Agenda item

The Committee were presented with a report, that detailed the work undertaken by the Internal Audit Team for the period October 2017 to January 2018 and provided information and incorporated an update on the Quality Assurance Improvement Plan (QAIP).

Members noted that there had been some revisions to the Plan, with two new items added, and the jobs being removed from the plan were no longer required.

The report informed Members that a very high level of responsive work had been carried out over the whole of the year this was further to requests from management which were important in order to address weaknesses and potential errors.

The six investigations that were currently ongoing or completed in the period were detailed within the report.

Some of the pieces of work were nearing conclusion, others will require ongoing resourcing for a while longer.

Members were invited to put any concerns to officers, or ask questions.

With regard to Section 2 and the high level responsive work, it was asked whether any planning for proactive work had been undertaken for the following year. It was reported that it would be difficult to predict as there were no common themes, albeit lessons can be learnt.

A question was raised with regard to the amount of resources within the team and whether it was adequate particularly in light of the level of responsive work undertaken. It was stated that the level was not uncomfortable and additional resources had been made available for the audit plan to be sufficiently delivered and for the Head of Audit to be able to give his annual opinion. However, if the level of coverage was to drop under 80% this would be difficult, but this was not likely to happen.

A request for more information was made around the Internal report on Risk Management as the progress report gave only summary information. It was agreed that the full report be circulated to members in light of this comment.

In relation to paragraph 9 of the report, it was noted that although the lower level audit recommendations had fallen, it was still quite high. It was asked what was being done to reduce the level further. It was reported that the number had reduced through the year and work was continuing with Directorate Leadership Teams to reduce the outstanding recommendations and whilst there was some way to go, full commitment had been given by all involved.

The Committee were pleased to see the high % targets reached for final reports received within 5 days which was further highlighted within the table of performance indicators shown at page 80 of the report. Members were also pleased to see the comments from the Peer Review.

Following the comments above, the Chair and Members wished to point out that this was Colin Earl’s last meeting and wanted to thank him for all his support and contributions provided to the Committee and wished him well for the future

            RESOLVED that:-

(1)        The changes to the original audit plan be noted;

(2)        The internal audit work completed in the period be noted;

(3)        Progress made by officers in implementing previous audit     recommendations be noted; and

(4)        Information relating the Internal Audit’s performance in the   period, the arrangements made to manage the demand for        responsive work and progress in implementing actions set out in the Quality Assurance Improvement Plan be noted.