Agenda item

To receive an update on the Internal Audit Plan 2024-25.

The committee considered the report which provided an update of the work undertaken by Internal Audit between April 2024 and March 2025.

The committee noted that significant improvement had been made in the implementation of agreed audit actions with 94% of actions being implemented during 2024-25 compared to 49% during the previous financial year. It was highlighted that a full review had been undertaken to assess how internal audit actions were raised to ensure actions were more succinct and smarter. Actions had also been broken-down, so that where one element of an action had been completed, this could be subsequently ‘closed down’. The follow-up process on agreed internal audit actions had also changed and was now done on a monthly basis. This had been helpful in identify issues early-on. Support and increased engagement from action-owners and the Corporate Leadership Team had had a positive impact on progress. The committee thanked the Internal Audit team for their work.

Councillor P Redstone arrived at 11.20am

The committee noted the ongoing internal audit assignments as at 31 March 2025 and queried the anticipated ‘Limited’ assurance rating in relation to the ‘Leavers – equipment/system access’ audit. It was clarified that the scope of this audit had been much wider than just system access and included matters such as the return of car parking passes, laptops, mobile phones etc. Any significant issues would be raised immediately with management to be addressed, rather than waiting for the final audit report.

It was queried why the audit work in the Adults, Health and Integration service had not increased, given the budget pressures facing this area. It was clarified that two audits were planned for 2025-26 in relation to the implementation of the Adult Social Care Charging Policy and Adults Direct Payments. These had not been prioritised for 2024-25 as these were new systems/processes that had not yet been fully implemented. Delaying these audits to allow internal audit to provide assurance as to whether the intended improvements had been achieved. 

The committee queried the audit in relation to officer decision records. It was confirmed that the completion of this audit had been delayed due to additional testing being carried out. The report would be reviewed by the Head of Audit, Risk and Assurance and the Monitoring Officer who would look at the report in context with a number of other key workstreams underway in relation to governance and decision-making (including training and report writing). It was confirmed that a complete review of the ODR process and delegated authority (both to officers as set out within the Constitution and delegated authority from Committees) would be needed to ensure that officers and members fully understood the process however the first step would be to receive the audit report and its recommendations. 

In relation to the Accounts Payable audit report which reviewed the processes and controls in place for the area of Unit4, it was agreed that the one-page summary would be shared with committee members following finalisation of the report.

RESOLVED:

That the briefing report be received and noted.