Agenda item

(Chief Internal Auditor) To consider the attached report (AGC-014-2013/14).

The Chief Internal Auditor presented the Internal Audit Monitoring Report for the first quarter of 2013/14, which provided a summary of the work undertaken by the Internal Audit Unit between April and June 2013. The report detailed the overall performance to date against the Audit Plan for 2013/14 and also allowed the Committee to monitor the progress of Priority 1 actions issued in previous audit reports.

The Chief Internal Auditor advised the Committee of the audit reports that had been issued during the period:

(a)        Full Assurance:

·                     Business Plans;

(b)        Substantial Assurance:

·                     Management of Sickness Absence;

·                     Cash Receipting & Income Control;

·                     Housing Lettings;

·                     Key Performance Indicators;

·                     Payroll;

·                     Procurement Fraud; and

·                     Housing Rents;

(c)        Limited Assurance:

·                     None;

(d)        No Assurance:

·                     None; and

(e)        At draft report stage:

·                     Housing Benefits.

The Committee’s attention was drawn to the Outstanding Priority 1 Actions Status report, all of which would be reviewed in follow-up audits, and the Limited Assurance Audit Follow Up Status report. It was also noted that the Audit Plan for 2013/14 had been appended to allow the Committee to monitor progress against the Plan.

The Chief Internal Auditor reported upon the current status of the Internal Audit Unit’s Local Performance Indicators for 2013/14:

·                     % Planned Audits Completed             Target 90%     Actual 11%;

·                     % Chargeable Staff Time                   Target 72%     Actual 75%;

·                     Average Cost per Audit Day               Target £245     Actual £219; and

·                     % User Satisfaction                            Target 90%     Actual 87%.

The Chief Internal Auditor explained that the Planned Audits Completed figure was a little low but was confident that this figure would improve as the year continued. In addition, a replacement electronic form had been used for User Satisfaction since the start of the new Audit Plan in April. The new form had been simplified to encourage completion, which had resulted in a higher return rate and positive comments from Managers.

The Chief Internal Auditor reported that there were currently two outstanding Priority 1 actions, Legal Debt Recovery and the Management of Sickness Absence, which were reviewed by the Corporate Governance Group each month. Procedures had now been implemented to mitigate the weaknesses identified with Legal Debt Recovery. In addition, Management Board had decided that a Working Party be convened to review corporate debt processing, however this had been deferred pending the results of the recent debt review undertaken by the National Audit Office. For the Management of Sickness Absence, Directors and Assistant Directors had been sent a further reminder on 29 August and a one-day follow-up audit was planned to ascertain the results.

In relation to Procurement Fraud, the Vice-Chairman inquired about the arrangements in place to comply with the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012, whereby the Council had to have regard to the social value of their procurement of services (not goods) and not just price. The Director of Finance & ICT stated that the majority of the Council’s procurement was now enacted on a price/quality split, i.e. the quality of the proposed procurement held as much weight as the price. The Act referred to by the Vice-Chairman would give the Council more flexibility in making allowances for social value criteria when procuring services, and this would be given due consideration.

In relation to the planned audit of Housing Lettings, the Housing Portfolio Holder (Councillor D Stallan) highlighted that the Cabinet had requested the Housing Scrutiny Panel to undertake a full review of the revised scheme after the first year of its operation. The Chief Internal Auditor reassured the Portfolio Holder that it had been agreed with the Director of Housing to undertake a light touch review of the Scheme in the final quarter of 2013/14, and the results of the audit would be fed into the full review of the scheme to be undertaken by the Housing Scrutiny Panel. The Chief Internal Auditor also stated that the Council was awaiting the results of the National Audit Office’s review of debt management before considering the direction and membership of the proposed Working Party. There would also be a report on this matter at the Committee’s next meeting in November 2013.

The Chairman welcomed the Chief Internal Auditor’s quarterly report and proposed that any Directors who had not complied with the recent request to complete and return their Monthly Certificate for the management of Sickness Absence should be required to attend the Committee in February 2014 to give an explanation.

Resolved:

(1)        That the following issues arising from the Internal Audit Monitoring Report for the first quarter of 2013/14 be noted:

(a)        the Audit reports issued between April and June 2013 and significant findings therein;

(b)        the Priority 1 Actions Status Report;

(c)        the Limited Assurance Audit Follow-Up Status Report; and

(d)        The 2013/14 Audit Plan Status Report; and

(2)        That any Director who had not completed their Monthly Certificate for the Management of Sickness Absence should be requested to attend the Committee on 6 February 2014 and provide an explanation.