Agenda item

The Group Manager (Audit/Risk) presented the report. He said that the Committee was being requested to note the 2011/2012 Outturn Report and to approve the Audit Plan 2012/13.

84% of the 2011/2012 plan had been completed and 16% had been cancelled or rescheduled because of unplanned work and sickness absence. Members requested that future reports should include the performance for previous years so that comparisons could be made and trends identified.

Cllr Sandry said that he was impressed by the amount of work done and by the percentage of audit recommendations accepted.

Cllr Curran asked why Clutton School, which had only implemented 50% of audit recommendations, was assessed as 4, whereas Oldfield Park Junior School, which had 88% of recommendations, was only 3. The Group Manager (Audit/Risk) replied that the assessment reflected both the proportion of recommendations accepted and the remaining risk; a follow-up visit was always made if high-risk issues remained.

Cllr Curran asked about the rescheduling of work relating to planning applications, appeals and enforcement and to Equalities. The Group Manager (Risk/Audit) replied that the planning work included section 106 and section 38 issues and would have consumed a great deal of the resource available. The Equalities work had been rescheduled following a discussion with the Divisional Director of Policy and Partnership, who had highlighted a high-risk area which Internal Audit had agreed to prioritise.

John Barker asked how the Internal Audit review of Key Control Areas related to the work of the External Auditor. The Group Manager (Audit/Risk) replied that the reference was to Key Control Areas of the individual service, which would not necessarily impact at the corporate level.

Cllr Laming asked whether the audit assessments were independent. The Group Manager (Audit/Risk) replied that Internal Audit was independent of the services it assessed. The Strategic Director – Resources added that it was important to understand the various roles in the corporate governance framework; Internal Audit reported directly to the S151 Officer and to the Chief Executive. It was hoped that Internal Audit would be both independent and informed about the work of the various services.

The Group Manager (Audit/Risk) then outlined the audit plan for 2012/2013. He said that 81 projects were planned based on the risk assessment process. The highest risk areas would generally be reviewed first. Time was also allocated for follow-up reviews.

Cllr Macrae said that he had some concern about the plan being in the public domain and available to all employees, who would be able to have some knowledge of when their service would be reviewed. The Group Manager (Risk/Audit) responded that the services were fully involved in the audit planning process; discussions were held with managers about the risks in their areas and managers should also regularly report any irregularities which occurred. The Divisional Director – Risk and Assurance reminded Members that there had been three redundancies in Internal Audit. A couple of years ago 100 audit projects had been included in the plan, and days had been set aside for unplanned work. Now there was a need for greater focus through the risk-based approach and it was essential to use all available working days productively. The Strategic Director – Resources said that care was needed when considering any further reductions in the resources of Internal Audit. If a significant issue arose he would discuss with the Divisional Director – Risk and Assurance whether temporary additional resources could be provided.

Cllr Simmons asked about the implications of the ending of the outsourcing of IT management to Mouchel. The Divisional Director – Risk and Assurance said that the contract had one more year to run; the audit arrangements for the future in-house service would be reviewed. The Strategic Director – Resources added that the fact that the Council had retained the ownership of IT assets would help make the transition to in-house IT management smoother.

RESOLVED

  i.  to note the summary of audit work during 2011/2102;

  ii.  to approve the Internal Audit Plan for 2012/13.