Report of: the internal auditor BDO.

Purpose of report: to inform the Committee on progress against the 2019-20 audit plan.

Recommendation: to discuss and note the report.

The Committee discussed the report of the internal auditor BDO informing the Committee on progress against the 2019-20 audit plan.

Yasmin Ahmed (BDO) introduced the report and answered questions. The planned environmental audit had been delayed to encompass the results of the Citizen’s Assembly and so 15 audit days were carried over to the 2020/21 audit plan to complete this.

The Committee noted that the corporate and service business continuity plans would be updated to cover the ongoing Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak to ensure services were delivered and staff could work safely.

The Committee noted the report, the sector update, and the comments and answers to questions.

Report of: the internal auditor BDO.

Purpose of report: to inform the Committee on progress against the 2019-20 audit plan.

Recommendation: That the Audit and Governance Committee discuss and note the report.

The Committee discussed the report of the internal auditor BDO informing the Committee on progress against the 2019-20 audit plan.

Yasmin Ahmed (BDO) introduced the report and answered questions.

The Committee noted:

·         The changes to the audit plan to March 2020 and that the 2020/21 audit plan would be presented to the next meeting;

·         The opinion and recommendation from the Treasury management review and that the returns to the Council from its investments were slightly above average, operating a risk/reward strategy based on long-term low risk investments.

·         The opinion and three recommendations from the Corporate performance management review considering the current (2016-2020) corporate plan.

• the number of substantial opinions issued with no limited opinions;
• the provisional 2020/21 local government funding settlement (published on 20 December) contained no surprises but there were substantial long-term risks;
• the NHS’s national business rates challenge had been unsuccessful but they may appeal: if successful this would have reduced the Council’s business rates income by about £13m pa.

The Committee considered the report, findings, and recommendations from the review of Events Management and noted:

·         There should be a formal policy and procedures to ensure risk assessments were carried out and there were enough staff to manage events. At present there were arrangements to properly assess risks and no indication that there were any safety risks due to a shortage of appropriate staff.

·         The Monitoring Officer had concerns about the events team giving advice and the possibility of inadvertently overstepping their roles or giving misleading information: she advised that there should be more input from the legal team.

·         There were concerns about the Events Team’s capacity to manage their responsibilities, given their commitments, and the committee wished to discuss the follow-up actions with the team’s manager.

The Committee noted the report and the comments and answers to questions.

The Committee asked that the Events Team Manager attend the next meeting to discuss the audit findings and recommendations.

Report of: the internal auditor BDO.

Purpose of report: to inform the Committee on progress against the 2019-20 audit plan.

Recommendation: to discuss and note the report.

Report to follow.

The Committee considered the report of the internal auditor (BDO) informing the Audit and Governance Committee of progress made against the 2019/20 internal audit plan.

Gurpreet Dulay and Yasmin Ahmed (BDO) presented the report and answered questions on the final audit summaries.

(a)  Collection Fund

The Committee noted the summary and the recommendations. 

(b)  Health and Safety

The Committee noted that all medium and low risk properties would have an up to date fire risk assessment by the end of January 2020. Assessments for high risk properties were all up to date. The staff induction process had been revised to ensure that these were fully completed in good time.

(c)  IT General Controls

The Committee noted the summary and the recommendations.

(d)  Investment Properties (2018/19 audit)

The Committee noted that the Council has investments with funds managing property portfolios and had no direct control over these properties. The governance around, and allocations to, investments were regularly reviewed.

Arrears had reduced as a result of better reporting on arrears and monthly meetings between the asset management and debtor teams to agree actions. The debtor team’s resilience had been improved.

(e)  Elections

Anita Bradley (Head of Law and Governance) reminded the Committee that the elections team’s priority was to ensure that all polling stations were staffed on the day. Prospective staff would be asked to complete training before being placed on the reserve list for appointments. Voluntary groups hiring out their venues as polling stations should not be faced with complex billing processes.

The Committee noted the report and the large number of ‘substantial’ opinions issued.

The Committee asked that in future the report includes the management response to medium and high risk findings.

Report of: the internal auditor BDO.

Purpose of report: to inform the Committee on progress against the 2019-20 audit plan.

Recommendation: to discuss and note the report.

The Committee considered the report of the internal auditor BDO including progress against the 2019-20 audit plan and the summary reports of the audits of Accounts Payable and Contract Management.

Yasmin Ahmed (BDO) presented the report and answered questions.

The Committee agreed to note the report.