Issue - meetings

3.10pm

Report by the Director for Finance

This report presents the Internal Audit progress report for 2018/19.

The committee is RECOMMENDED to note the progress with the 18/19 Internal Audit Plan and the outcome of the completed audits.

Recommendations agreed.

Sarah Cox introduced the report.  She stated that the efforts to appoint a new Senior Auditor have so far been unsuccessful and they are making interim plans with support from HR.

The Chairman invited senior officers to update the Committee on actions to deal with the red and orange ratings noted in Appendix 2 of the report.

Nick Graham and Caroline Parker responded to Members questions on GDPR:

·         Actions are about three-quarters complete to ensure that, among other things, all training is carried out and that data retention schedules are used.

·         The team can ensure that the privacy notices that they know about are updated and chase others they do not know about.

·         Updating the information asset register will take about three months.

Nick Graham and Fiona Percival responded to issues on Health and Safety:

·         It has been made clear now that training is mandatory – there was a lack of clarity before.

·         All managers must complete a one-day course and other staff must complete an e-learning course.

·         Records are now complete to show who should be paid the extra supplement for completing first aid training.

·         A strong message has been sent to schools regarding the importance of timely reporting of safety incidents.

·         It is one of the actions to ensure that managers cascade information.

·         All actions are on target for completion by 31 March.  None of the outstanding actions are Priority 1.

Kate Terroni and Benedict Leigh responded to Members’ questions on Contingency Home Care (CHC):

·         Improvements have been made in reporting, now with KPIs and a dashboard for the service.  Data can be obtained now within a couple of hours.

·         This type of care is more expensive because the cases are more scattered, leading to more travel.  Also because the staff involved need to be more flexible – available at short notice.

·         It is a particular challenge sourcing care for those with mental health needs.

·         Regarding financial assessments, officers are as sure as they can be that the right people are being charged.

·         The possibility of dealing with home care in-house is being examined and they are close to reaching a view.  A report to Cabinet is expected in March.

The Chairman asked the Internal Auditor to note that the Committee is particularly concerned about the delay in finding a solution to the Back-up and Recovery issue in IT.  Sarah Cox stated that one option being investigated did not work out.  The problem is that the speed of back-up and recovery is not what it should be.

On the Security Bonds Reconciliation issue Ian Dyson reported that the first stage is complete but the second stage still needs to be signed off.  Due process is being followed and he expects an update next week to say that this is concluded.

RESOLVED: to note the progress with the 18/19 Internal Audit Plan and the outcome of the completed audits.