Agenda item

The Head of Internal Audit Service (HoIAS) submits a report to the Governance and Audit Committee which provides:

a)    A summary of progress against the 2023-24 Internal Audit Plans

b)    Summary information on progress with implementing high importance recommendations.

c)    Summary of progress against the Internal Audit Plans.

d)    Commentary on the progress and resources used.

e)    Brief details on an independent external quality assessment of Leicestershire County Council’s Internal Audit Service

The Committee is recommended to note the contents of the report and make

any comments to the HoIAS or Director of Finance.

The Head of Internal Audit Service (HoIAS) submitted a report to the Governance and Audit Committee which provided a summary of progress against the 2023-24 internal audit plans.

The Head of Internal Audit and Assurance Service (HoIAS), Neil Jones, presented the report and the following points were noted:

·       Members were reminded that new recommendations were shown in bold font. A summary of movements was noted to be on page 65.

·       It was noted that a report had been received during the week prior to the meeting regarding the Spinney Hill Primary School item, which could potentially lead to the item being closed.

·       The Table on page 65 was referred to and it was noted that while a number of tasks were outstanding, a number of the reported tasks were in draft format ready to be submitted or reviewed. Thirty-eight were noted to be moving to finalised from in-progress.

·       It was noted that the number of days had largely increased in comparison to the prior report. While 800 days were set as a target to be provided over the course of a year, it was noted that it was expected to exceed the target for 2023/24.

·       It was noted that every five years an external quality assessment would be arranged and undertaken by an independent assessor, the cost of which would be borne by the Internal Audit Team at no extra cost to the Council.

·       It was noted that an update report would be presented at the July 2024 meeting.

Members of the Committee discussed the report and the following points were raised:

·       It was noted that the Spinney Hill Primary School update marked for 27^th February would be signed off quickly and would be relisted for the end of March. It was noted that there was work to do regarding the Spinney Hill item and would continue to be monitored closely and brought back to the Committee at a future date.

·       It was clarified that funding was provided to schools from the Department of Education and further information regarding how schools were funded and how funding was managed could be provided to Members outside of the Committee meeting.

·       Members raised concern about the delay in actions being taken for issues detailed on page 73 of the report. It was noted that risks required the Internal Audit team to liaise with the risk owners which can result in delays closing items by recommended timelines. It was noted that processes would continue to be monitored and improved. Director of Finance, Amy Oliver reassured the Committee that the Finance Team were fully engaging with the Internal Audit team, which would feed into the report.

·       Members enquired about the items on the report noted for 2022/23. It was noted that two items had been closed and the remaining item was being managed alongside engagement with the Business Continuity Team. Members raised further concern whether there was a disconnect in communication between teams in the Council. The Director of Finance noted that responsible teams would come together for a group discussion regarding outstanding items on the audit register.

·       The Director of Finance noted that Members point regarding the delay for Disaster Recovery on page 73 of the report would be taken back and that findings would be brought back to a future meeting.

The Chair thanked officers for the report.

AGREED

That the report be noted.