Agenda item

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

Members noted that there had been some revisions to the Plan, with four new items added, and two removed, which were all in response to emerging risks and concerns.

The report informed Members that a very high level of responsive work had been undertaken during the first half of 2017, further to requests from management which was important in order to address weaknesses and potential errors.

The six investigations that were currently ongoing were detailed in depth within the report, but were as follows:-

·         Primary School – Loss of monies

·         Adult Care Home Financial Review

·         Street Lighting

·         ICT Equipment Losses

·         Server Charge

·         Markets Contracts

Some of these pieces of work were nearing completion, but others still required ongoing work in order to reach a satisfactory conclusion.

Members were invited to put any concerns to Officers, or raise any issues of concern prior to agreement of the recommendations contained within the report.

One of the main queries raised was with regard to the high level of responsive work, and what effect this had on the ‘day to day’ work, and if there was a shortfall, could this be made up in order to ensure that there was no backlog? Members were reassured that whilst there had been some slippage, Officers were confident that this could be clawed back with accelerated progress made to ensure this.  In terms of numbers, at the current time, it was estimated that they had delivered 38% of the work they had hoped to, but it was expected that by the end of the financial year that if 100% was not achievable, they would not be far behind that figure.

The responsive work, Members were notified, largely came from managers wanting to address any areas of concern in their service areas, with these often being new managers who were looking to make positive changes within teams. It was added, that there was no particular pattern as to which service area the responsive work arose in, and was largely spread across the Authority. Members noted that they would receive a further update on these issues at the February meeting of the Audit Committee, and if no positive changes had been achieved, the support of the Committee would be sought to tackle this with Managers across the Authority and their respective teams.  However, plans were in place and the overall picture was more positive than it had been in the past.

            RESOLVED that

1)    The changes to the Audit Plan be noted by the Committee;

2)    The internal audit work be noted;

3)    The Audit Committee note the progress made by Officers with regard to the implementation of previous audit recommendations; and

4)    The Audit Committee note information relating to Internal Audit’s performance in the period, the arrangements made to manage the demand for responsive work and the progress made in implementing the actions set out within the Quality Assurance Improvement Plan.