Issue - meetings

That the report be noted.

The Internal Audit Manager presented the update report on progress of the Internal Audit department.  He reminded Members of the impact on the Plan as a result of work on an ongoing investigation and a departmental vacancy which had subsequently been filled.  Outstanding audits from the 2013/14 Plan had been incorporated into the Plan for 2014/15 which had also been adapted to correspond with the new Chief Officer team, incorporating agreed changes to audits for their respective areas.  As part of arrangements to increase the efficiency of the Internal Audit department, the Committee was advised of the procurement of integrated audit software to carry out a range of tasks in the audit process.

During an update on recommendation tracking, it was noted that 60% of recommendations had been implemented by their due dates including some which had previously been placed on hold, awaiting the implementation of Single Status.

On performance indicators for the department, the Internal Audit Manager explained changes to the process which had led to a reduction in the overall days from the end of fieldwork to issuing final reports.  It was hoped that the new software might help to improve the number of completed client satisfaction questionnaires which had possibly been impacted by the management restructure.

It was also reported that following previous consideration by the Committee, the Whistleblowing Policy had been approved by the Constitution Committee and with no requirement for endorsement at County Council, had been published on the Infonet and highlighted with Members.  It was hoped that employees’ attention could be drawn to the new Policy by including a note in payslips for October 2014.

On the list of reports which had been finalised, Councillor Haydn Bateman asked for clarification on one of the recommendations relating to the Payroll audit which had been allocated a ‘red’ assurance level.  The Internal Audit Manager explained that similar to remarks made by the Wales Audit Office on the previous agenda item, there was a need for accurate data to be kept on new starters for the Clwyd Pension Fund.

The Chief Executive said that the increase in voluntary redundancies may have been one of the reasons explaining performance issues on delays and that a commitment had been given to resolving the ‘time lag’ on pension leaver case processing working through into accounting.

On the findings of the same audit report, Councillor Alison Halford asked if the issues identified related to the iTrent system or inputting errors.  The Internal Audit Manager said that the details of all new starters had not been captured in the report which was shared with Payroll and that the recommendation was for checks to be carried out on the list of authorisers for new starters.  In response to a comment from Councillor Halford about the potential for senior officers to provide detail on the findings of audits within their sections, the Chief Executive said that more information could be made available above the level of detail in the report if required.

The Chief  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30