Meeting documents

To be presented by Ms M Gibb, Head of Business Assurance

Ms M Gibb, Head of Business Assurance, BCC presented a verbal summary of the report and highlighted the following points:

• The strategy had been brought to the Committee earlier than planned in order to progress with quarter one activity. 
• In line with accounts and audit regulations, an annual report on the systems of internal control would be produced and presented to the Committee in July 2019.
• A consultation on audit planning had taken place. This had been considered at  the Audit Board (chaired by the Section 151 Officer) and was taken to the Corporate Management Team (CMT) where the proposed audit plan was agreed.
• A unitary training programme was in development and had been agreed by the district councils and the Chief Executives Implementation Group.  The purpose of this would be to identify risks relating to specific work streams. 
• The plans for risk management and audit activity throughout 2019/20 would have to stay fluid due to the formation of the unitary council.  The main focus of activity in quarter one would be to examine areas carried forward from last year’s audit plan. 

The following points were highlighted in response to subsequent questions raised by members of the Committee:

• A training plan would be developed on fraud awareness.  This would include general training and tailored training for specific employees.  Within the last quarter, training had been delivered to key procurement colleagues.  A document had been developed that identified all key risk fraud areas, which would be built into the audit plans for the unitary council. 
• Development work was taking place for management audit, risk management, decision making and controls over expenditure to be implemented in the unitary council.  The key risk areas had been identified for external auditors to provide assurance.  A key requirement for this work would be fast delivery and continual monitoring. 
• The Chief Executives Implementation Group had sanctioned 50 days of unitary activity, although there was flexibility in this.   The level of budget for audit activity had been agreed and would be supported by Ms Gibb’s team.  The team would review the effectiveness of the work produced by the boards and workstream leads.  The deadline would need to be reviewed constantly.
• There were currently sufficient resources to deliver the unitary plan, but this did not include any unplanned demands such as whistleblowing.  A number of audits had to be deferred on the forward plan from the previous year due to unplanned demands.
• In response to concerns that risks could be missed in the lead up to unitary, it was decided that a quarterly update would be provided to the Committee to give information on the progress of the strategy.

RESOLVED: Members of the Committee AGREED that quarterly reports would continue, but should trends raise concerns then additional updates would be provided.

• Additional internal audit resources could be procured through The Apex Framework. Buckinghamshire County Council (BCC) had a contract with them to request additional days and resources.  Additional funding for this work would have to be approved by the Section 151 Officer if it exceeded the budget. 

RESOLVED: Members of the Committee AGREED to approve the report.