed and agreed with the consultant. The fourth audit report completed relates to an investigation in relation to procurement activity within Property Services details of which are provided in paragraph 12 to 15 of the report. The three audits noted in the table at paragraph 16 of the report are in progress and work is also ongoing on investigating the matches set out in paragraph 18 of the report in connection with the National Fraud Initiative. As at 1 December, 2021 there were 14 overdue actions (6 major and 8 moderate) which relate to issues/risks raised in the six audits listed at paragraph 22 of the report. Internal Audit is working with the services to provide support with implementing the actions. Internal Audit’s short to medium term priorities along with its longer term priorities are set out in paragraphs 25 to 28 of the report.

Points raised in discussion by the Committee were as follows –

·                     Clarification of the technical issues noted as having affected monitoring of service performance and collection rates with regard to recovering sundry debts. The Committee was advised that a lack of alignment between systems and reporting processes was identified which makes monitoring performance more difficult. Additionally, the resources in terms of time and personnel to develop business process systems in a way that meets the needs of the business are not available because staff are fully committed in keeping the business running on a day to day basis. Hence the engagement of a consultant who will undertake the systems review and work with staff to implement any recommended changes. It was requested and agreed that the Committee should be updated on the project’s progress at its April, 2022 meeting.

It was resolved to note Internal Audit’s assurance provision and priorities going forward.