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 assure the committee that action is being taken on risk related issues identified by internal audit. This is monitored through acceptance of agreed management actions and progress updates in implementing the action plans. In addition, occasions where audit actions not accepted by management are documented if it is considered that the course of action proposed by management presents a risk in terms of the effectiveness of or compliance with the council’s control environment.

The Director of Continuous Improvement (DCI), South West Audit Partnership SWAP) introduced the report, the following principals point were noted;

·       The indicative opinion was of reasonable assurance, with a sound system of governance, risk management and control in place.

·       No high organisational risks had been identified.

·       Six audit reviews had been completed since the last progress report.

·       Customer satisfaction continued to increase with recent surveys having feedback of succeeds expectations.

·       There had been no limited or no assurance audits issued since the last committee in June

·       The committee were reminded of their access to Auditboard where they could access full audit reports on any reports.

·       Progress had been made with action tracking with historic or those actions no longer relevant having been cleansed. It was noted that 88 actions remained but these would likely be reduced once managers had updated SWAP on their progression. Swap would be responsible for coordinating, tracking and monitoring actions, the DCI emphasised they were not responsible for the completion of the actions.

In response to committee questions, it was noted;

1.     The DCI would look to incorporate place holders against risks where no coverage had been identified to provide the committee with some indication of when they are likely to be reviewed.

2.     The Head of Strategic Finance (HSF) highlighted that where an item features on the strategic risk register, it did not automatically mean that it would be included in the audit coverage because they could have mitigating risks against them that were being managed naturally through risk management arrangements and would only require internal audit to review if it was deemed something that needed extra focus as part of their rolling programme. The registers would be looked at ahead of the September meeting to ensure there is assurance over the coverage which enables the committee to challenge areas that did not receive internal audit focus.

3.     An explanation of a non-opinion audit was provided.

4.     The HSF re-emphasised the DCI introductory comments that the process of tracking actions had changed, that whilst it appeared that many actions were still outstanding it was thought this was due to action tracking being out of date opposed to the delivery of the activity. The council is very much focused on completing these actions and this should be evidenced in the next report.

The chair thanked the DCI for his contributions to the committee as the principal auditor would now be taking a leading role moving forward.

Resolved that the committee;

(a) Reviewed the areas of activity and concern and were satisfied that necessary improvements are outlined and delivered;

(b) Noted the report and considered the assurances provided and the recommendations which the report makes, commenting on its content as necessary.

Action(s)

2023/24-037 The DCI would look to incorporate place holders against risks where no coverage had been identified to provide the committee with some indication of when they are likely to be reviewed.