Issue - meetings

To consider the report of the Director of Resources (copy enclosed).

      The Committee considered the report of the Director of Resources and associated appendices that covered three reports from the Internal Auditors BDO LLP, the Internal Audit Progress Report  - July 2020, the Community Safety Audit – July 2020 and the Workforce Management Audit – March 2020.

The Chairman introduced the reports and deferred to the Internal Auditor, Greg Rubins, to present them to the Committee. Addressing the Progress Report the Internal Auditor advised that the main progress had been making up lost ground on areas delayed by the impact of COVID-19.  It was noted that the Corporate Governance Audit would be presented at the next Committee in September and that scoping work on the Flood Risk Management Audit was imminent.  He concluded by saying that a number of other audits for 2020/21 were in outline stage and agreed changes to the audit plan, including follow-up from the Fraud Risk Assessment and work against the CIPFA (Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy) Code of Practice and Financial Management, were underway.

In response to questions and suggestions Officers reported the following:-

• That the Workforce Management Audit work was an important area for the Council and was multi-layered involving human resources and workforce elements. The audit on today’s agenda focused on recruitment, the audit in August 2020 will cover other elements of workforce management.

• That the increase to 25 days, an increase of 5 days only, on Main Financial Systems was to cover both CV Grant Assurance work and follow-up from last year’s review. This decision was also influenced by the requirement to meet changes in international areas of reporting standards.

• That the removal of both the Corporate Plan and Priorities and Policy Review audits from this year’s plan was to allow for completion of key internal work on the Corporate Plan itself, delayed by COVID-19. This work included a comprehensive list of priorities and policies; key objectives and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for updating in a timely way. Once this internal work was complete and reviewed by Members the Corporate Plan and Priorities together with Policy Review, would form part of the Internal Audit Workplan for  2021.

• That decisions on work plan content were made between the Internal Auditors, BDO LLP and the Section 151 Officer, following discussions at the Extended Leadership Team meetings, with ultimate approval by the Performance Governance and Audit Committee (PGA).

• That a clear statement be provided in future Progress reports to explain all variations to the work plan going forwards.

The Internal Audit Manager, Ms Donnelly, then took the Committee through the Community Safety Audit. She reported that a comprehensive strategic community safety assessment had been undertaken with all strategic partners involved that identified 5 priorities for 2019/20. Each priority had an action plan, owners and timelines for completion. The Overview and Scrutiny Committee, meeting as Crime & Disorder reviewed progress, with support provided by a monthly task force. It was noted that key roles and responsibilities for community safety were in place, including a Community Safety  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1103