Agenda item

Members received details of the internal audit work that had been undertaken since the last Governance and Audit Committee meeting in September 2022.

Since the last Committee meeting, the team had been impacted again by staff sickness, with a total of 25 days lost due to sickness. It was noted that this could affect the Audit Plan; however, the Audit Manager was currently reviewing this matter.

It was highlighted that two members of the Team were continuing their internal audit studies, and were due to take further examinations in February 2023.

Officers confirmed that since the last Committee meeting, a total of 15 formal reports had been issued; details of these were included in the circulated report. It was added that only one of the audits undertaken resulted in a limited assurance rating; the Head Teacher response was captured in Appendix three of the circulated report.

Reference was made to R26 of the published formal reports, which was in relation to Llangatwg Community School; Members raised concerns with some of the report conclusions, particularly in regards to the unofficial fund and that the school bank account must be investigated and corrected. Officers explained that the unofficial fund and bank account matter were two separate issues that were identified when the audit was undertaken; the issues with the unofficial fund were being addressed, and the imbalance of funds was in respect of the schools official bank account. It was added that Officers had drawn the schools attention to these matters, and had been assured that they will address the imbalance. Members were informed that the Team conducts post audit reviews, and the issues highlighted will be re-visited by the auditor when they go back to the school to carry out the post audit review.

Following on from the above, the importance of resolving the outstanding issues at the school were raised, along with the need to look at the wider environment to ensure other procedures were in place. Officers clarified that the Team audit the unofficial funds in every school; if an auditor finds an issue in one particular school, which they believe to be serious or think it could happen elsewhere, they will cascade that information to everyone else. It was mentioned that the auditors responsible for the schools meet fairly regularly with the school Business Managers who were responsible for the administrative processes within the school; these meetings happen at least twice a year, and on an ad hoc basis, as and when any issues arise within the schools. It was noted that the Team had a very good working relationship with the staff within the schools.

Reference was made to R32 of the published formal reports, which related to St Joseph’s RC School and 6th Form Centre; it highlighted that the school could not provide sufficient evidence, at the time of the audit, in relation to DBS disclosures for four School Governors. It was explained that the Governors had applied for their disclosures, however they hadn’t been received at the time of the audit; Officers had asked the school Business Manager to provide the Team with copies of the completed disclosures once they had been received.

In addition to the above, Members queried if not receiving DBS disclosures back in a timely manner was a general issue. Offices confirmed that the issue was due to that when the audit was completed, it was around the time that DBS disclosures were due to renewal; it wasn’t an issue that Officers felt was significant, hence the assurance rating of reasonable.