Agenda item

To note the quarter 1 2022/23 internal audit progress report available at annex 1; and,

That the Audit Committee make any comments and/or observations on the report to the Council’s Chief Finance Officer.

Natalie Jerams, Deputy Head of Southern Internal Audit Partnership (SIAP), gave the Committee an overview of the quarter 1 progress report on the delivery of the internal audit plan, highlighting any key observations and giving an update on live audit reports.

It was noted that 5% of the audits had been completed to date and 37% were in progress, with 2 audit reports at draft report stage. Internal audits were on track with the audit plan for 2022/23. Page 48 of the report detailed the analysis of live audit reviews and those with pending or overdue management actions. Annexes 1 and 2 provided the detail of the management actions along with any revised target dates set by officers. SIAP followed all management actions through to completion.

The audit of contract management received a limited assurance audit opinion, and this was detailed on pages 49 and 50 of the report. A response from officers was also outlined in the report.

In quarter 1, 2 additional reviews were added to the 2022/23 audit plan and these were:

·         Test and Trace Contain Outbreak Management Fund (COMF)

·         Test and Trace Support Payment Scheme Funding (TTSP)

It was explained that these audits looked at the Government grants that the Council was responsible for administering during the pandemic to residents and businesses. These grants required an internal audit review and sign off by the Council’s Chief Internal Auditor. In order to accommodate these reviews within the 2022/23 plan, the audit on the Corporate Plan was being deferred until next year.

In response to a member questions it was stated that:

·         The remaining outstanding report from 2021/22 (parking and enforcement review) was looking to be finalised shortly, it was currently at draft report stage. A management response would be sought from the service head.

·         SIAP had 200 days programmed for audits in 2022/23 and the two new audits that had been programmed in would take approximately 8-10 days to complete and this equated to approximately 5% of the auditor’s time. It was felt this was proportionate to the large sums of money that had been administered on the Government’s behalf. It was noted that the TTSP review was close to completion.

·         Two reviews were currently at draft report stage. In respect of the business continuity review, a response had been received from the service lead. The decision-making review remained at draft report stage currently. It was not appropriate to disclose the assurance opinions on these reports until the reports were finalised.

In respect of the contract management audit, a question relating to the value of the contract where the contract manager did not hold a copy of the contract was asked and the reasons for the oversights described in the report were requested. The Strategic Head of Legal and Governance would provide a written response to these points. However, the Committee was assured that the contract manager highlighted within the appendix (page 49), did now have the information they required to oversee the contract effectively and monthly meetings were now being recorded; this contract would continue to be monitored. Members encouraged the Council to consider purchasing a contract module system to assist with contract management.

It was acknowledged that improvements were required in respect of corporate oversight of contracts and this included more dip sampling of contracts across the board. In respect of the procurement audit, it was acknowledged that the Council was facing challenges within procurement due to staffing requirements. Discussions were taking place with CIPFA regarding strategy and other local authorities to assist in plugging this gap.

More detail was sought regarding the overdue low and medium management actions shown in annex 2 to the report. It was requested that the Committee received this as a regular update and a written response was requested on the overdue management action for IT Virtualisation.

RESOLVED that:

     I.        The Committee notes the Q1 2022/23 internal audit progress report available at annex 1; and,

    II.        The Committee makes any comments and/or observations on the report to the Council’s Chief Finance Officer.

  III.        Written responses would be sent to Members.