Mr Paul Rock, Head of Internal Audit, Fraud and Risk introduced this report stating that the report provided an update on the progress made against the delivery of the 2019/20 Annual Internal Audit Plan, as well as the current counter fraud performance and audits which have received limited assurance ratings.

Mr Rock said written responses had been obtained from Service Heads who were unable to attend the meeting and these had been circulated to members. Ms Runa Basit, was present to answer questions in relation to the limited assurance attained by the Guardian Angels School and Mr Roger Jones was present for questions relating to the Debtors Systems Audit.

Mr Rock referred Members to paragraph 3.18 and said the recruitment of an independent person was underway with shortlisting and interviews occurring in November 2019. Mr Rock said he hoped the independent person would be in place by the Committee’s January meeting.

In response to questions from Members the following was noted:

·         Guardian Angels School - The executive headteacher appointed to the Guardian Angels School, is the headteacher of St Anne’s school. This is the school proposed to merge with Guardian Angels. Members questioned if the merger was appropriate given the financial circumstances of the school and the possible risk of debt to St Anne’s. Ms Basit responded stating the Diocese of Westminster had been consulted and the proposed amalgamation was not the sole decision of the Local Authority. The matter was out for consultation and any merger would be dependent on the findings of the consultation. The Council had reviewed the recommendations in the audit report with the Tower Hamlets Education Partnership to identify learning for the wider system. There were triggers in place to ensure financial standards were robust and adhered to by all schools but this was an exceptional case.

·         Client Monitoring of Fire Safety in Residential Dwellings – a written response had been provided by Ms Karen Swift, Divisional Director for Housing and Regeneration, with a promise a further update would be given to the Committee at the next meeting.

·         Management and Control of Electronic Parking Income – a written response had been provided by Mr Dan Jones, Divisional Director for Public Realm, with a promise a further update would be given to the Committee at the next meeting.

·         Request for Quotation (RFQ) system – Mr Kevin Bartle, Interim Divisional Director for Finance, Procurement and Audit stated that the Procurement team had achieved a substantial rating in terms of procedure and process however the issue lie with the Directorates and their management of tendering contracts. Mr Bartle said the Procurement Board was meeting next week and he would ask that this matter be raised with Corporate and Divisional Directors. The Chair requested the Chief Executive should reinforce the message of using the RFQ system.

·         Debtors Systems Audit - Mr Roger Jones, Head of Revenue Services said the disparity between the value of invoices raised and the collection rate was an issue his department had been working hard to rectify. The hope was to centralise the income system and replace Agresso, but no decision had been made regarding which system to replace it with. Work was on-going to consolidate the Adult Social Care system to align with the current system and to reduce the amount of mismatched invoices and raise collection rates. Members queried why an overpayment was written off as ‘unenforceable’ and were informed this was a coding error.

·         Right to Work Compliance - a written response had been provided by Mr Steven Tinkler, Interim Head of Business Support. In response to questions from Members, Mr Neville Murton, Corporate Director for Resources clarified the responsibility of this check was now with the Business Support Hub which had been set up approximately a year ago.

The Committee RESOLVED to:

1.    Note the contents of this report and the overall progress and assurance provided, as well as the findings/assurance of individual reports.

2.    Note the outcome of the self-assessment against the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards and the associated action plan.

3.    Approve the Council’s revised and prioritised internal audit plan for 2019/20.