Agenda item

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

The report of the Head of Audit and Risk on progress in addressing outstanding issues and risks was presented for the Committee’s consideration.

The Principal Auditor advised the Committee of the following –

·                49 outstanding actions were being tracked in the 4action system as at 31 March, 2023, 12 of which were rated “major” (amber) and 37 “moderate” (yellow) in risk priority. No “red” issues/risks were raised during the year and none are currently outstanding.

·                One major rated issue/risk is now overdue and relates to an audit of Housing allocations, specifically to developing and improving the housing application process.

·                That Graph 3 in the report shows the status of all outstanding actions irrespective of the date by which they were due to be addressed and shows that Management have now addressed 73% and Internal Audit has verified 70% with the remaining 3% relating to an audit of Software Licence Management which will be followed up in April, 2023.

·                The majority of actions showing as not started relate to several audits recently finalised where the actions identified have not yet reached their anticipated completion dates.

·                Graph 4 shows the status of all actions that have reached their target date and shows that where due 99% have been addressed.

·                Of the 49 outstanding issues/risks, one which is rated moderate or yellow in risk priority dates back to 2018/19 and relates to improving the password complexity settings for the Council’s externally facing Leisure booking system. There have been delays with agreeing a go-live date with the software supplier due to technical issues which the IT team are working on resolving with the supplier.

·                A detailed status update of all 12 outstanding major rated issues/risks currently being tracked in 4action can be found in Appendix 1 to the report.

The Service Manager (Community Housing) updated the Committee on the position with regard to addressing the issues/risks identified in an audit of the Housing Application process in September, 2021 which were only 50% complete and were 12 months over the original target date of March, 2022. The Officer explained that the paper application form sent to prospective housing applicants was long and detailed and the audit found the application process to be time consuming and inefficient and recommended that it be replaced by an online system. While the aim was to incorporate the process within the Council’s newly launched CRM system, the IT Service is keen to ensure that the new system is fully embedded, working effectively and any teething problems resolved before new functions are added to it. The Housing Service is looking to develop a PDF application shortly which applicants are able to overwrite on the PDF form and although the paper application process is still being used currently the application form has since been significantly reduced in length and complexity. Depending on how well the implementation of the CRM progresses, she hoped the matter could be addressed within the next six months. In the meantime, the Service is able to provide support to anyone experiencing difficulty in applying to be included on the housing register.

Responding to a query about the prospects for the Housing Application process of going onto the CRM platform anytime soon, the Head of Audit and Risk advised that the fraud reporting form is among the applications awaiting to be added to the CRM system at present and that she would be meeting with IT in the coming week to discuss the matter and gain an understanding of the position.

It was resolved to note the Council’s progress in addressing the outstanding Internal Audit Issues/Risks.