Agenda item

The Committee received a report, introduced by the Head of Internal Audit, which provided the Committee with an update on progress of the work undertaken by Internal Audit for the period 1st April to 30th June 2022 and showed this in the context of the Audit Plan for the year.  The report also included progress on the implementation of management actions arising from Internal Audit recommendations and Internal Audit performance information, as detailed in sections 3 and 4 of the report.

The Head of Internal Audit summarised the key points relating to each of the four sections of the report and responded to questions and comments from Members as follows:-

Section 1: The Audit Plan / Revisions to the Plan

In noting the reduction of staffing resources in the Internal Audit team and the incoming work with the transition of services of the DCST to the Council, Dr Green asked whether there were sufficient resources in the Internal Audit team to complete the planned work. The Head of Internal Audit advised that a review of the resources in the Internal Audit team was currently being carried out and having completed an assessment of the audit and taking into to account any newly emerging issues, and excessive demands on the team for investigative work, confirmed that the team could manage the current revised work plan with less resource. However, if the situation became unsustainable, steps would be taken to bring additional resources in to the team. Members were informed that the Head of Internal Audit had also looked at future workforce planning in terms of further training and apprenticeship opportunities being incorporated in to the team to bring sustainability. Internal Audit would also be working with the external contractors to DCST, to utilise their skills, external expertise and knowledge to ensure work was not duplicated within the Council.

Dr Green, in commenting on the agility of the Audit Plan, expressed the view that the Plan compared well to the plans that he had seen in local authorities elsewhere. In response to a further question, the Head of Internal Audit clarified that all requests received from directorates to delay the planned audits were assessed on a case by case basis, and the Internal Audit team endeavoured to accommodate those requests as far as possible.  However, he explained that if operational problems arose by delaying the audit, or better value could be achieved by carrying out the audit, sometimes circumstances dictated that the audit had to take place, and the reasons for that were clearly outlined and understood with the senior management team. 

Further to a request from the Chair, the Head of Internal Audit provided an update on two items that had been removed from the Audit Plan. It was noted that Internal Audit was to carry out a review of the North Bridge Stores.  An Improvement Plan had been established at the Stores, however, due to a delay in appointing to the Stores Manager post, the implementation of the Improvement Plan had stalled against the original timescales therefore, a decision had been made to defer the audit until a later date. The Trading Standards and Food and Animal Safety Re-review had also been delayed following a request by the Assistant Director of Economy and Development, due to there being a back log of routine work in the team as a result of Covid-19 pandemic, and due to Internal Audit’s operational capacity.  Assurance was provided that the audit was not time critical and implementation of the remaining actions was being monitored.

Section 2: Audit Work Undertaken During the Period

Members were pleased to note the positive position and that no limited assurance had been given for the period and there were no reportable items relating to irregularities in the report.

Section 3: Implementation of Management Actions arising from Audit Recommendations

In referring to the audit relating to the Trading Standards and Food and Animal Safety, as set out at Appendix B of the report, Councillor John Healy made reference to the shortfall in staffing levels and in view of the Chief Executive in January 2022 having agreed to extend the deadlines for the 4 residual overdue management actions that had become problematic, sought assurance as to when this situation would be resolved, pointing out that particular areas of work in the service required training prior to undertaking the job and asked the reasons why there was a problem recruiting and retention of staff in this particular service area. It was noted that there had been a long standing issue for some time which was a problematic area in having suitably qualified Environmental Officers in post, which was both a local and national issue appointing to the roles. This issue had been included on the AGS for the last 2 years. However, it was no longer a significant risk and had been removed from the AGS. The posts had since been recruited to the team and structures had been established and there was now additional resources within the team and therefore, the actions had now been implemented.  It was noted that the Chief Executive had agreed to introduce a change in the process to ensure that there was rigor in respect of implementation of the dates which was a standard process. The final overdue action was targeted for implementation at the end of October and it was anticipated to report positively on progress in this area at the next meeting of the Committee in October.

The Committee was reassured that the total number of overdue medium and low level management risks had reduced to 6, and noted that was the lowest number of overdue actions ever before this Committee. The Chair spoke positively on the overall improved situation, however noted that there was some residual actions in the Economy and Environment directorate with revised timescales to be completed. The Chair, on behalf of the Committee, thanked Officers involved in bringing about the improvements.

Section 4: Internal Audit Performance

Members noted that the key operational indicators were positive and Internal Audit’s work had not identified any issues for inclusion in the 2021/22 AGS for approval by the Committee at its meeting in November with the Statement of Accounts. The Head of Internal Audit had provided assurance that sufficient work would be delivered to be able to provide his opinion on the Council’s, risk governance and control arrangements. However, he noted that if the situation changed, the Committee would be alerted to those changes.

RESOLVED to note:-

(1)      the position of the Internal Audit Plan;

(2)      the Internal Audit work completed in the period;

(3)      the position with regards the implementation of management actions arising from Internal Audit recommendations; and

(4)      the current position regarding the ability to deliver the annual opinion over the Council’s risk, governance and control arrangements.