Agenda item

The Committee received an update report on the work carried out by Internal Audit for the period April to June 2018, and showed this in the context of the audit plan for the year. The report also included details on the implementation of internal audit recommendations and the Internal Audit Teams performance information.

The report highlighted that there had been 4 new jobs that had been added to the plan. Internal Audit continued to experience a high level of unplanned work in response to requests from management. There were currently 5 ongoing investigations and the planned audit work done continued to confirm the Council generally had appropriate controls in place and that the controls were operating effectively.

In relation to Section 3, it was reported that there were now 16 overdue major recommendations which all fell within Adults, Health and Wellbeing, this had increased since the last report which was due to several high level pieces of audit work having being completed around the same time for that Directorate. It was noted that the current number of audit recommendations outstanding overall was 154 of which 114 had revised implementation dates that were beyond their original agreed implementation date.

With regard to performance information, four out of the services six key performance indicators were above target and were currently below target on the other two.

Following the update, Members made the following comments:-

Kathryn Smart made reference with regard to items added to the plan, but sought clarity as she felt this was not clear on what may have dropped off the plan. It was reported that the first two issues had come out of the contingency reserve and the remaining two had been allocarted from the advice reserve. It was advised that no issues had been dropped from the plan.

Councillor Mark Houlbrook commented on the Occupational Therapy Service and the apparent backlog of referrals being experienced by residents and asked what was being put in place to address the situation. Damian Allen reported that in response to this issue and other factors including the audit report, the service had commenced a rapid improvement project. He recognised the difficulties which were not acceptable and the service were trying to respond and assessing people at the point of need.. He reported that there were issues regarding accessibility homes which were proving to be challenging as there is not a sufficient supply of homes coming forward from St Leger Homes. He wished to assure members that whilst the service was at the start of the process, work was continuing and with the introduction of the rapid improvement plans, it was envisaged that improvements would be forthcoming.

Councillor Houlbrook went on to say that elderly residents awaiting assessments had a knock on effect to other service targets. He asked how many Occupational Therapists were currently employed by the Council. Damian Allen stated that he didn’t have an exact number but would circulate that information to Members following the meeting. He reported that previously there had been issues around leadership management. However, the service had recently employed a new Principal Occupational Therapist which would provide more stability for the service.

Kathryn Smart stated that the Occupational Therapy had been highlighted through the responsive work carried out and asked whether there were any other areas that Audit should be looking at particularly. Damian reported that members can expect the same pace and rigour which was adopted a few years ago when the service responded to the outcome of audit recommendations for SAPAT and DoLS etc. He commented that extensive work had been carried out with colleagues within Audit who had helped improve these services. He commented that the service were dealing with historical poor performance management, however a decision had been taken on the audit cycle for this year to prioritise resource to areas in most need. Peter Jackson added that management had highlighted concerns over Occupational Therapy to Audit who had then reprioritised this areas for a review.

The Chair, Councillor Austen White, asked Audit whether they were contented with responses to the levels of overdue actions within the Adults directorate. It was advised that Audit were happy with the response taken. it was stressed that a better pace had been applied by management in implementing audit recommendations with over 100 being implemented in the directorate in this period and over 160 across the council which compared to 216 in the full previous year.. Members were advised that there seemed to be a much better grip corporately around audit recommendations. In response to the Chair’s comments regarding paragraph 3.7 of the report, it was advised that the audit team were happy with the outcome, staff had been instructed to deal with major actions as a priority and whilst 117 recommendations seemed to be high, the team were happy with the overall arrangements in place to address the issues.

In relation to Bereavement Services Stocks and Sales, Councillor Iris Beech asked what stock was referred to and were the Council experiencing a significant amount of people requiring help with funerals. With regard to stock, it was reported that this referred to monumental items such as urns and plaques. In relation to Public Health funerals carried out by the Council, it was advised that the number had increased significantly and there was a serious demand for this service. It was noted that the increase was similar to that found in the NHS. Members were also advised that this service was currently being audited.

In reference to the above comments, Councillor Beech asked whether there was a cut off with regard to the amount of money provided for such funerals. It was reported, if a person dies and they have insufficient funds for their funeral, family members would organise and fund those arrangements. However, the DWP provide supportive loans. In the case of the person not having any family or refuse to act, then the service would be provided by the Council under the Public Health Act. The Council would assess the individual and make all the arrangements for a funeral and recover any monies from any assets of the estate. Councillor Beech also asked whether funerals were burials as she highlighted that in her ward, space in the graveyard was very limited. Committee were advised that all public health funerals were cremations unless specifically specified within a persons will/documentation that a burial was preferred. Dave Wilkinson, Assistant Director of Trading Services advised Members that the Assets team were continuing to look for available land to expand cemeteries. It was suggested that the service liaise with Parish Councils as it was thought that the administering of land for burial sites would be carried out by them. This matter would be taken up with the relevant officer outside of the meeting.

In response to a question raised by Councillor Mark Houlbrook regarding schools catering and whether the Council provide this service to Academies. Dave Wilkinson advised that the Council do provide that service to Academies and had also been the successful in the bid for the contract for the XP School at Lakeside.

Kathryn Smart asked Internal Audit whether they were happy with the partial assurances given in relation to SAPAT, given the amount of significant work carried out by the team in this area. It was noted that a lot of work had been put into this service by Audit and now there were no major risks on the outstanding actions so the team were happy with the actions taken and had no concerns to report.

Further discussion took place on the Rapid Improvements Plans for the 7 areas identified, it was suggested that dependent on the capacity of the agenda, an update on 3 of the plans and Transformation Programme be brought back to the Committee at its October meeting. Peter Jackson clarified that specific reports by the audit team would cover DoLS and Direct Payments and the progress report would update on other areas covered by these plans.

            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 to Internal Audit’s performance in the period is noted.