To enable the committee to consider the findings of an internal audit report on the project management of the refurbishment of Blueschool House and the main issues arising and to provide assurance that action has been taken where necessary.

The chief finance officer introduced the report. The internal audit report had confirmed that officers had not followed set procedures and that consequently the council could not be certain that value for money had been achieved in the project to refurbish Blueschool House. The chief finance officer apologised for the failings that had been exposed.

The report made 13 recommendations. The management team had fully accepted the findings of the report and the recommendations made. The chief finance officer ran through each of the recommendations and noted that action planned in response to each action including the development of new policies and procedures, updating existing policies and procedures or reinforce policies and procedures through training.

The committee thanked the internal auditor for their work and noted that the report was clear and easy to follow. The committee expressed concern and disappointment at the conclusions. In summary the committee queried:

·         whether the culture of the organisation was a contributory factor;

·         where pressure had come from to deliver the project to a particular timescale;

·         whether this was a one-off or whether other projects could be relied upon to deliver good value;

·         how to restore trust and confidence in officers and the council as a whole;

·         what oversight was in place for decisions delegated to officers;

·         how and why the accommodation programme board was dissolved without a replacement project board for the Blueschool House project being put in place; and

·         whether a peer review process might be beneficial

It was noted that an independently led HR investigation was ongoing and that an internal control improvement board had been established to oversee the implementation of the recommendations in the audit report.

The chief executive made a statement in which he:

·         apologised unreservedly for what had taken place

·         accepted all the recommendations made by the auditors

·         noted the importance of having confidence and trust in officers and emphasised that the council’s 1200 employees should not all be cast in the same light following the report which had found a very small number of employees had breached council policy and procedure

·         asserted that the majority of projects were delivered on time and on budget

·         stated that there had been some pressure on timescales for the project but this was not unusual and not an excuse for failure to follow procedures

·         stated that the decision as to whether disciplinary action should be taken against any officers involved would be taken once the HR investigation was completed, and in compliance with the council’s HR policies.

The chief finance officer confirmed that where bespoke delegations were made to named officers or posts these were not subject to further delegation. Other delegations which related to operational or proper officer responsibilities attached to senior posts were subject to delegation according to the published schemes of delegation.

The chairman of the committee noted that the audit report was very clear and that the recommendations had been accepted in full by the management board. Following the implementation of the recommendations the internal auditor  ...  view the full minutes text for item 238