Issue - meetings

FSD 21012

The Committee was updated with respect to the audit of purchasing cards. This was because it was noted in the audit report dated January 2021, that there were three P1 recommendations outstanding. These had now been addressed.  The Committee noted that currently, many controls were effective; however there were still inadequate controls in certain areas. There were issues with direct debit payments, where certain members of staff would set these up for efficiency reasons, but when said member of staff was off sick or left the organisation--then no one knew how to cancel the direct debits. It was also the case that when members of staff had left the organisation, purchasing cards were not being deactivated. There were also issues with inadequate controls for managing credit limits. It was anticipated that all the remaining issues would be ironed out in due course; for now, the audit opinion was ‘reasonable’.

Members were updated concerning the review of payroll. It was agreed that more effort should be made by claimants to put in their expenses claims in a timely manner. The audit opinion for payroll was ‘reasonable’. Four P2 recommendations had been made which had been accepted by management.

The Committee was updated regarding the audit of small business support grants. The purpose of the audit review was to examine the effectiveness of controls operated by the Finance Directorate and the Council’s Exchequer Contractor for the payment of small business support grants that had been made available to small businesses as a result of the Covid pandemic. Controls were in place and were working very well, and the overall audit opinion was ‘substantial’. Members were pleased to note the extensive controls that had been put in place. It was noted that out of 2007 payments made, (totalling over £20m), there had only been 1% of claims associated with fraud, error or non-compliance. Similarly, the review of Retail, Leisure and Hospitality Support Grants had also received an overall audit opinion that was ‘substantial’. 

Members received an update concerning ‘Starters and Leavers’. The Head of Audit and Assurance acknowledged Members’ frustrations that the issues concerning Starters and Leavers had still not yet been fully resolved. He said that he had attended meetings of the CLT (Corporate Leadership Team) and various managers briefing meetings, and had explained clearly what the current procedures were, and what managers should do—so managers were now without excuse. The Head of Audit and Assurance explained that a simpler process was being developed, so that instead of managers having to fill in separate forms for HR and IT, there would just be one form to fill in. The new streamlined process was anticipated to be operational by the end of April. 

The Committee heard that in some cases, accounts had been left open for what the managers would perceive as being ‘practical’ reasons in terms of trying to assist operational processes in handover situations. The Head of Audit and Assurance had reported back on  ...  view the full minutes text for item 67