Issue - meetings

FSD 17083

This report was presented to the Audit Sub Committee by David Hogan, Head of Audit.

The report was presented to inform Members of recent audit activity across the Council and to provide an update on matters that had arisen from the previous meeting of the Audit Sub Committee in June.

The Head of Audit outlined to Members the ‘The Three Lines of Defence Model’ that was applied by many commercial and public sector organisations and the role that Internal Audit played in the model. Internal Audit was the third line of defence that would report to the Audit Sub Committee, Senior Management and the Corporate Leadership Team.

An update on Audit resourcing was provided, and it was clarified that recruitment for the post of Trainee Auditor would commence in April 2018, making use of Apprentice Funding.

The Chairman welcomed Catriona Ellis to the Internal Audit Team.

A Member wondered if the Audit Plan had been drafted based primarily on resources rather than on what Internal Audit would actually do if there were no resource limitations. The Head of Audit stated that an Audit Needs Assessment was required. He expressed the view that in the current climate, it was only possible to plan ahead for one year, rather than five or six years which would have been preferable. This being the case, it was important to use the services of other departments in the Council, as outlined in the processes around the ‘three lines of defence’.

The Head of Audit wanted to include a high level review of Governance in next year’s plan, and to give priority to looking at the more risky issues. There was a need to prioritise and risk assess.

A Member stated that the Head of Audit should bring concerns to the Committee if needed, and that Internal Audit was a crucial part of the Council. A Member commented that in his experience, not much seemed to come to light in planned audits, but rather things came to light from self-referrals. The Head of Audit advised that not much in the way of fraud was picked up directly by Internal Audit, the emphasis was in ensuring that the correct systems and governance were in place; this in turn would reduce the scope for fraud. It was important to choose the right areas to investigate. 

The Committee noted Appendix A which detailed outstanding priority one recommendations. A comprehensive update on the Waste Services Audit was detailed in the part 2 report.  Other areas where priority one recommendations were outstanding were:

·  Document Storage and Retention

·  Temporary Accommodation

·  Review of Waivers

·  Review of Reablement Team

·  Street Works

·  Review of Contract Monitoring

Members noted that although four priority two recommendations had been raised with respect of Payroll Expenses, the assurance rating was Substantial.  Similarly, although there were two priority two recommendations with respect to the Pensions Audit, the overall rating was Substantial.

The Committee was briefed that three priority two recommendations had been made with respect of the Bromley  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21