The Head of Audit and Assurance stated that in 69% of cases, the assurance ratings assigned by Internal Audit after completion of audits were positive. Issues identified and recommendations made were generally complied with and LBB had a reasonable system of internal control, with these controls being applied consistently.

The Chairman asked if he could remind the Committee which audits had been delayed or cancelled as a result of the pandemic—these were discussed. The Head of Audit and Assurance explained that the full analysis was included in Appendix A. 

In some cases, work had commenced but needed to continue, in other cases work had been delayed and assigned to the following year’s Audit Plan. The Audits that had been cancelled were:

·  Creditors

·  The use of Consultants

·  Information Governance

·  Procurement Control Framework

·  Mental Health Service Agreements

The Head of Audit and Assurance said that in the next quarter, there would be much work undertaken on the government funding streams that were coming in. This was in relation to, (amongst other things), Business Support Grants, Track and Trace and Discretionary Grants. 

The Vice Chairman referred to section 3.59 of the report which mentioned four Priority 1 recommendations that had been carried forward from one year to another. He said that it appeared that these had been carried forward in 2018/2019 and also in 2019/2020, then transferred again. He asked what these were and why they had not been actioned.

The Head of Audit and Assurance responded that two of the recommendations related to the Leaving Care Audit, where there was now a new Head of Service in place. Another was related to Strategic Property. The final one was related to the Health and Safety Audit that took place at the end of 2019/2020. It was clarified that the Health and Safety recommendation had still been open as at the end of March, but it was now closed. Action was being taken with respect to the recommendation for Leaving Care, but the new Head of Service had to deal with a backlog of cases.

A Member enquired when staff from the Internal Audit Team would return from their Covid related duties to working back on internal audit work. The Head of Audit and Assurance answered that internal audit staff had returned to their normal roles on 1^st July. They had been working with the Shielding Team. They had received compliments from the head of that team who was sorry that they had to resume normal duties. This was a good example of transferable skills within the Internal Audit Team. It was noted that services were recovering at various speeds, and that at the moment many services would not be ready for an internal audit. However, there was plenty of work that needed to be done by Internal Audit with respect to new funding streams.

A Member highlighted the importance of process maps and asked if Internal Audit looked out for process maps during the course of undertaking audits. The Head of Audit and Assurance responded that it was more straightforward if services had a process map in place. This made it easier to see how the service/system flowed and where the controls should be. The Head of Audit and Assurance did insist that services use procedural documentation and guidance.

A Member asked if the Head of Audit and Assurance felt that St Olave’s had the expertise and support available to get where they needed to get to. He responded that St Olave’s did have a governing body. There had been some evidence of improvements and implementation of previous recommendations, but other weaknesses had been identified. The Vice Chairman at this point declared an interest as a Governor of St Olave’s and advised that the school had been trying to recruit a new Business Manager. He explained that for one day a week, the Clerk to the Company was offering his services until the new Business Manager was appointed.

A Member raised the matter of ‘Starters and Leavers’ and expressed frustration that this was an issue that had not been properly resolved after several years. In his view this was a straightforward issue to resolve and he wondered if it was now time to escalate to Directors.

The Committee agreed that the Internal Audit Team’s work through the Covid pandemic, should be brought to the attention of the Leader and the Chief Executive.

RESOLVED that the Annual Internal Audit report is noted along with the Head of Audit and Assurance’s opinion on the soundness of the London Borough of Bromley’s internal controls.