Agenda item

Andy Dalecki, Head of Internal Audit presented a report which provided an update on the Internal Audit Service's work and outcomes for 2021/22, for the period to 30 June 2022. The committee was informed that the date in Table 4.4 should have read 30 June 2022.

In response to queries from members, it was highlighted that:

·  For the 96 audits with follow-up work scheduled for 2022-23, completion dates were in place to monitor services' actions.

·  There were different levels within audit assurances, so an audit may receive moderate assurance even with areas of high risk identified. For example, the audit of the council's Disclosure and Barring Service Policy and Process.

·  The Bank Mandate Special Investigation was carried out instead of an audit, following a near miss incident of mandate fraud. The investigation led to a number of improvement recommendations being made to strengthen the council's controls.

·  The scope of the audit on the Facilities Management Cleaning Service had covered the service's cleaning strategy, resource and budget planning, and performance standards and monitoring. As such, it had not included a value for money assessment.

·  The Corporate Performance Management report to Cabinet on 9 June 2022 had included information on sickness absence level across the whole council. Further details on the audit of sickness absence management in the Older People Service and the actions agreed could be shared with members after the meeting.

·  Work was ongoing to introduce a better follow-up report for all internal audits completed so that, in the future, the information provided on page 313 on follow-up work could be expanded.

The committee thanked Andy for the level of detail provided, which could also help to inform the work of the Overview and Scrutiny Committees.

Resolved: That the Internal Audit Progress Report be noted.