Agenda item

The Head of Internal Audit presented the report, noting that since the last Audit Committee meeting, ten assurance reviews had reached the final report stage. These reviews were detailed in the summary table on page six (page 63 of the document). Out of these ten, three were substantial assurance, four were reasonable assurance, and three were limited assurance. The three limited assurance reports pertained to:

• The trading standards proceeds of crime act report. No significant issues had come out of this. Concerns were raised about oversight and consistency in record-keeping, however a new Head of Service was appointed at the time of the audit and positive actions were already being taken.

• The risk management report which highlighted ongoing positive risk management strategies, actively addressing known areas of improvement. This was an independent review by the external provider, Mazars, aligned with the organisation's transformation program focus on risk management.

• An audit concerning workforce planning, establishment control, and recruitment. There were a lot of findings related to having an overarching workforce strategy/ workforce plan. This again was a known area and was being addressed and should be addressed by the end of this year.

Officers emphasized the flexibility of the internal audit plan, adapting it as new risks emerged or as other sources of assurance became available. Additional reviews had commenced since the report's publication, including an examination of pool cars and various consultancy reviews, outlined in Appendix C of the report.

The follow-up on management actions had been extended, offering more comprehensive information compared to the previous Audit Committee meeting. 43 actions had been verified, and ten reports had been closed as all actions were completed. Where actions were marked as being overdue, new dates were being set. Some delays were due to the action’s incorporation into larger projects or changes in responsible officers. Efforts to align with new responsible officers for better understanding were emphasized.

Members asked about any risk regarding trading standards records not being completed and stored appropriately. Officers clarified that it was not that they were not stored appropriately, but around consistency. There were two financial investigators and they had separate portfolios and were stored separately. So, this was around making sure that there was some consistency between the two to improve access in case of absence.

The Chair asked about changes to the plan, and where there were significant changes, did these have to be agreed/ approved again by the Committee, or simply noted. Officers noted that this would usually be for noting, unless for example if there were vastly significant changes such as cutting out a full Quarter from the plan.

Members suggested putting a key into the tables of information within the report. Officers agreed to provide a clearer key for better interpretation of the numeric representations.

The Chair raised a query about the Cemeteries and IR35 management actions. Officers noted that these were in part due to a change of responsible officer.

On ‘Planning Enforcement’, officers noted that there were two high findings and seven medium recommendations. All of these had now been closed.

On the ‘Birth Registration Service’, this was noted to have a new date of November 2024. Members asked if this was exceptionally long in audit terms. Officers noted that dates were pushed back to ensure they were realistic, especially if they related to a larger transformational project.

Members asked for some elaboration on ‘Procurement – Contract Compliance Management’ having a new date of June 2024. This related to the Oracle project and around changing processes with the move to the Oracle system which was due to come in in April.

On Internal Audit Reviews on page 63 of the agenda, officers noted that the reference numbers included a note to which Directorate the reviews related to.

Officers confirmed they were now fully staffed for handling current audits and confirmed that the audit plan's flexibility was normal practice.

Finally, the Committee expressed appreciation for the progress shown in key performance indicators (KPIs) and encouraged the team to continue their effective work.

RESOLVED: That the Audit Committee noted the IA progress since the last Committee meeting