Meeting documents

To consider Item 8c

The Internal Audit Manager advised that the purpose of this report was to present to Members the draft Annual Audit Report 2017/18, which summarised the audit activity carried out for the last financial year. The Chief Internal Auditor’s opinion was that the system of internal control provided reasonable assurance regarding the effective, efficient and economic exercise of the Authority’s functions. During 2017/18 there had been continued improvement to the Authority’s system of internal control through the on-going development of policies and procedures covering the key control processes. This demonstrated a continued robust and effective internal control and risk management environment that would facilitate the effective exercise of the Authority’s functions.

A Member asked if the Internal Audit Manager could expand on why the audit opinion could only ever be ‘reasonable’ and was advised that Internal Audit can only ever provide reasonable assurance and not absolute assurance because the Audit Plan was restricted to a certain number of days per year. Internal Audit could only base its opinion on the work carried out within those days and on the controls it looked at. However, this was a very positive position and all areas looked at in 2017/18 had received a ‘substantial’ level of assurance.

A Member asked if the audit resource could be better deployed to be able to make recommendations and challenges to the Authority which would drive the increased efficiencies that it required in the future and also to recommend where the Authority could afford to take more risk and was advised by the Internal Audit Manager that Internal Audit was needed to provide the assurance environment that was currently in place. It could in future look at risk management type advisory opportunities, but this would need to be in addition to the current internal audit activity.

The Director of Finance and Assets advised Members that it was his duty to provide Members with the assurance they needed to hear on the activity of Internal Audit. The number of audit days could be varied up or down, but he felt that the current number of days was the appropriate level. When the audit programme was next considered, some of the views Members had expressed needed to be captured and also the Authority would have a better idea of some of the challenges coming forward.

The Chairman asked that the Internal Audit Plan be brought to this Committee at the next meeting so that Members could be briefed on what was going to be addressed in the coming year and the Director of Finance and Assets advised that at the next meeting the Internal Audit Manager would be giving Members an update on the current year’s programme and the proposed programme for the coming year was presented to Members each March.

The Chief Fire Officer advised Members that the first tranche of inspections for the new HMICFRS inspection process for fire and rescue services was underway and reports would be available in October/November 2018. Hopefully this would give an indication of where fire and rescue services were, which would be helpful as this Authority’s inspection was due within the next 8-10 months.

The Chief Fire Officer asked Members to considered the Audit Plan, and also consider how the Authority could adapt and adopt the findings of the inspection team and try to connect the two together, it would give Members a broader view of what issues could be faced going forward.

RESOLVED –

That the contents of the Annual Report be reviewed and noted.