To update members on the progress of internal audit work and to bring to their attention any key internal control issues arising from work recently completed. To enable the committee to monitor performance of the internal audit team against the approved plan.

The Assistant Director, South West Audit Partnership (SWAP) advised the committee that SWAP provided the internal audit service to the council and made the following comments about the cycle of internal audit activity: the internal audit plan would be updated bi-annually to ensure that the plan was agile and reflected changing risks and corporate priorities; a progress report would be provided quarterly, including an indicative opinion in terms of the internal control environment; and an annual report would be provided to summarise the work undertaken during the year and to provide an opinion on overall arrangements, as well as key recommendations.

The Assistant Director drew attention to the ‘Report on Internal Audit Activity, Quarter 4 2022/23’ (Appendix A to the report) and highlighted the following:

i.             46 assignments had been completed;

ii.            internal audit work was on track to deliver an annual audit opinion;

iii.          the indicative annual audit opinion for 2022/23 was ‘reasonable’;

iv.          100 actions had been identified to date and agreed with the client;

v.           the overall coverage of strategic risks and corporate objectives had been assessed as ‘adequate’ at this point;

vi.          advisory and special investigation work was being undertaken;

vii.         there were no high corporate risks identified in the quarter but control assurance was ‘limited’ in relation to Registration Services, Housing Solutions, and the Leavers Process with details to be reported to the next meeting of the committee;

viii.       SWAP would be migrating to a new audit management system in Quarter 2 2023/24 which would provide real-time dashboards to officers and members; and

ix.          Annex 2 (agenda pages 32 - 37) provided a table of audits by status.

In response to questions, the Assistant Director advised that:

1.           The committee could seek assurance that the identified risks had been mitigated in terms of the audits with limited opinions.

2.           The details of the special investigations would remain confidential until the end of formal processes.

3.           Training would be provided for committee members on the new dashboards in due course.

Resolved:  That the committee

a)      has reviewed the areas of activity and concern and is satisfied that necessary improvements have been outlined; and

b)      has noted the report and has considered the assurances provided and the recommendations which the report makes.

Action(s)

2023/24-001   That training be provided to committee members on the new audit management system dashboards.