Agenda item

This report presents the Internal Audit Strategy and Internal Audit Plan for 2024/25.  A separate plan for Counter-Fraud activity will be presented to the July 2024 Committee.

Appendix 2 sets out the annual Internal Audit plan for 2024/25. 

The key focus of audit activity during the year includes:

·       Financial Management

·       Contract Management

·       Directorate Strategic Risks

·       Governance

Recommendation: That the Audit & Governance Committee comment and note the Internal Audit Strategy and Internal Audit Plan for 2024/25.

The report was presented to the Committee by the Chief Internal Auditor, Sarah Cox.  This was the Plan, looking ahead for 2024/25. It had already been reported that the Team were now in a good position with recruitment. It was reported that no changes had been made to the Performance Indicators in Appendix 1, from last year in terms of how the performance was going to be managed. However, the reports presented to the Committee would be more evenly spread over September, December, and May. This was a target for the Team. Appendix 2 was the Internal Audit Plan ahead. This had been work in progress, consulting with Teams across the organisation before it was signed off and Appendix 3 was the structure charts for Internal Audit and Counter Fraud Teams. The Committee were informed that a separate Counter Fraud Plan would be presented at the July meeting.

The Committee made the following points:

·       There were currently 32 planned audits scheduled but these were subject to change.

·       Some internal audits were completed by an external form.

·       The reference in the report to ‘cross-cutting’ referred to across all directorates in the services to provide assurance.

·       To date, the benefit seen from social value was a lot to do with employment, using contracts to use a local workforce or apprenticeships used in the contracting provisions. It was a requirement and there was a potential risk of increasing costs, but this had not been seen yet.

·       The structure and governance would be looked at first with respect to the Transformation Programme. This was a critical piece of work. This had not been scoped yet, staff were being kept informed by the all-staff updates every other week. Staff engagement was really important.

·       The home to assess piece of work was being carried out as the Director and Deputy Director were very keen to make sure all the processes were running well and effectively.

·       Could the social value be added to the narrative for the property investments and facilities management and to look at local contractors for the property agenda. It was important to highlight this point as it would help with recruitment and retention. This audit was currently being scoped and therefore could be considered. The social value would also be considered further when the policy was looked at.

·       The social value was well articulated in the procurement strategy but not so well in the property strategy.

·       The Highway Maintenance contract was a new one and it was key to ensure that all controls and processes were in place, by working with Officers to ensure that processes and controls were effective. The work would continue into next year to ensure that the processes were working.

ACTION: Keep Committee briefed on the progress of the Highways Maintenance Contract

·       The Committee would be presented more indicative timescales at the September meeting.

·       The Conflicts of Interests Audit was put in by the Monitoring Officer and would be across the organisation, it was not for Members. The Policy was in place, so this was to see if the understanding was there for staff and to get assurance.

·       The Delivery of the Savings and Investments Audit was still being considered, but it would be across services and drilling down to understand how assumptions were made and then looking at delivery and how decisions were made, right through to the monitoring end. It was commented that a timely start would assist for the budget planning.

RESOLVED: that the Committee commented and noted the Internal Audit Strategy and the Internal Audit Plan for 2024/25.