Agenda item

Members were given an update on the Head of Internal Audit’s (HIA) Annual Opinion on the systems of internal control operating within the Council during the financial year 2019/2020 and details of the Internal Audit achievement against the 2019/2020 Internal Audit plan approved by Audit.

It was noted that the HIA’s opinion was that reasonable assurance could be given that there had been no major weaknesses noted in the relation to the internal control systems, governance arrangements and risk management processes operating within the council.

It was highlighted that 83% of planned audits were undertaken, which was an improvement on 80% from the previous year.  It was confirmed that internal audit work had complied with all Public Sector Internal Audit Standards.

A discussion took place regarding School Data Protection Registration Audit.  Officers explained that some schools audited throughout the year had been late in ensuring registration was up-to-date. This should be completed annually, but there were one or two that were late, therefore Audit completed an exercise with all of the schools to check for compliance.  It was highlighted that there were no major issues, and that every school within the Authority was now compliant with their registration requirements.  The recommendation made to all schools had been to put a diary date in their calendar to remind them to renew their registration annually.

With regards to the Procurement Audit which wasn’t undertaken officers explained that at the beginning of the pandemic period this audit was in the planning stage, and during initial discussions with the Head of Legal Services the auditor was made aware that a new Procurement Manager had been appointed and the Contract Procedure Rules were in the process of being updated, therefore the audit was delayed in order to allow the new Procurement Manager to make changes they felt necessary and to allow the Contract Procedure Rules review to be completed.  It was explained that by delaying the Audit there was no added risk to the Authority.

Members asked if that by delaying the Audit there had been added risk to the authority. Officers explained that there had been no major contracts procured during the pandemic but part of the work the Internal Audit Section would be undertaking between now and Christmas was an audit of the Urgency Actions undertaken during lockdown.  Findings would be reported to the Audit Committee when completed.

A discussion took place regarding sufficient resources within the Audit Team.  Officers explained that the Audit Plan for the quarter September to December 2020 prioritised work on fundamental systems for this year and was looking at processes which would have changed as a result of remote working and homeworking. It was noted that the council would not deliver the original audit draft plan  which would have been presented to members at the March committee meeting had it gone ahead due to the team’s redeployment earlier in the year, but it would be re-prioritised to look at the areas of greater risk.  The Audit Plan put forward was a risk based plan therefore the audits undertaken would be the audits considered to be a higher risk, some audits deemed not to be high risk would not be undertaken.  The Audit Plan was put together based on risk and in conjunction with discussion with Heads of Service and Corporate Directors.

RESOLVED:        That the report be noted.