Issue - meetings

      i.                That the Committee note the Internal Audit Progress report. That the Committee note the Internal Audit Progress report attached at    annex 1;

    ii.                That the Committee note the Southern Internal Audit Partnership’s External Quality Assessment (EQA) report available at annex 2;

   iii.                That the Committee make any comments and/or observations on the report to the Council’s Chief Financial Officer attached at annex 1;

   iv.                That the Committee note the Southern Internal Audit Partnership’s External Quality Assessment (EQA) report available at annex 2.

Natalie Jerams, Deputy Head of Southern Internal Audit Partnership (SIAP), gave an overview of Appendix 1, explaining that this was the second progress report for the year.

There were some overdue actions but SIAP continued to work with Officers on these.  It was noted that Ethical Governance was now showing as 1 management action as opposed to 4 set out within the report. All those actions showing as overdue now had a revised target date and this was due to competing demands on Officers as the Council responded to the COVID-19 Pandemic. These actions would continue to show as overdue and would continue to be monitored.

The quarter 2 audits were coming to a close and all quarter 3 audits have been scoped in all areas apart from one (cyber security review). It was anticipated that Quarter 4 audits would be scoped prior to Christmas and officers continued to work positively with SIAP despite current circumstances.

It was noted that the treasury management audit had been removed until 2021/22 in order to account for the new review from Government regarding the Local Government Compensation Scheme and this was explained to Members.

Two reports had been finished and this was a credit to Officers. Staff and the Internal Auditors were thanked.

Neil Pittman, Head of SIAP, explained that during September 2020, the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) undertook an External Quality Assessment (EQA) of the Southern Internal Audit Partnership which considered their conformance with the International Professional Practices Framework (IPPF), Public Sector Internal Audit Standards (PSIAS) and the Local Government Application Note (LGAN).

The EQA stated that SIAP conformed to all standards and requirements of the audit. The value added was detailed on page 75 of the EQA report and this provided a credible benchmark against other providers. SIAP’s outcome was that they were Excellent in three areas and Good in two. The aspiration was to become Excellent in all areas and an action plan had been formulated. This was taken forward to the Stakeholder Board, of which Pat Main, Interim Head of Finance, was a member.

The EQA document was important to present as it gave the Council and its Members independent assurance.

SIAP were congratulated on their report.

RESOVLED that:

(i)            That the Committee notes the Internal Audit Progress report attached at annex 1;

(ii)          the Committee notes the Southern Internal Audit Partnership’s External Quality Assessment (EQA) report available at annex 2.