Agenda item
Internal Audit and Anti-Fraud Progress Report
- Meeting of Audit Committee, Thursday, 31st January, 2019 6.30 p.m. (Item 5.1)
- View the background to item 5.1
Minutes:
Mr Steven Tinkler, Interim Head of Audit and Risk Management, introduced this report stating the report provided an update on the progress made against the delivery of the 2018-19 Annual Audit Plan, as well as the current counter fraud performance and audits which have received limited assurance ratings.
Mr Tinkler highlighted to the Committee that the Council had appointed BDO to support the delivery of the 18/19 audit plan. BDO would specifically be concentrating on the delivery of school, specialist ICT and system related audits.
In particular Mr Tinkler referred members to paragraph 4.8 of the report and stated the internal audit team had been commissioned by the Chief Executive to provide a lesson’s learnt report on the recent move of Tower Hamlets Homes to Boatman House.
Mr Tony Qayum referred Members to the tabled information in paragraph 5.2 of the report as well as paragraphs 5.3, 5.4 and 5.5.of the report. Mr Qayum said the Cabinet Office data matches as part of the National Fraud Initiative (NFI) had just been received and officers within his team would be working through approximately 25,000 matches.
In response to questions from Members the following was noted:
o ACTION: It would be useful for new Members of the Committee to receive a presentation on the National Fraud Initiative.
o ACTION: Can a report be provided on the progress made by those services areas who reported a limited assurance and have attended before this Committee.
· Mr Tony Qayum stated the council had raised awareness in relation to Social Housing Fraud and would continue to work with the Communications team to this end. Mr Qayum also confirmed the team had retrieved 45 homes which had been fraudulently let and were on target to achieve 50 homes by the end of the financial year.
· Mr Qayum confirmed referrals to the anti-fraud team come via various channels including referrals from Tower Hamlets Homes. Mr Qayum said he expected a spike in identifying new cases, especially as the NFI match results would need to be further investigated.
· Mr Qayum confirmed other social landlords, other than Tower Hamlets Homes were included in the figures. Mr Qayum said the RSL have trained investigators who operate in a similar way to the Council’s team.
· Mr Qayum also asked Members to note a correction at 5.2 and said the Right to buy figure should state 10 rather than 107.
Members of the Committee also heard from each Service Area Director where a limited assurance had been given.
Framework-i
Mr David Jones. Interim Divisional Director for Adult Social Care stated the issues highlighted in the internal Audit report had been responded to by way of an action plan which was finalised at the beginning of January 2019.
He said teams within Adult Social Care were in a process of restructure with the aim of bringing together the brokerage and integrated social work teams plus the commissioning teams. He said work was ongoing to improve the workflow and processes in place. With regard to Framework-i this system was being phased out and would be replaced by Mosaic. Mr Jones said a number of elements needed to come together to ensure the transition of the service and changes to workflow by the end of March 2019.
In response to questions raised by Members, Mr Jones explained the mismatch of Purchase Orders could be as a result of several factors including the care package initially procured for a client costing more and/or social workers working to ensure a care package is in place, however not following through on process and updating Framework-i .
In response to why the Mosaic software would be any better, Mr Jones explained that the majority of local authorities used Mosaic as Framework-i was out dated. He said the benefits of using Mosaic was that it is designed to support the requirements of the Care Act 2015 and had the ability to connect with the software and databases used by Health professionals.
Mr Jones also confirmed staff would be provided with relevant training to use the Mosaic software. Mr Jones said that the current restructure and workflows were in preparation for the move to Mosaic.
Youth Service
Ms Sandjea-Marie Green, Head of Youth Services stated the Youth Service had been restructured in 2017 and the weaknesses identified by the internal audit report were a reflection of the poor systems in place at the time. Ms Green said a third of the staff cohort had been replaced and work to improve the service was progressing.
In response to questions Ms Green said there were no clear written procedures on how to manage staff and as such the Green Book had been updated.
In relation to Declarations of Interest (DOI’s) from a recruitment perspective, staff complete a questionnaire declaring their DOI’s before starting work. However from a delivery perspective more needs to be done to ensure DOI’s are updated when staff take on additional employment. Ms Green said the service was moving from an outputs model to an outcomes model and training was being provided to staff to use the HR self-service to report changes in their DOI’s.
Ms Green also highlighted that 7 out of 8 Youth hubs did not have ICT connectivity however she was working with the ICT team to rectify this by the end of March 2019.
Ms Green verified the audit was conducted in June 2018 and the report was made available in September 2018. In response to Member questions as to if the audit would be followed up, Mr Tinkler confirmed that it would be. Mr Tinkler also stated that the action plan for the Youth Service was agreed earlier this month, so any follow up would occur in June/July 2019, with a report coming to the Committee in September 2019.
Management and Control of Dangerous Structures
Mr David Williams, Deputy Divisional Director for Planning and Building Control said the internal audit report was welcomed especially has the team worked in a busy and competitive field. He said that whilst the management and control of dangerous structures was conducted in an efficient manner clearly there had been lapses in process to ensure paperwork is completed to the desired standard. Mr Williams stated that out of the eight recommendations made, four were high priority, of which two had been put into place immediately. Mr Williams said his team was working with the legal department to resolve the issues surrounding the scheme of delegation, which he hoped would be concluded soon.
In response to questions from Members, Mr Williams said there was no risk in terms of the team’s response to dangerous structures. Building control operates a 24-hour call out service and assessments of structures are made quickly, working with contractors to ensure the safety of the structure as well as the risk to the public.
Mr John McGeary, Head of Building Control added that the team consisted of four very experienced officers however as the Audit report had identified more needed to be done to ensure paperwork is completed.
Mr McGeary said an emergency number was on the council website which members of the public could call to report a dangerous structure.
In response to a question from a Member, Mr McGeary confirmed dangerous structures did not include playground equipment which was the responsibility of the Parks team.
In response to why an Audit had been conducted to look at the management and control of Dangerous Structures, Mr Tinkler confirmed this was part of the Audit Plan for 2017/18.
Members also enquired about the dangerous structure on the corner of Burdett Road and St Paul’s Way, which led to a fatality when bricks fell onto a woman from a construction site. Mr McGeary confirmed officers from Building Control were present at the site, on the day however as this was a construction site accident the Health and Safety Executive were responsible for the investigation of the accident.
In response to if cladding on buildings was considered as dangerous structures Mr McGeary stated he was part of a task force who had complied a database of structures where ACM (Aluminium Composite Material) cladding had been used and work was on-going.
Member of the Committee RESOLVED to NOTE:
1. The contents of the report and took into account the assurance opinion assigned to the systems reviewed during the period.
Supporting documents: