To be assured that the level and range of activity within the proposed annual internal audit plan is sufficient to provide assurance over the council’s corporate governance arrangements;

To ensure the council complies with recommended best practice as set out in the PSIAS; and

To approve the internal audit charter for the period 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020.

The head of internal audit presented the report.   

Following a query from a member of the committee, it was confirmed that with the exception of one member of staff, none of the SWAP employees had previously been employed by Herefordshire Council. 

With regard to the internal audit plan for 2019/20, the following points were raised during the discussion.

·        The audit into the SWTP be the first audit of the plan.  

·        The audit into DRP projects be included and repeatedly as it was the largest capital expenditure over the next few years.   It was confirmed that the governance arrangements for the DRP would be looked at during 2019/20.   It was further noted that there were other councils working with Keepmoat and Engie and it would be sensible to see if the learning from those councils could be brought into the audit.

·        The independent reviewing officer service (IRO) audit was a priority as it had been raised as a serious issue during the extraordinary council meeting.

·        That the recruitment of social workers would be an appropriate topic for review.

RESOLVED

That

(a)   the proposed internal audit plan 2019-20 at appendix A be noted; and

(b)   the internal audit charter at appendix B be approved