Agenda item

The Head of Corporate Resources introduced the report informing members that the overall opinion received was limited but improving for corporate audits, and satisfactory for schools. He said officers did not deliver the whole plan as intended and recognised that more work would be needed going forward. Officers were aware of the gaps to be addressed before next year. He added that the challenging areas were similar to last year's. The Head of Corporate Resources stated that although the internal audit service met the statutory Public Sector Internal Audit Standards (PSIAS), there was a recurring issue. However, it was mitigated by the internal Audit Manager having direct unrestricted access to the Chair of the Audit Panel.

Carole Murray said she was initially concerned that the Head of Audit is also the Head of Corporate Resources, as both roles should be separate. However it was noted that this was a common issue among local authorities, as the role of Head of Audit needs to be sufficiently high profile.

Councillor Ingleby asked if more had been done this year due to the impending changes to the timetable of finalising the financial accounts. The Internal Audit Manager stated that the core financial audits were brought forward to quarter three (Oct-Dec) as a trial, due to the anticipated change. She added that more work had been accomplished this year and only a few audits had been deferred to 2017/18.

Councillor Ingleby asked if officers were now moving towards income generation and whether the newly appointed Income Generation Officer would do this. The Executive Director for Resources and Regeneration said it was still early days, but members would be kept informed.

Panel members said they noted that a number of recommendations for the ICT function had been implemented, with the governance arrangements now fully up and running. They asked if officers were confident that the service would be delivered. The Internal Audit Manager said that work was in progress in relation to governance audit, KPIs and delivery targets for the contract had been sent to both parties. It was noted that disaster recovery had been put in place, and the last time there was a crash recovery was established in 24 hours.

Carole Murray was concerned about the accounts payable and receivable, having limited opinions, and the high number of recommendations for some areas where there was a satisfactory opinion.

The Head of Corporate Resources said that accounts payable had improved, moving from no assurance to limited, and officers were working hard at this. It was noted that the financial systems e.g. separation of duties, and invoices not sent out on time would all be addressed when the new oracle system is in place. The Head of Corporate Resources described the Council’s approach to risk management and related governance within the organisation.

Mr Pleace said members had raised concerns in the past about segregation of duties in the Finance Department and they would need to be assured systems had been put in place to address this. The Head of Financial Services said officers were currently looking at their practices and when the new system is in place Payroll and HR Services would have stronger control. He added that officers were actively reviewing this and discussions had been had with Heads of Services, and the finance team felt assured that this issue would be addressed very soon.

Mr Pleace asked when the new system would be in place, and if the Audit Panel needed to do more to assist officers. The Head of Financial Services said officers were looking at making the transition to oracle next year and thought the Panel would play a role. It was noted that officers were currently in discussion with the company and a report would be brought to the Audit Panel soon.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.