Agenda item

Report of the Chief Operating Officer (Section 151 Officer)

The Audit and Procurement Committee considered a report of the Chief Operating Officer (Section 151 Officer) that provided an update on the internal audit activity for the period April to September 2023, against the Internal Audit Plan for 2023-24.

This was the first monitoring report for 2023-24, which was presented in order for the Audit and Procurement Committee to discharge its responsibility 'to consider summaries of specific internal audit reports as requested' and 'to consider reports dealing with the management and performance of internal audit'.

The key target facing the Internal Audit Service was to complete 90% of its work plan by 31st March 2024. A chart in the report provided analysis of progress against planned work for the period April to September 2023. At the end of September 2023, the Service had completed 31% of the Audit Plan against a benchmark of 50% (which reflected delivery of 100% of the Plan.) It was recognised that performance was below expectation, although the quarterly targets did not take account of the varying length of audits and as such performance would vary across the year. It was also apparent that performance had been impacted by on-going unplanned absence in the Service. The Internal Audit Plan for 2023-24 was presented to the Audit and Procurement Committee at its meeting on 24th July 2023 (minute 15/23 referred). In the report, it was explained to the Committee that the level of assessed resources on which the Plan was based may be subject to some adjustment during the course of the year due to this unplanned absence.  Whilst this was factored into the planning process as far as possible, as the absence had continued, it was now apparent that this would require some changes to the Audit Plan. Work was currently on-going to assess the impact and make appropriate revisions to the Plan. The details of this would be reported to the Audit and Procurement Committee in the next monitoring report, but in general terms, it was likely that some reviews would need to be rescheduled into the 2024-25 programme of work.

It should be noted that whilst the Annual Audit Plan was agreed at the start of the financial year, it may always be subject to change as a result of emerging risks, requests from service areas to reschedule work, and any exceptions. It was important that the Internal Audit Service retained a flexible approach in order to ensure it could respond to issues on a timely basis and add value.  Any significant changes to the Plan were reported to the Audit and Procurement Committee. 

In addition to the delivery of the Audit Plan, the Internal Audit Service had a number of other KPI’s which underpinned its delivery. A table in the report provided a summary of the performance for 2023-24 to date against these five KPIs, with comparative figures for the financial year 2022-23. There was one indicator (i.e., audit delivered within budget days) where the Service’s current performance was below expectations. Whilst performing work in a timely way was clearly important to achieving the overall Audit Plan for the year, this must be balanced with ensuring the quality of work undertaken. Ongoing monitoring of internal audit work and identifying opportunities for improvement remained a key focus for management, in line with the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards.

Attached at Appendix One to the report was a list of the audits finalised between April and September 2023, along with the level of assurance provided.

As at 30th September 2023, the following audits were in progress:

•  Audits at Draft Report Stage – Transparency code 

•  Audits On-going – Enabling attendance, Annual Governance Statement, Sports asset maintenance, IR35, CareDirector post upgrade assurance, IT storeroom physical security, Pot-Hole Pro stage 2 health check, Implementation of new IT systems, EDI in pay decisions, End user computing. 

Details of a selection of key reviews completed in this period were provided at Appendix Two. In all cases, the relevant managers had agreed to address the issues raised in line with the timescales stated. These reviews would be followed up in due course and the outcomes reported to the Audit and Procurement Committee.

Members asked questions and received assurances at the meeting from officers on matters that included: the re-scheduling of two outstanding audits; the audit action plan in place with HR business partner; DBS checks for Elected Members; the statutory requirement for Local Authorities to have an audit function; and the role of the external auditor. Members requested that information relating to the Council’s Policy on Elected Member DBS checks, be circulated to them.

RESOLVED that the Audit and Procurement Committee notes the performance as at quarter two against the Internal Audit Plan for 2023-24 and the summary findings of the key audit reviews detailed in Appendix Two to the report.