Agenda item
Quarterly Assurance Report
To consider the work of Internal Audit for the period September 2015 to November 2015.
Minutes:
The Head of Audit and Risk Management introduced the report which summarised the internal audit work undertaken in the period September - November 2015, and reported the assurance rating of each audit finalised in this period.
The Committee noted that:
- 16 audits had been completed, of which four had returned a limited assurance.
- Performance and outcomes of follow-up audits had improved.
- Appendix 3 reported 2 (priority 1) recommendations relating to monitoring mainstream grants for luncheon clubs which remained to be implemented at the date of the meeting. These data were provided iin response to Members’ requests at the previous meeting (23 September 2015)
Quarterly audits that returned a limited assurance
Monitoring of Public Health Contracts for smoking cessation, healthy start vitamins, and health trainers
The Head of Audit and Risk Management introduced the item informing members that the audit had returned a limited assurance because of the following issues:
- Generic monitoring arrangements were operated
- More focus was needed on outputs and outcomes monitoring
- Some contracts were unsigned
- Risk assessments were required to be better focused
The Director of Public Health responded to the issues raised and informed the Committee that:
- There had been some flux as the directorate was in the process of transitioning from NHS into the Council's processes
- A contracts check list had been developed to ensure compliance with the Council's contract processes
- A risk assessment framework for each contract with deadlines had been introduced. The deadline for responses was January 2016
- A performance scorecard had been introduced which was monitored quarterly
- All except 4 outstanding contracts had been signed
Responding to Members’ questions the Director of Public Health also informed the Committee that:
- Quarterly meetings with Contracts Lead Officers were carried out to monitor compliance of contracts and to ensure that contract requirements were met
- Officers were tasked to ensure that contracts were kept up-to-date
- Strategies to ensure that Barts contracts compliant were being investigated
- Quarterly meetings with Contract Leads were used to monitor contracts and ensure that requirements had been met
- A monitoring timetable with deadlines was to be incorporated into the monitoring processes to ensure that expiring contracts were renewed without a need for interim extensions.
Highways Repairs and Maintenance Work
The Head of Audit and Risk Management introduced the item informing the Committee that a limited assurance had been returned as:
- Procedures needed to be updated
- There were software issues
- Some audit trails of chargeable works were incomplete
- Some KPI’s were incomplete
The Interim Service Head Public Realm informed the Committee that:
- The issues highlighted had been addressed through a root and branch review of systems
- Some flaws in the reporting system remained because there was no integration between the reporting / monitoring systems and invoicing systems. He noted that this remained a risk until new improved software was installed
- Additional highways work was being undertaken to prevent personal accident insurance claims
- Responsive highways works were being undertaken
- Installation of improved audit software was awaited and, once installed; this would better indicate where works were taking place and associated costs.
Responding to Members’ questions the Interim Service Head Public Realm informed the Committee that:
- The risk level of the non-integrated system was around 10% of the budget
- The issue of non-integration presently was lodged with the Corporate Directors for Resources and CLC to mitigate further risk
- A new processing system had been identified to oversee the value of jobs and contracts commissioned
- The outcomes of the audit had been utilised to add weight to the arguments and mitigations for the risks identified
Controlling and Monitoring of Cash Income and Disbursements
The Head of Audit and Risk Management introduced the item informing Members that the audit had returned a limited assurance because of the following issues:
- Returns submitted by collecting officers were late or had errors which delayed reconciliation
- There were delays in the allocation of funds to the appropriate ledgers
- There was a lack of means to control and monitor the logs
The Chief Accountant responded to the issues raised informing the Committee that:
- Since the audit, the backlog had been almost cleared
- Differences identified in the processing of incomes had been now escalated to different areas of the Finance Team
- The number of errors recorded was significantly reduced. Should errors recur, these will be escalated to the compliance team
- A streamlined system would be implemented
Responding to Members’ questions the Chief Accountant informed the Committee that cash collection took place at across many Council locations therefore it was difficult to centralise cash payments.
Adults and Children Services Petty Cash
The Head of Audit and Risk Management introduced the item informing Members that the audit was a periodic audit of petty cash arrangements in the Council. A limited assurance had been returned because:
- There had been some reimbursements for ultra vires purposes such as travel
- Inconsistencies with the reporting of the petty cash float (unders and overs)
- Records were not reconverted to one value
The Finance Business Partner and Service Heads Children's and Adults’ Resources responded to the issues raised informing the Committee that:
· The audit had identified staff training is an area of risk. This was being addressed
· The number of petty cash arrangements throughout the services would be reduced and those tasked to administer them retrained
· Messages around disciplined administration relating to petty cash arrangements would be promulgated.
Responding to their questions officers informed Members:
- That there would be a key contact for each petty cash account
- The number of petty cash accounts would be reduced
- Procedures around the locations of petty cash funds would be reviewed and appropriate security measures introduced
- The key contacts for the petty cash accounts would be instrumental in changing the culture around appropriate use of petty cash by asking those applying why the petty cash was needed.
RESOLVED
1. That the summary of audits undertaken in the actions reported by officers be noted
2. That the opinion assigned to the systems reviewed for the period be noted
Supporting documents: