Agenda item

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

The report of the Head of Internal Audit and Risk which provided an update on Internal Audit’s latest progress with regard to service delivery, assurance provision, and reviews completed was presented for the Committee’s consideration.

The Head of Audit and Risk reported as follows –

•           That the two Internal Audit reports were finalised during the period, the one in relation to Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) which was assessed as providing Reasonable Assurance, and the other relating to Audit Certification of the Rent Smart Wales Grant which produced a Substantial Assurance rating.

•           That six follow-up reviews of reports with a Limited assurance rating are due over the next six months as outlined in the table at paragraph 13 of the report. Three scheduled for July, 2018 are currently underway.

•           That due to the proximity of the previous Audit and Governance Committee meeting, an update on the implementation of Management actions has not been provided for this meeting of the Committee. A detailed report on all outstanding recommendations and issues/risks will be presented to the Committee at its September meeting.

•           That although progress in delivering the Internal Audit Operational Plan for 2018/19 has been slow due to completing the 2017/18 Plan and carrying two vacancies and a long-term sickness absence, to date one audit, a Final Account Verification and a grant certification have been completed. The Service is also involved in other work as described in paragraphs 15 and 16 of the report.

•           That the Committee’s Terms of Reference will be submitted for approval to the September, 2018 meeting before being formally approved through the democratic process.

The Committee considered the information presented and responded as follows –

•           With regard to the IA review of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards, the Committee sought clarification of the costs associated with Doctor assessments.

The Head of Function (Resources) and Section 151 Officer said that a report to the Executive earlier in the year outlined the financial implications of ensuring that the Council meets its DoLS obligations in terms of putting in place a DoLS authorisation for individuals resident in care placements who lack the capacity to consent to their placement in order to ensure that the placement is in their best interests. Assessments have to be made before authorisation is given including a medical assessment which must be undertaken annually and this incurs costs. There is also a risk of litigation where DoLS assessments are outstanding. As the Authority has a significant number of individuals in both its own care and nursing homes as well as in independent care and nursing homes who require assessment for a DoLS authorisation, the overall cost is therefore high. The Welsh Government provided a funding allocation for this purpose as part of the Revenue Support Grant but this proved to be insufficient.

•           With regard to following up on previous Internal Audit reports, the Committee noted that no update is provided to this meeting even though 2 catastrophic risk/issues and 26 major risks/issues were identified as part of the original reviews of the six areas for which a follow up is scheduled. The Committee sought assurance that the Internal Audit Service is satisfied that the reporting timescale is appropriate given the risks/issues arising.

The Head of Audit and Risk confirmed that she was content with the timescales for the following reasons –

•           The one Catastrophic risk/issue in relation to the review of Child Care Court Orders under the PLO involved conducting care visits in accordance with the Care Plan. The visits, although they were being undertaken were not necessarily being recorded. As the number of Child Care Court Orders are low, the Internal Audit Service has not been able to establish whether the new visits are being recorded on the system because there has been no requirement for these visits to take place and so nothing for IA to check, hence the July, 2018 date for follow-up.

•           Although there are 19 risks/issues recorded as outstanding against the Sundry Debtors review which was a substantial piece of work, Internal Audit has been provided with regular updates on progress by the Service via the electronic recommendation monitoring system so contact is being maintained throughout.

•           The one catastrophic risk/issue arising from the review of the Corporate Procurement Framework was in respect of the absence of a Contract Register with Internal Audit not being able to provide assurance that the contracts which the Council hold comply with safeguarding and safety issues or that they provide value for money. A parallel piece of work in relation to ensuring contracts comply with GDPR is being undertaken meaning that services are reviewing contracts from two perspectives. The July second follow-up date is therefore reasonable given the amount of work involved.

•           With regard to the Internal Operational Plan for 2018/19, the Committee noted that only 5 days are being allocated in the revised plan to the review of the implementation of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 even though it is acknowledged that this is high profile legislation which has a significant impact on the way the Council works. The Committee sought assurance that this is adequate and it sought clarification also as to whether the Council is liable to censure if the way it is implementing the Act is not having the desired effects. 

The Head of Audit and Risk said that the review which Internal Audit plans to undertake will take the form of a strategic overview to ascertain what governance arrangements the Council has put in place initially. The expectations for local authorities’ and other public bodies’ delivery of the Act are realistic and it is recognised that being a substantial piece of work they will need time to effect the changes which the Act brings about. However, as with other public bodies, the Authority is expected to show that it is responding to the Act. The Officer said that the Wales Audit Office is also carrying out a review of how public bodies in Wales have responded to the Act at the end of the first year of implementation.

The Head of Audit and Risk added that similarly, Internal Audit will be undertaking a strategic overview with regard to Part 9 requirements of the Social Services and Well-being Act which is another piece of high profile legislation having a significant impact on the way the Council works with Part 9 being specifically about partnership working and implementing pooled funding arrangements.

The Head of Function (Resources) and Section 151 Officer said that the Well-being of Future Generations  Act has also established a statutory Future Generations Commissioner for Wales who with her team is responsible for monitoring how well public bodies including local authorities, are meeting the well-being objectives they have set out as part of responding to the Act. The Officer said that rather than being prescriptive, the Act is more about changing culture and the way the Council operates requiring it to be able to show that the process for making decisions has regard to the impact of those decisions on future generations. In relation to Part 9 of the Social Services and Well-being Act, the Officer said that for pooled funding arrangements to be effective there needs be a shared and common understanding of commissioning arrangements as well.

•           In response to a question by the Committee about the absence of target reporting dates for most of the planned reviews, the Head of Audit and Risk said that the Operational Plan is a dynamic plan and takes into account the fact that as circumstances change so will the nature and level of the associated risks making it impractical and counter-productive to plan too far ahead. The Operational Plan also needs to be flexible in order to accommodate any emerging risks.

It was resolved to accept and to note the progress to date by Internal Audit in terms of service delivery, assurance provision, reviews completed and its performance and effectiveness in driving improvement.

ADDITIONAL ACTION: None