Agenda item - Internal Audit Monitoring Report

Agenda item

Internal Audit Monitoring Report

Minutes:

Mr. A. Bromage, Head of Internal Audit Shared Service, presented the report and in so doing highlighted to Members that there were in fact two reports, the Internal Audit Monitoring Report and the 2017/18 Provisional Internal Audit Plan Report.

 

Internal Audit Monitoring Report

 

This was a routine report received at every meeting of the Audit, Standards and Governance Committee which provided an update on the actions and work carried out and gave a view of the audits which had been completed since the last meeting.  There were three with reported assurance levels of moderate or above, with a number ongoing which would be reported in due course.

 

The report also contained an overview of the delivery of the plan, includes days delivered so far and also the position in respect of forecasted days.  Key performance indicators were also included and it was highlighted that service productivity was down due to the arrival of three new auditors in the first quarter and a further auditor late in quarter two, but were confident that it would pick up towards the end of the financial year.  The report included an overview and assurance that work undertaken was being followed up and appropriate action taken where necessary.

 

Following presentation of the report a number of areas were raised by Members, including:

 

·         Assurance that areas where controls needed to be strengthened were monitored to ensure these were put in place.

·         Confirmation that the service would be delivered in respect of the productivity KPI.

·         Concern as to whether a problem which was identified would be brought before the Committee, if it was not part of the planned work.

 

After further discussion it was

 

RESOLVED that the Internal Audit Monitoring Report be noted.

 

The 2017/18 Provisional Internal Audit Plan Report

 

The draft plan was for information and then Members would be asked to approve the final plan at its meeting in March 2017.  The report contained details around the aims and objectives of the service.  By bringing the provisional plan before the Committee Members were able to have a positive input into the audit work programme for 2017/18.  The number of days has not been reduced this year, as had been the case in previous years, as it felt about right for coverage considering the size of the authority.  Areas within the Council have been considered across service functions and outlined within the plan.  The KPIs have been slightly amended to give better coverage and assurance moving forward and again will be reported on a regular basis throughout 2017/18.

Members raised a number of points within the report:

 

·         The management of the risk and how this is identified.

·         Areas for inclusion in 2017/18 and the allocation of days to those areas.

·         The audit of Land Charges – due to the anticipated change in legislation, it will ensure everything is in place to ensure the changes run smoothly.

·         The role and benefit of the KPIs.

 

RESOLVED that

 

a)    The Audit Plan for 2017/18 be noted; and

b)   The Key Performance Indicators be noted.

Supporting documents: