Agenda item

The report was introduced by the Interim Head of Corporate Resources who reported the two outstanding reports from 2012/13 had now been completed. He said work was progressing on the 2013/14 Audit Plan and he pointed out the deletions and additions to the Plan, as well as noting a review of the approach to continuous auditing would coincide with the Oracle finance system upgrade and new reporting tool.

The Head of Technology and Transformation addressed the Panel on the Disaster Recovery for ICT and Third Party Access reports. He said the Council has embarked on an ambitious plan to link Business Continuity Plans with Disaster Recovery for ICT and comply with ISO 20731. Fifteen primary systems had been identified and all Council Directorates had been surveyed for their expectations in terms of recovery targets. However emergent Public Service Network security arrangements had proved absolutely overwhelming and no focus was able to be given to the audit. As a result, officers were now predicting two years, rather than a few months, would be required to fully align Business Continuity Planning and Disaster Recovery.

The Chair asked why the Council had 220 servers and was not more committed to cloud computing. The Head of Technology and Transformation said the Council did make some use of cloud computing and would increase usage over time but owing to commitments in the Capita contract it was not logical to abandon reliance on servers. Any cloud solution embraced by Capita during the term of the current contract would benefit that company rather than the Council.

Councillor Ingleby asked for more information on Third Party Access and was informed 6 out of 11 overdue recommendations had been implemented and two superseded. Again, Public Service Network requirements were the cause of the delays.

The Chair asked for an update on the photocopier contract and was told by the Head of Technology and Transformation that next year the Council would be able to move away from a demand driven regime to one where resources were strictly rationed.

Councillor Mallory asked if the cleaning contract needed to be reassigned given the lack of monitoring of the contract. Mr Chris Harris of Baker Tilly stated the monitoring of the contract was insufficient and would be followed up until attended to, with regular meetings and feedback being arranged. The Chair asked that the relevant Head of Service be asked to give a written update on the cleaning contract at the next meeting.

Mr Webb highlighted an apparent lack of progress in implementing the 2013-14 Plan. In response, Mr Chris Harris acknowledged implementation was behind target but was at a more advanced stage than at the same time last year. The Interim Head of Corporate Resources confirmed steps the position is being closely monitored and assurances were given by the contractor that sufficient resources were in place to ensure the timely completion of the Plan, subject to no significant delays on the Council side.

The Chair noted the additional financial function responsibilities which had been allotted to the Interim Head of Corporate Resources (formerly Head of Audit & Risk) and reported he had asked the Internal Audit Contract Manager, Julie Hetherington, to attend the next meeting. When questioned, the two Independent members in attendance indicated they would reserve judgement on the robustness of the new arrangements until they had assessed the Internal Audit Contract Manager’s presentation. The Chair advised the Panel that they would consider the Audit Charter at their next meeting.

RESOLVED

that the report be noted.