Meeting documents

To consider this report.

David Hill from SWAP presented the report. He began by explaining that this report is about how well governance and risk operates within the authority. He added that it is a balanced view of how management controls have been operating in the year 21/22. He informed members that this is based on 4 opinion categories. He assured members that there had been no critical risks identified though the work.  

The officer highlighted several key points including. 

·                     Page 19-21 more detailed narrative around the opinion, and context 

·                     Page 22 – audit committee to assure full council that risk is being managed effectively – swap happy with strategic risks 

·                     Page 29 – external assessment key measure to ensure internal audit are compliant with public sector audit standards 

·                     30-36 – all audit for 21/22 and breakdown of recommendations made. It is this work that has informed out opinion. 

After the introduction. the officer asked members of the audit committee for any questions or comments, and the following were raised. 

·                     Cllr Coles asked about the internal audits deferred to 22/23.He asked if we can we be more specific on timeframes? What order, when is it each audit starting? The officer advised that risk management has changed dramatically over the past 3 years, and it is proving more difficult to plan. Future audits will be done based on assessment of need. He added that There is an annual plan that shows a more detailed breakdown 

·                     Page 22 - Cllr Sullyasked about the SEND costly packages and cross partner working. He asked what SCC are looking at doing in terms ofchildren with extra needs. He added that he felt this was a high risk due to costs increasing for partners as wellthe council itself. The officer advised that cross partner working is all about supporting our partners through difficult times and learning how to manage these issues as a partnership.   

·                     Cllr Kerley asked if it is normal to have this many deferred items on an agenda? (Referring to plan performance) The officer confirmed that this was to be expected.   

·                     Page 31 - Cllr Cavilllasked about new Berkley school.He asked what further dialogue the audit committee will get on this as it seems a very complicated issue.  The officer confirmed that this was about segregation of duties and a follow up will come back to the committee. 

·                     Page 20 - Cllr Lewis asked about the summary of audit work.He asked if it was concerning that that there are 19 opinions, and 11 of those with limited assurance. The officer advised that this is about working with management to focus on high-risk areas. This is not surprising as it demonstrates using internal audit in the correct way by identifying issues. This is ameasure of management response.  

·                     Cllr Chilcott asked about major to medium risks and felt that more dialogue on the major risks would be useful. The officer advised members that there would soon be a new audit management dashboard system which allows the reader to drill down into opinions in more detail.  

·                     Cllr Chilcott questioned the 53 overdue actions remainingand observed that the same number had been reported in March. The Cllr asked if it was the case that there had been no movement in those actions.In response the officer explained that there had been many difficulties in the period, largely due to LGR and its impact on resourcing, and this had meant a delay on some actions. He also advised that due to LGR some actions may not be a priority anymore. Cllr Chilcott suggested that any non-essential or non-relevant actions should be removed as it is not fair that staff have 53 outstanding actions that may or may not be relevant anymore.  

·                     Cllr Bakerthanked the officer and suggested that the key here is to challenge these actions. Are we confident that we are delving into these outstanding actions and trying to resolve? 

·                     Cllr Coles asked the officer if they would you be able to do a review of the 53 outstanding actions prior to next audit meeting? The officer confirmed this could be done.  

·                     Page 25 - Cllr Sullyasked about postponing activities and the integrate 8 system. He asked what this system is used for. The officer advised thatthe software relates to the commissioning model and that this work will be picked up by new authority.  

The committee accepted the report