Issue - meetings

Internal Audit Annual Report

Meeting: 05/06/2019 - Audit Committee (Item 7)

7 Internal Audit Annual Report pdf icon PDF 83 KB

Additional documents:

Decision:

That the report and Internal Audit annual opinion be noted.

Minutes:

The Internal Audit Manager presented the report which summarised the outcome of audit work undertaken during 2018/19, compliance with Standards and the results of the quality assurance and improvement programme.  The audit opinion was that overall, the Council had an adequate and effective framework of governance, risk management and control.

 

In reaching her opinion, the Internal Audit Manager had considered the two red assurance reports and the 75% green or amber/green assurance opinions issued during the year, which were an improvement on the previous year.  There had been more involvement by senior management on the development of action plans where 73% of actions raised during the year had been implemented, with the remainder generally due to extended due dates.  On section 2.9, analysis of themes identified from investigations would be an area of focus for the team.

 

The Chief Executive said that the opinion gave strong assurance on the control environment.  He spoke about the high degree of escalation on red assurance reports to ensure management actions were followed through.  He acknowledged the value and quality of the Internal Audit team, particularly on advisory/consultancy work which had increased over time.

 

In response to Councillor Johnson’s question about the impact of workforce reduction on risks, attention was drawn to the increase in advisory work and the analysis of action categories which mainly related to policy or operational issues.

 

Councillor Carver pointed out an error with the page numbers on the index page.

 

On audit coverage, Sally Ellis questioned whether the level of audit work in Social Services was sufficient, compared to other portfolios.  The Internal Audit Manager said that she was satisfied, having consulted with the Chief Officer, and that four audits had been completed with more scheduled on the plan.

 

The Chief Executive acknowledged the concerns and given the size of the portfolio and amount of commissioning work, agreed to discuss further with officers and provide a response.

 

When asked about team resources, the Internal Audit Manager referred to the development of a Job Evaluation Questionnaire to help with succession planning to fill the vacant post.  The recruitment process would incorporate a further vacancy arising from the forthcoming retirement of another member of staff.

 

In response to a question from Councillor Dunbobbin on audit work in Social Services, the Internal Audit Manager said that a balanced view was taken on the value of audit work against report of external regulators.

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the report and Internal Audit annual opinion be noted.