Agenda item

To consider report FIN/675 of the Deputy Head of Southern Internal Audit Partnership.

The Committee considered report FIN/675 of the Deputy Head of Southern Internal Audit Partnership (SIAP), the Council’s Internal Auditors.  The purpose of the report was to update the Committee on the status of ‘live’ internal audit reports, the progress against the Annual Audit Plan and provide a summary of internal audit as well as any significant issues which might impact the annual audit opinion.

The Audit Manager for SIAP took the opportunity to brief the Committee on the work as detailed in the report and, in doing so advised that there were no areas of concern and SIAP were currently in a good position to deliver the audits set out in the Annual Audit Plan.

The Committee considered the report and:

·        Was concerned that management actions relating to critical issues (such as gas, electrical and fire safety) did not appear to be reaching a conclusion and queried when a follow-up would be provided to give the Committee assurance that those critical issues were being addressed.  The Deputy Head of SIAP advised that management actions were tracked, and those actions would remain on the progress report until they were complete.  Additionally, as part of SIAP’s audit planning exercise it would determine whether the systems which received ‘limited’ assurance would benefit from a mini review and then, as a consequence of those findings, whether a full audit was required.

·        In response to a query as to why some electrical safety checks were significantly overdue and the what action the Council was taking to ensure those checks were made, the Head of Corporate Finance agreed to obtain a response from the Head of Crawley Homes on the matter and forward that information to the Committee via email.

·        It was advised that it would not be straightforward to provide a metric which showed whether the number of management actions were growing, diminishing or remaining static as there was a rolling programme of those actions.  The Deputy Head of SIAP agreed to consider how, if possible, a useful statistical view could be provided in future reports.  It was also noted that the introduction of the Global Internal Audit Standards might change the format of reports once it was introduced.

·        Noted that the way in which management actions were now being prioritised and the deadlines being set were more realistic.

·        Following a query raised at the Committee meeting held on 3 September 2024 regarding the value of the differences relating to housing rent arrears, a response had been provided to the Committee via email following that meeting.  The Democratic Services Officer agreed to recirculate that email to the Committee.

·        In response to a query regarding the legal requirements relating to the regularity of electrical safety checks and how the Council faired in meeting those requirements, the Head of Corporate Finance agreed to obtain a response from the Head of Crawley Homes on the matter and forward that information to the Committee via email.

·        The Head of Corporate Finance highlighted that the Main Accounting Audit Review had been requested by them to assess the situation when they took up their post, to enable them to take any necessary actions to address any weaknesses found.  The Committee was assured that there were no financial implications of the review findings, they related to control environment weaknesses which needed to be addressed. The Head of Corporate Finance agreed to provide the Committee with a list of the findings and management actions via email.

·        Was assured that the Council had a robust system for chasing debt.  It was provided with further information regarding the Council’s process for chasing and writing off debts, as well as the Council’s provision for debt.

·        It was queried whether the rent arrears figure provided on page 85 of the unaudited Statement of Accounts for 2023/24 was gross or net, the Head of Corporate Finance agreed to provide a written response to the Committee via email.

RESOLVED

That the Committee receive the report and note progress to date, as at 30 September 2024.