Issue - meetings

That the report and internal audit annual opinion be noted.

The Interim Internal Audit Manager presented the report which summarised the outcome of all audit work undertaken during 2017/18.  The audit opinion was that overall, the Council had an adequate and effective framework of governance, risk management and control.

Sally Ellis asked if safeguards were in place to deal with the potential impact of delays arising from medium priority audits being replaced by high priority audits during the year, for example Disabled Facilities Grants (DFGs) where issues had escalated.  The Internal Audit Manager advised that the review of DFGs had been deferred from 2016/17 due to operational reasons and confirmed that medium priority audits scheduled in the 2018/19 Audit Plan would take place.  On a further question, she explained the positive impact of incorporating advisory/consultancy work alongside general audit work.

The Chief Executive spoke about his confidence in the Manager and her team in providing a good balance of support and challenge, and welcomed the increase in advisory work as a significant positive change for the Council.

RESOLVED:

That the report and internal audit annual opinion be noted.