Agenda item

(Chief Internal Auditor) To consider the attached report.

The Chief Internal Auditor, S Marsh, presented the Internal Audit Monitoring Report.  The Committee was advised that two audit reports had been issued. The Fixed Assets audit had received moderate assurance; a fixed asset register and controls were in place, however, there was a lack of process and procedures for end of year reconciliation. The Interim Chief Finance Officer had addressed the structure of the accountancy function and relevant processes would be introduced. The Customer Services audit had received substantial assurance. Good progress had been made around the transformation of the service, there had been a reduction from 50 to 30 complaints over the period for quarter 1 of 2020/21 and increased resolution at the first point of contact. There had been a variety of awareness raising initiatives and positive work.

The number of recommendations in the recommendation tracker remained low. Two recommendations related to Health and Safety and the Strategic Safety Group was ensuring good progress was being made. Mandatory training had been rolled out to all officers and risk assessment work was continuing. The third recommendation was linked to the Harlow Gilston Garden Town sharing agreement which would be completed by the legal team.

Internal Audit continued to be involved in the administration of grants  and conducted  spotlight checks to ensure companies were legitimate and still trading. This was supported by the Corporate Fraud team, who conduct investigations were suspected fraud had arisen.

There following polices had been reviewed:

(i)            The Local Code of Governance was reviewed and amended to cover COVID, remote working and robust processes for emergency decisions. The code would support the Annual Governance Statement.

(ii)           The Anti-Fraud and Corruption Strategy was reviewed and the appendices had been incorporated for ease of access. The three pillars of activity for this strategy ‘acknowledge’, ‘prevent’ and ‘pursue’ had been extended to include ‘govern’ and ‘protect’, in line with the UK Fraud and Corruption Strategy.  Officers had been made aware of the fraud response plan and the Anti-Money Laundering Policy had limited the level of cash transactions.

(iii)          The Whistleblowing Policy had been updated with key contact details and revised timescales for reporting back on concerns raised. Recently the policy had been used anonymously and the resulting investigation showed nothing was untoward.

(iv)          The Internal Audit Charter detailed the role and remit of internal audit and was in line with the requirement of the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards.

(v)           The skills and knowledge analysis had shown a good spread of across the Committee and this would support the development of future training.

Cllr Heap sought confirmation that fixed asset reconciliation would happen, requested clarity on the checks made in relation to COVID businesses grants and questioned if there was oversight of delegated decision making. The Chief Internal Auditor detailed that assurance had been given in relation to the reconciliation, this was on the tracker and would be monitored.

The Corporate Fraud Manager confirmed that checks carried out on businesses included: verification at Companies House; social media presence; and a review of the paperwork that was submitted with the application.

Mr Jarvis sought advice on why the Anti-Fraud and Corruption Policy changes were minimal when there had been considerable change in the way the Council had operated. S Marsh explained that this was an overarching strategy and  covered all the Council’s activities and staff, each process of operation was not specified. She confirmed that Quails were not covered by the strategy and this would be made explicit in the documentation.

Cllr Hadley asked if there were any occasion when the publicity related to fraud would not be maximised. The Corporate Fraud Team Manager, M Crowe, detailed that no organisation was impervious to fraud and they could become stronger when this was discovered and fixed. Fraud prosecutions had always been published and provided reassurance to Members, officers and residents that the council dealt with fraud.

Resolved: 

That the Committee:

(i)    approved the revised Local Code of Governance;

(ii)   approved the revised Anti-Fraud and Corruption Strategy;

(iii)  approved the revised Whistleblowing Policy;

(iv)  approved the revised Internal Audit Charter; and

(v)   noted the outcomes of the member skills and knowledge analysis.