Issue - meetings
Quarterly Assurance report
Meeting: 23/01/2018 - Audit Committee (Item 4)
4 Quarterly Internal Audit Assurance report PDF 299 KB
Minutes:
Minesh Jani, Service Head for Risk Management presented the Quarterly Internal Management report covering the period of September 2017 to December 2017.
The report set out the assurance rating for each audit finalised in the period and gave an overall assurance rating. He made reference to page 28 and the table which showed the total number of audit’s conducted and the assurance level they had achieved. He also referred Members to the table on page 29, 6.1 which showed how the internal audit service was performing against KPI indicators and the targets achieved.
88% of Priority 1 Audit recommendations had been implemented and 87% of Priority 2 recommendations had also been implemented.
Members of the Committee heard further from the Officer in the following services:
Management and Control of Corporate Purchase Cards
Neville Murton, Divisional Director for Finance, Procurement and Audit informed Committee Members a considerable amount of work had been done to decrease the use of Purchase Cards.
The complete process of how Purchase Cards are issued and to whom plus guidance on their usage had all been reviewed and processes had been tightened and cross matched with the Council’s accounting system Agresso.
This had made the whole process more robust and all existing and new Purchase Card Holders were required to sign new conditions for use. Whilst the Council was moving away from using Purchase Cards, there are areas of the Council where usage of the Purchase Cards allows them extra flexibility to purchase goods and services.
Members made the following comments:
· Is there a limit on the number of card holders in each team and in the organisation as a whole?
· Have staff been made aware of reclaiming VAT on purchases.
· Members were pleased to see a reduction in the usage of Purchase Cards and the amount expended and NOTED there would be a follow up Audit in six months.
Monitoring and Delivery of Economic Benefits
Vicky Clark, Divisional Director for Growth and Economic Development stated she welcomed the internal audit report and the recommendations made therein. She said in relation to recommendation 1 and 5, the policy, procedures and processes had been reviewed and the Council was looking to ensure Social Value principles were embedded into contracts.
With regard to recommendation 2, this was an ongoing exercise. High value contracts had been scrutinised however the challenge now was to examine the low end contracts. Recommendation 3 and 4 required further work and engagement with Contract Managers.
Members made the following comments:
· Are you confident you can move forward from the current position once the social value toolkit has been embedded into processes and procedures?
· With regard to Economic Growth and Benefit, who has ownership of this area? Which Directorate is responsible?
· It would be useful for future Committee meetings if information on how much each programme is delivering in terms of social value can be provided.
· How is the work of the Economic Growth and Development team communicated to others?
Establishment Control – Follow up ... view the full minutes text for item 4