Agenda item

Sarah Hydrie – Head of Internal Audit and Risk Assurance, introduced the report detailing the Internal Audit Progress Report for 2020/21 Quarter 3, which included the Quarter 4 Internal Audit Plan.

The Committee was advised that, since the last internal audit progress report, activity had started to gain momentum. Four assurance reviews, including one follow-up, had been concluded and a further four assurance reviews were at draft report stage. Ten assurance reviews were in progress, with two grant claims certified. The tree inspections report assurance review that had been carried out had received no assurance, but positive management had been proposed to address this. 

Performance indicators showed that targets had not been reached for KPIs 5 and 6, mainly as a result of the lack of work carried out in Quarter 1 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was accepted that these KPIs could be missed again due to ongoing difficulties resulting from the pandemic, but officers were pleased at the progress made by the team in what were very challenging circumstances. It was highlighted that if the Q4 plan was approved, and if there were no deferred or cancelled audits, the team was on track to complete everything by the end of May 2021. This would mean that the team had carried out more audits this year than the previous year, or the year before that; nearly 30 pieces of work.

Regarding the Quarter 4 internal audit plan, this was confirmed to have been designed in conjunction with senior managers and corporate directors, to focus on the highest areas of risk, which included housing and social care.

Recruitment and restructuring had gone well, with appointments made to all posts. One new starter had begun work, while two more were due to begin in the coming weeks.

In response to Member questions, officers confirmed that the Council’s website had been in the process of being updated, in an effort to address difficulties navigating the site or sourcing information, when ICT had been required to transition to supporting remote working in light of the pandemic. It was agreed that officers would liaise with ICT to see if the work on the website could be restarted.

With regards to the tree inspection review, recommendations raised were around strategy and risk/resource management together with staffing and management of inspection reports. The recommendations had been received positively, and work was underway to address them.

Regarding Queen's Walk,  there remained an opportunity to use resources to help residents and service users more, and so audit officers were involved with analysing strategy to look at value for money for the service users, at how the cohort was changing, and at how the Council could best meet user needs.

With respect to the building control audit, legislative changes were influencing the audit, hence why it had been listed as a high-risk area and one that the service had requested internal audit to assist with. Cladding and changes to legislation would form part of the team’s scope for the audit, and the Council’s proactivity in addressing cladding on its buildings meant that officers would be able to provide assurance over the cladding areas. Members requested that details of building control at Packet Boat Lane be brought to a future Committee meeting.

The Ofsted readiness review was confirmed to be in respect of children's social care provision rather than the education provision, and therefore wouldn’t focus on children entering/exiting schools during the pandemic.

In relation to questions regarding New Years Green Lane, an update would be brought to a future Committee meeting.

It was confirmed that the Audit Committee would be reviewed annually, and it was hoped that officers could engage with several Members of the Committee throughout the process.

RESOLVED:

1.     That the IA Progress Report for 2020/21 Quarter 3 be noted; and

2.    That the Quarter 4 IA Plan be approved.