Agenda item

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

The report of the Head of Audit and Risk updating the Committee on Internal Audit activity as at 6 April, 2021 was presented for consideration. The report provided a synopsis of the audits completed since the last report to Committee in February, 2021 along with the current workload and the priorities for the short to medium term going forward in the context of maintaining a flexible approach in order to meet the needs of the Council in an ever changing risk and control environment.

The Head of Internal Audit and Risk updated the Committee with regard to the following –

•           The assurance work completed since the last update with reference to the table at paragraph 4 of the report which comprised of one audit for which a final report has been issued. This relates to a second follow up of the Primary Schools Themed Audit in connection with Income Collection which resulted in Reasonable assurance opinion with no risks/issues identified.

•           Work in progress as illustrated by the table in paragraph 5 of the report involving three audits which are underway in areas relating to IT (in conjunction with Salford City Council); the identification of duplicate invoices and recovery of duplicate payments and emergency management assurance. These audits have been instigated at an Officer’s request and/or because they are Covid-19 related and viewed as high risk and will be prioritised for completion so that they support the Annual Internal Audit Opinion for 2020/21. The audit findings are expected to be reported to the Committee’s May meeting (the June meeting having been earmarked for consideration of the draft 2020/21 Statement of Accounts).

•           Work rolled forwards to 2021/22 which includes the four audits detailed under paragraph 6 of the report – Housing Allocations; Housing Homelessness; Recovering Council Debts and Special Care Payments to Social Care Workforce.

•           Overdue actions as at 6 April as captured in the 4action dashboard at Appendix 1 to the report and expanded upon in a separate report under item 4 on the agenda.

•           Investigation work specifically providing assistance with three investigations at the request of Human Resources, two of which have now been concluded and one which is ongoing.

In considering the information the Committee raised the following points –

•           The rationale for engaging Salford City Council to assist with the IT audit when another  Welsh local authority might be expected to be more familiar with the Council’s systems, processes and its Internal Audit arrangements.

The Head of Audit and Risk clarified that the IT audit is a highly technical area and that skilled IT auditors are not widely available. Salford City Council has set itself up over a number of years as a specialist in this area and has dedicated Internal Auditors who are IT trained. It covers all councils in the North West of England and Anglesey has previously drawn on its expertise as have other councils in North Wales. The Internal Audit Service has reached the limits of its IT capabilities and Anglesey is too small an authority to have its own IT audit professionals which is true for the majority of local authority Internal Audit teams in Wales. The audit is being undertaken on a collaborative basis which means that as well as helping Salford City Council deliver the audit, the Internal Audit team will be learning from the engagement.

•           Whether the Internal Audit function is sufficiently staffed to be able to cope with its current workload especially in light of the additional risks which the pandemic has created which require internal audit oversight.

The Head of Audit and Risk accepted that it had been a challenging year with the Service having supported the Council in its response to the Covid-19 emergency with one team member having being redeployed to the Track and Trace project and another to the Business Support Grants project which brought an element of  assurance to that process. One further member of the team remains on secondment to the Accountancy Service until the end of August, 2021. Although there is an impact in having a team member engaged elsewhere, it can also pay dividends by way of the extra knowledge, skills and experience gained which the team member can then put to use on their return to the team.  The Internal Audit Service has adapted, and has adjusted its work over the course of the past year in order to help the Council respond to the Covid 19 emergency and continue to deliver  frontline services during that time; Internal Audit will remain flexible in the coming year and will prioritise its work in accordance with the Council’s needs.

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

NO PROPOSAL FOR ADDITIONAL ACTION WAS MADE