Issue - meetings

(Chief Internal Auditor) To consider the attached report (AGC-011-2015/16).

The Senior Auditor presented the Internal Audit Monitoring Report for the period September to November 2015, which provided a summary of the work undertaken by the Internal Audit Service during this time.

The Senior Auditor advised the Committee that four reports had been issued since the previous meeting, of which three had been given Substantial Assurance – Member Allowances, Local Land Charges and Grounds Maintenance - and one had been given Limited Assurance. The Limited Assurance Audit had been issued for Bed & Breakfast Accommodation for Homeless Persons; the contracts in place for providing Bed and Breakfast accommodation had not been extended to cover the period to 31 March 2016, although this had subsequently been carried out. A weakness had also been identified in the systems for monitoring and collecting Bed & Breakfast arrears, which had now been addressed.

The Senior Auditor reported that the Recommendation Tracker contained two recommendations which had passed their due date. The reconciliation of the Development Control fees was in progress and resources were being concentrated on  bringing these up to date. In respect of Corporate Procurement, the recruitment process for an individual within Human Resources, whose work would include existing agency worker framework agreements across the Council, had not been successful and would be repeated again in the near future.

The Senior Auditor stated that work had continued on the Audit Plan for 2015/16, and a total of ten audits had been outsourced to Mazars – an outsource provider of Internal Audit services. This was because the Internal Audit function currently had an Auditor vacancy, and all of these Audits had been scoped and timings agreed with the relevant Assistant Director. The Corporate Fraud Team had also made significant progress since the last meeting, with all Officers now settled in their new roles.

In respect of the shared Internal Audit service with Broxbourne Borough Council and Harlow District Council, the Senior Auditor informed the Committee that a second joint team meeting had been held in November 2015 where common working practices were further consolidated and initial discussions took place concerning Audit Plans for 2016/17. It was noted that the Internal Audit Plan and Strategy for 2016/17 would be considered by the Committee at its meeting scheduled for 31 March 2016. In addition, Human Resource departments at Broxbourne and Harlow had liaised with Epping Forest on possible joint training arrangements, and Epping Forest and Harlow were sharing insights from ongoing reviews of their respective customer service strategies.

In response to questions from the Committee, the Chief Internal Auditor explained that the Internal Audit Service could be provided by Internal Auditors directly employed by the Council, or by outsourced third party Internal Audit companies. In this particular instance, there had been a vacancy since April 2015, and in accordance with Contract Standing Orders three quotes were obtained before Mazars was chosen based upon their price quoted and the quality of their work in the past. Control over all aspects of outsourced audits was retained by the Chief Internal  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30

(Chief Internal Auditor) To consider the attached report (AGC-005-2015/16).

The Chief Internal Auditor presented the Internal Audit Monitoring Report for the period April to September 2015, which provided a summary of the work undertaken by the Internal Audit Service during this time.

The Chief Internal Auditor advised the Committee that seven reports had been issued and finalised since the last meeting, and all had been issued with substantial assurance. The proposed new approach for dealing with the monitoring and reporting of audit recommendations was outlined. The new process was designed to ensure that all audit recommendations were monitored by the Committee and implemented within the agreed timescale rather than just the Priority 1 recommendations as per the current process. It was expected that the new process would reduce the number of follow up audits that were required.

The Chief Internal Auditor outlined the overall performance to date against the Audit Plan for 2015/16. As of September 2015, 13% of the planned audits had been completed against a target for the year of 90%. The Committee was informed that some audits from the previous year had to be competed at the beginning of this municipal year, and the Service still had a staff vacancy which had not yet been filled. The current productivity of Audit staff was 70% against a target of 72% for the year. This figure was calculated to show the average audit days per member of staff, excluding annual leave, training and the such like. A new performance indicator concerning the implementation of agreed audit recommendations from the 2015/16 Audit Plan within the agreed timescales would be reported on in future, but there were no figures available for this meeting.

The Chief Internal Auditor reminded the Committee that the Council had made a commitment to integrate internal audit services with Broxbourne Borough Council and Harlow District Council, with the same Chief Internal Auditor across all three Councils. The Internal Audit Service was in the process of implementing the same audit methodology, document templates and electronic working papers as Broxbourne and Harlow, and this would be closely monitored to ensure that there was no detrimental impact upon audit services within Epping Forest.

The Chief Internal Auditor reported that the Corporate Fraud Team now consisted of a Senior Fraud Investigator and two Fraud Investigators, with a vacancy for a third. Since April 2015, the achievements of the team included:

·         Reclaiming £88,000 under the Proceeds of Crime Act from a fraud involving the Right to Buy scheme;

·         Recovering seven Council properties through issues with the tenancies;

·         Stopping eight further Right to Buy applications;

·         Stopping one housing application; and

·         Preparing five criminal prosecutions relating to Right to Buy applications and sub-letting.

The Committee was requested to note the progress made against the Internal Audit Plan for 2015/16 and approve the new approach for monitoring and reporting audit recommendations.

In respect of the overdue Audit recommendation regarding Planning Fees, the Chief Internal Auditor reported that the new reconciliation process was being implemented, as detailed in the Appendix, and then monthly reconciliations would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17