Meeting documents

To consider this report.

The Committee considered this report introduced by the Assistant Director of SWAP that provided a thorough overview and general update of the progress made against the 2018/19 Audit Plan. It was stated that good progress had been made and the overall audit was now ahead of those in other authorities and it was envisaged that the Annual report would show the plan had been completed.

It was noted since the last report 2 completed Audits had returned partial opinion assurances. A concern with a financial aspect relating to a lack of validation for payments had been reported in Adult placements. This had been due to a gap in arrangements following a restructure which had created a lack of consistency. Previously financial agreements were manual resulting in a lack of an audit trail on the AIS system. An electronic solution had been recommended.

The other partial opinion concerned Health & Safety: Premises Management and it was noted that a number of central approved controls had been put in place and good practice had been identified. A follow up audit had checked on compliance regarding statutory inspections and statutory inspection records were inadequate, in relation to fire safety certificates etc. It was also reported that some risk assessments had not been completed and the B-Safe system was not being used consistently, and this made overall monitoring difficult.

There was a discussion of the 2 partial audit opinion and it was noted that the Council adopting the Corporate Landlord approach would centralise record keeping and be an opportunity to strength and standardise controls. As each premise had a responsibility for its own system the B-Safe system had not been mandatory, but the new approach would help to standardise practices.

Attention was drawn to the overview of the Audit work being undertaken, included as Appendix B of the report, which included details of the Audits completed since the last report that had received Partial findings. It was noted that the process for finding and securing a replacement when an Audit was deferred had improved.

The Committee accepted the report and suggested that the Scrutiny for Policies and Place Committee might want to consider scrutinising the Health and Safety: Premises Management – Corporate Properties partial audit opinion.

The Committee considered this report introduced by the Assistant Director of SWAP that provided a thorough overview and general update of the progress made against the 2018/19 Audit Plan. It was stated that good progress had been made and the overall audit was now ahead of those in other authorities and it was envisaged that the Annual report would show the plan had been completed.

It was noted since the last report 2 completed Audits had returned partial opinion assurances. A concern with a financial aspect relating to a lack of validation for payments had been reported in Adult placements. This had been due to a gap in arrangements following a restructure which had created a lack of consistency. Previously financial agreements were manual resulting in a lack of an audit trail on the AIS system. An electronic solution had been recommended.

The other partial opinion concerned Health & Safety: Premises Management and it was noted that a number of central approved controls had been put in place and good practice had been identified. A follow up audit had checked on compliance regarding statutory inspections and statutory inspection records were inadequate, in relation to fire safety certificates etc. It was also reported that some risk assessments had not been completed and the B-Safe system was not being used consistently, and this made overall monitoring difficult.

There was a discussion of the 2 partial audit opinion and it was noted that the Council adopting the Corporate Landlord approach would centralise record keeping and be an opportunity to strength and standardise controls. As each premise had a responsibility for its own system the B-Safe system had not been mandatory, but the new approach would help to standardise practices.

Attention was drawn to the overview of the Audit work being undertaken, included as Appendix B of the report, which included details of the Audits completed since the last report that had received Partial findings. It was noted that the process for finding and securing a replacement when an Audit was deferred had improved.

The Committee accepted the report and suggested that the Scrutiny for Policies and Place Committee might want to consider scrutinising the Health and Safety: Premises Management – Corporate Properties partial audit opinion.