Agenda item

This report details the work undertaken by Internal Audit in the period 1 April to 14 August 2023 and focuses on progress on internal audit coverage relative to the approved internal audit plan, including the number of audit reports issued and finalised – work undertaken by the external provider (Mazars).

Mr Minesh Jani, Head of Audit and Risk Management, presented the item.

The meeting heard that:

•  There were some specific aspects relating to the service in the recommendations that had been raised in respect of the “Limited” assurance assigned to the Community Alarms, but there are some commonalities as well.

•  Regarding the performance management regime, a lot of the Council’s services, especially our social care function services, focused a lot on the delivery of service to residents. Many of whom were known to be vulnerable and relied on the Council. There was a level of trust that went into the delivery of that service. One of the things that had been found was that regime for an analytical process monitoring how well the service was performing at any moment was not always built into the provision of the service. The general focus was to  deliver the service to the best standard possible and this was taken on trust. When the auditors carried out their tests, they had not found too many issues with how the service was being delivered, but did find that the measure of how it was being done was not in place. Although there was some specific focus on certain services, there were some generalities that could be taken away and applied to other aspects.

•  In relation to the charging policy, auditors did raise an issue that there should be more clarity around how this was done, but there were no instances found where the opposite was true. For example, people were paying when actually they should have been eligible for a discount or no payment was needed at all. There seemed to be quite a robust process for assessment. If people believed that they may be entitled to some exemption, then a working process was in place. However, this should be fully documented and tested to make sure that the Council was not doing something out of step with management wishes.

•  In relation to service design, it was important to note that in the Annual Governance Statement, in the introduction, a lot of time was allocated to how much the Council wanted to change, how the services were considered and the provisions that needed to be provided and how the Council engaged with communities, including listening to communities. This was now an integral part of how the organisation wished to proceed.

•  The purpose of the report was to give members an opportunity to see what had been finalised and the work that the auditors had started at the various stages. If the report was at the draft stage, management responses would be expected within two weeks and sometimes this could get extended, particularly during the summer, but the process involved auditors issuing a report with management responding within two weeks and then, if there was a question or queries around the content, it would contribute to the final version of the report. If there were any specific audits that the Committee wished to ensure were progressed, then an attempt could be made to bring those to the next meeting.

•  The report outlined audits at the “terms of reference” issued at the planning stage. These were audits where the auditors had been in discussion with management of what the key areas of risks were and produced a document (or a planning document) as a terms of reference. This set up what actions would be taken. This was the first stage of the audit. This then progressed to field work which was when the system was tested. Once this was finished, a draft report was produced. The draft report was then sent to management to allow for any identification of differences of opinion. The report included recommendations for improvement. Management would then be able to provide their comments. Once this was completed, the final report was produced and brought to the Committee.

•  Mazars had their auditors carrying out the relevant audits. The issue with commercial property was a point of focus due to the “Nil” assurance attained on the previous examination. There was an expectation that actions had been taken to improve controls. Another point of focus was in relation to contract management, Mr Jani was happy to go and speak to Mazars about certain key reports to see if it was possible for the reports to be finalised by the November meeting. These would be for sheltered accommodation, commercial property and contract management.

•  In relation to adaptations specifically, the analyst services was on the audit plan for this year. It had not got to a point where it had been planned in (they had not received a terms of reference yet).

•  In relation to lettings, the audit was either on the path to being completed or had been planned to be completed. Further clarification would be provided in due course. The audit plan was not fixed from the start of the year and changes could be made to it if certain important areas were to become more apparent in importance.

•  Members agreed to bring forward a new audit on temporary accommodation, lettings and allocations. Voids was part of a different directorate but was worth detailing.

•  Work being done regarding moves from voids to lettings.

•  Voids may be in the plan for this year and a query would be made to check this.

•  Some work was in progress regarding putting more governance in place for housing.

•  There were two separate audits regarding parking. One was a post-implementation review of the parking system. The purpose of this was to learn lessons from the implementation which had not gone as well as it should have and led to a number of issues. Another audit was looking at the arrangements the Council had for permits as issues had been identified this area. Receipts would be obtained for the permits issued and there was also an anti fraud aspect to the process as it was suspected that some of the permits were being sold by individuals. Papers regarding this would be submitted to a future committee.

•  Leisure services was on the plan, but it had not yet advanced to the planning stage.

RESOLVED:

To note the audit coverage and follow up work completed.