Agenda item - Internal Audit Progress Report

Report of the Executive Director of Finance & Resources (copy attached).

65.1         The Committee considered a report of the Executive Director of Finance & Resources in relation to the Internal Audit Progress Report 2013/14; the report sought to inform the Committee of the progress made against the Internal Audit Progress Plan 2013/14 – including the outcomes of specific reviews completed and the tracking of the implementation of recommendations.

65.2         In response to the Chair the Principal Audit Manager explained there was now a specific protocol that where limited assurance had been reported there would be another follow up review – normally within 6 months. He added that with recent reports it would not be expected to see high priority recommendations as these would normally have limited assurance.

65.3         In relation to a question from Councillor Sykes the Principal Audit Manager explained that the annual internal audit work was planned through calculations of risk within the organisation; as well as in consultation with the departmental management team and consideration of the Strategic Risk Register. There was also consideration of emerging issues, and the annual plan was bought before the Committee for consideration and comment. Following a further comment the Executive Director of Finance & Resources explained that it was within the remit of the Committee to request that senior Officers attend to give assurance where it was considered this was appropriate; there was a also a role for the Principal Audit Manager to bring matters before the Committee.

65.4         In response to Councillor A. Norman the External Auditors: Ernst & Young explained that they hoped to bring a report to the next Committee to assist in contextualising the work of the Corporate Fraud Team. The Executive Director of Finance & Resources added that there was a piece of national work being undertaken by the Audit Commission on benchmarking; this would help to ensure the Council was directing its resources in the right places to address fraud.

65.5         Councillor Summers asked about the completion of the audit plan, and the Executive Director of Finance & Resources explained that every year a proportion of the annual work had to be completed at the end of the finance year. She added that the highest priority work would always be undertaken first, and that it was expected more time would be built in for unplanned audit work in the 2014/15 plan.

65.6         In response to Councillor Deane the Principal Audit Manager explained that he would not normally expect to see full assurance based on the nature of the sampling techniques and controls used for auditing purposes, but it hoped the number of limited assurances could be reduced to achieve a balance between substantial and reasonable. The Executive Director of Finance & Resources added that it was always vital to create a balance between managing the risk and the costs of the controls.

65.7         The Head of Law provided an update in relation to the gifts and hospitality register stating that new measures had been taken to the Executive Leadership Team which placed responsibility for this with the Monitoring Officer – with support from HR, and an annual return would be completed by both Officers on the Executive Leadership Team and the Corporate Leadership Team.

65.8         RESOLVED: That the Committee notes the progress made in delivering the Annual Internal Audit Plan 2013/14.