Agenda item

(Chief Internal Auditor) To consider the attached report (AGC-016-2012/13).

The Chief Internal Auditor presented the Internal Audit Monitoring Report for the third quarter of 2012/13, which provided a summary of the work undertaken by the Internal Audit Unit between October and December 2012. The report detailed the overall performance to date against the Audit Plan for 2012/13 and also allowed the Committee to monitor the progress of Priority 1 actions issued in previous audit reports.

The Chief Internal Auditor advised the Committee of the audit reports that had been issued during the period:

(a)        Full Assurance:

·                     Bank Reconciliations.

(b)        Substantial Assurance:

·                     Car Mileage Claims;

·                     Recruitment and Selection;

·                     Gifts and Hospitality (Members and Officers);

·                     Members Services; and

·                     Key Performance Indicators 2012/13.

(b)        Limited Assurance:

·                     None.

(c)        At draft report stage:

·                     Corporate Procurement;

·                     Commercial Property Management;

·                     Housing Tenancy and Allocations;

·                     Building Control;

·                     Procurement Fraud Prevention and Detection;

·                     National Non-Domestic Rates; and

·                     Treasury Management.

The Committee’s attention was drawn to the Outstanding Priority 1 Actions Status report, all of which would be reviewed in follow-up audits, and the Limited Assurance Audit Follow Up Status report. It was also noted that the Audit Plan for 2012/13 had been appended to allow the Committee to monitor progress against the Plan.

The Chief Internal Auditor reported upon the current status of the Internal Audit Unit’s Local Performance Indicators for 2012/13:

·                     % Planned Audits Completed             Target 90%     Actual 63%;

·                     % Chargeable Staff Time                   Target 72%     Actual 69%;

·                     Average Cost per Audit Day               Target £245     Actual £229; and

·                     % User Satisfaction                            Target 85%     Actual N/A.

The Chief Internal Auditor explained that no figure had been given for the User Satisfaction Indicator as it had become increasingly difficult to encourage Officers to provide any meaningful comments. A replacement electronic form was being developed for use from April at the start of the new Audit Plan. The Unit was currently on schedule to meet its target to complete 90% of the planned audits.

In respect of the outstanding Priority 1 actions, the Chief Internal Auditor reported that the mismatches from the Planning Fees reconciliation were being checked, and a part-time employee was being sought to process the Licensing Fee reconciliations. It was planned to perform a full audit of Housing and Council Tax Benefits during the fourth quarter, and work was still in progress to address the issues raised during the Legal Debt Recovery audit.

The Committee was still concerned about the accuracy checks for Housing and Council Tax Benefits. The Chief Internal Auditor reminded the Committee that previously the checks were only being partly done, but now all checks of claims were being performed and a sample review of the checks were also be verified. The Committee suggested that this issue should be reviewed on a more frequent basis than annually as was currently the case, and the Chief Internal Auditor agreed to schedule quarterly verifications. The Committee also inquired whether 5% was an adequate sample size for checking purposes. The Chief Internal Auditor stated that 5% had been agreed as the maximum size that the Managers could perform, and that the checks were performed on a random basis regardless of the complexity of the individual check. The External Auditor added that 5% was the common sample size with other Councils.

Resolved:

(1)        That the following issues arising from the Internal Audit Monitoring Report for the third quarter of 2012/13 be noted:

(a)        the Audit reports issued between October and December 2012 and significant findings therein;

(b)        the Priority 1 Actions Status Report;

(c)        the Limited Assurance Audit Follow-Up Status Report; and

(d)        The 2012/13 Audit Plan Status Report.