Agenda item

The HIA introduced the report and informed Members that progress on the 23-24 internal audit plan currently stood at sixteen percent, and whilst this wasn’t ideal at this stage, the land charges report was expected at the December meeting. The HIA stated that finalising the 22-23 reported had impacted the delivery of the 23-24 plan, but officers were now catching-up with in-year tasks. She added that the post-implementation review of the new finance system had just been completed, and this could be expected at the December meeting. On the follow-up section of the report, it was noted that officer responses had been sought where outstanding recommendations remained.

Questions and Discussion

       i.          Cllr C Cushing referred to outstanding audit recommendations where some had been revised up to seven times, and stated that he had little confidence that recommendation deadlines wouldn’t continue to be revised. The CE replied that significant progress had been made on resolving outstanding recommendations, and he was confident that the Planning recommendation revised seven times would soon be resolved. He added that the Civil Contingencies recommendations had been delayed due to sickness absence, but it was hoped that these would be resolved by the end of the year, with no factors limiting the Council’s ability to respond to incidents. It was noted that waste management recommendations had been caught up with some aspects of the Government’s anticipated Waste Strategy, but he was happy to seek an update on whether the outstanding audit recommendations could be resolved within a reasonable timeframe, given that the Waste Strategy had been delayed. The CE stated that the Council’s car park management contract was under review, and recommendations relating to penalty notices would be impacted by the outcome of the review. Cllr C Cushing referred to civil contingencies recommendations, and asked whether this was now being progressed by an officer, or whether a further revision could be expected. The CE replied that he could not provide any further information beyond what was provided in the report, but it was his understanding that a report was expected at the December meeting.

      ii.          Cllr C Cushing referred to monthly bank reconciliations and asked whether this should be upgraded from an important to an urgent recommendation, given that it had a tangible financial impact. The CE replied that it wasn’t possible to change audit assurance gradings, however there would be a risk assessment on cash receipts and income received, where it was expected that this would be highlighted on an annual basis. Cllr C Cushing noted that the current due date was approximately three weeks away, and asked whether officers were confident that the actions would be completed by the end of September. The CE replied that he had not discussed the matter with relevant officers so could not provide an answer at this time, but had confidence that officers would complete the required tasks.

     iii.          Cllr S Penfold stated that it would be helpful to gain certainty on some of the outstanding recommendations, then noted that in two separate parts of the report it referred to the audit taking 171 and 176 days, and requested clarification. The HIA replied that Internal Audit had retained five days to undertake consultative work on risk management which would not be delivered by TIAA, and was not therefore included in the earlier section of the audit plan.

    iv.          Cllr A Brown referred to PSIP recommendations and stated that work was expected to be completed by spring 2024, and an increase of planning fees was expected, though attempts to ringfence this had so far been rejected. He added that the Council was also unable to set its own planning fees, taking into account local market conditions.

      v.          The Chairman referred to outstanding actions and noted that the Business Continuity Plan was expected to come to the Committee in December, and asked that it be added to the Committee’s work programme. He added that no management response or update had been provided for the Environmental Health audit and asked if this could be provided as a written response. The HIA confirmed that she would seek a written response to share with the Committee via email. The Chairman suggested that it would be helpful to know where the Council stood in terms of health and safety and whether any assurance could be provided at present. The HIA replied that this was a key piece of assurance and it was hoped that the recommendations would be resolved in time for the December meeting. The CE stated that a new Corporate Health and Safety Officer had started in June and they were now working with the Compliance Officer to ensure that all actions required to sign-off the recommendations were completed.

RESOLVED

That the Committee receives internal audit progress and progress against internal audit recommendations within the period covered by the report. 

ACTIONS

HIA to seek a written response on outstanding audit recommendations where no comments have been received.