Agenda item

The Committee considered a report which outlined the Internal Audit, Risk Management, Assurance and Counter Fraud work being undertaken by the Business Assurance Team for the year ending 31 March 2023. The Council continued to work towards a combined assurance model, with Internal Audit operating as the third line of assurance. The 2022/23 Internal Audit, Risk Management, Assurance and Counter Fraud work plans were produced with reference to the strategic and directorate risk registers; and informed through discussion with Senior Leadership Teams for each directorate.

During discussion, key points highlighted included:

·    An additional audit on ‘Social Care – Placement and Panel decisions’ had been included on the audit plan following a request from the relevant Corporate Director for this area of work.

·    Within Resources, the ‘Teachers Pensions – new system in place’ audit had been deferred to 2023/24 because of the new system being implemented. Processes and controls would be reviewed as the new system went live.

·    The Chairman referred to paragraph 3.2 on page 157 of the reports pack and explained that more emphasis was needed on major change projects and the need to escalate them in terms of risk as they took place. It had become apparent that in a number of circumstances, a particular service had reviewed its risk ahead of certain projects, however had not taken in to account that the risk elevated during the time the project was rolled out.

·    In terms of the Community Boards audit, noted on page 164 of the reports pack as ‘fieldwork in-progress’, the Chairman highlighted that the Constitution Working Group had been considering Community Boards, their governance and how they fit in to the Constitution. Should the audit identify any areas that should feed in to the Constitution the Chairman suggested they relay this to the Service Director for Democratic and Legal Services.

·    The Chairman highlighted that there had been some flexibility given to services moving the timing of certain audits in the early years of the unitary authority, although the Committee’s position was now clear that Council services must be audited at the right time rather than at the time which was convenient to the service. It was noted that on occasion, internal auditors could help design processes for certain departments as part of the audit process.

·    A Member raised concern around a number of the Social Care audits that had yet to start and was advised that it was the audit work that had not yet started, as this was planned across the year, rather than the work by the service itself. It was confirmed that the relevant Corporate and Service Directors had been liaised with and accepted the need for the audits. The timing had been agreed for the SEND Ofsted Improvement Plan Assurance audit later in the year to give the opportunity for the service to implement their improvement plan following the Ofsted inspection. The outcome of the audit would be reported back to the Committee in the usual manner within the completed audits within part 2 of a future agenda.

·    Concern was also raised about legislative changes within Adult Social Care which would have a significant impact on service delivery. The Committee was assured that the scope of the work would be flexible and the audit team would always ensure that they were working to the most up to date legislation on any area of risk being focused on.

·    Members were advised that in future the ‘other cases currently under investigation’ details noted on pages 162 and 163 of the agenda pack would be presented in a more interpretable manner as there was now a new system in place which would be able to generate reports and tables.

·    The Chairman queried whether there were any proceeds of crime orders or compensation for the prosecution noted on page 162 of the reports pack. This would be looked in to further and reported back.

ACTION:Chief Auditor to look in to details of the case further and report back to the Committee.

·    Clarity was provided on external clients, Buckinghamshire & Milton Keynes Fire Authority were a long standing external client who were provided circa 100 days of internal audit resource. An academy had recently approached the Council to provide an internal audit service as well, and there had been similar approaches in the past. These were recognised as good income generating opportunities although required the internal resource to provide the service, which needed the new structure to be in place. Members noted that as a Council, providing this service to academies would also provide a measure of reassurance as to the education being provided by academies to ensure it was of a high standard.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.