Agenda item

This report provides an update on the Internal Audit Service, including resources, completed and planned audits.

The report includes the Executive Summaries from the individual Internal Audit reports finalised since the last report to the September 2023 Committee. Since the last update, there has been one red report issued. There are no other outstanding red reports. 

The Committee is RECOMMENDED to note the progress with the 2023/24 Internal Audit Plan and the outcome of the completed audits.

The Chief Internal Auditor, Sarah Cox, presented the report to the Committee. The points highlighted included the following:

·       The issue of vacancies was still ongoing, and the recruitment of a new Internal Audit apprenticeship would start during February 2024, with the aim of them starting in September 2024.

·       The current internal audit plan, attached to the report, showed the current progress with each audit and any amendments made to the Plan. The Plan was reviewed quarterly with senior management. Three audits had been deferred until 2024/25. This was due to the shortfall of experienced staff. A new audit for a primary school had been requested for completion in February 2024. Four audits had been completed and the others were on track to complete and gain an audit opinion. The performance had not been impacted.

·       The results of the external assessment of internal audit had been completed in November 2023 by an assessor from CIPFA. The results were very positive with an overall conclusion that OCC’s internal audit service fully conformed to the requirements of the standards. The six advisory issues were in the process of being actioned.

The Chair and the Committee thanked Katherine Kitashima, Audit Manager, for all her hard work. Finally, the Chief Internal Auditor reported that there was one red report for Physical Security Systems – Building Access Controls and CCTV System. The report had been positively received and the actions have already been addressed with a short time frame to implement the remaining actions. Councillor Leverton asked of the apprentices, how many were still in post with the Council, and it was reported that three were still in post and one had been lost to a better paid position in London. The Committee agreed that the apprentice scheme did work. Councillor Phillips congratulated the Team for a fully conformed report. Councillor Phillips was concerned that there were no formally documented procedures governing the use of CCTV and overall management responsibility for systems had not been assigned. It was also concerning that even though there was a formal contract with a third party for servicing and maintaining CCTV and the intruder alarm systems, the formal contract could not be located. Councillor Phillips suggested that this be put forward to the Audit Working Group as it related to safety of staff and building access was crucial and it was important for the Committee to be reassured that everything was correctly in place.

The Chief Internal Auditor informed the Committee that since there was no business to transact at the January 2024 Audit Working Group meeting, this would be cancelled with the Chair’s approval, and it would be more timely for any of the audit reports to be presented to the Audit Working Group at the March 2024 meeting.

Councillor Baines asked how long it took for an apprenticeship to become an auditor and was informed that the initial audit, level 4, lasted 18 months to two years and then subject to vacancies, they could apply for an auditor post. They would then be supported for a further two years for the chartered auditor profession, so potentially 4 years.

Councillor Fenton asked what assurances were there that “we were growing our own”. Sarah Cox responded that the Council was doing their best to retain staff, having good terms and conditions and paying comparably to other local authorities.

Councillor Baines also asked as there was a delay of three months in the transformation audit, was this going to have a limited scope or be further delayed and what were the risks created as a result. The Chief Internal Auditor reported that the deferral was for the Property Services and the Strategic Contract Management audits and theses were proposed for quarter 1. The transformation audit had been scheduled at the beginning of the year, not being aware of the significant work improvements, hence the timing was critical. Further reassurance could be given going forward. The Executive Director Resources commented that the next key stage would be the all-staff briefing on 16 January 2024, everything was still being developed.

Councillor Phillips commented that dealing with complaints was very important as this was customer facing and this was the way customers saw the council. The Committee discussed the ‘complaints complaint’ at the Council and that the organisation did not proactively address issues raised at an early stage but waited until it became a complaint. It was agreed that complaints were a good thing and residents were the customer so it was good to hear about what was not going well so that it could be improved. The Chair added that the number of complaints had increased during the pandemic for all local authorities as people had time and a phone call was always better received than an email which could get very lengthy and therefore frustrating for the customer.

Councillor Baines asked about the metrics used to record the resolution of and the conclusion of a complaints and the Chair asked if all the actions, good and not so good, recorded. Sarah Cox suggested that the Director for Customer Experience and Cultural Services be invited to a future meeting.

The Committee showed a particular interest in this area, and it was agreed that this item be added to the Audit Working Group agenda for the March 2024 meeting, inviting Mark Haynes, Director for Customer Experience and Cultural Services, to present a report.

ACTION: Complaints process report be added to the Audit Working Group work programme for March 2024 meeting.

Councillor Phillips asked that the report covered the effectiveness of responses from Directorates so that the Committee could look at the entire process including the difference between priority 1 and priority 2 and what was a complaint.

Councillor Middleton was concerned that is a person complained more than once, were they treated differently and was reassured that the policies were not being used inappropriately. There was a need to have clear policies in place. This could be addressed at the Audit Working Group meeting.

The Committee reviewed the other audits and made comments on the following:

·       Cyber Incidents preparedness and response review 2023/24 – noted, good progress being made.

·       Children’s Placements Contract Management and QA processes – Amber – the response rate from the on-the-spot providers was less than 2% and very disappointing. There was now work underway on how to engage with providers in a more meaningful way. It was also worrying to see the RAG rating moving from a red to amber with no evidence provided or saved to support the change. The Committee was reassured that robust actions were being put into place to address this.

·       Physical Security Systems 23/24 – it was concerning to see that the systems were not in place and the contracts not being located, however, it was positive that this was all being addressed. The Executive Director Resources informed the Committee that the issues had already been identified, hence it had not been a surprise and therefore action plans had been put into place as soon as possible to complete as soon as possible.

RESOLVED: that the Committee noted the progress of the 2023/24 Internal Audit Plan and the outcomes of the completed audits.