audit  2001/2002

1.	

Progress Report to 
16 August 2002
Oxfordshire County Council 
INSIDE THIS PROGRESS REPORT
The purpose of this report is:
•	To detail progress of the audit against the Audit Plan
•	To bring to your attention the significant matters arising from the work carried out to date in advance of the formal reporting mechanism of the 2002 Annual Audit Letter.

APPENDIX 1

Audit Plan	Work programmed or carried out	Lead officer	Status	Target report date	Draft report date	Final report date	
Planning, Controlling and Reporting	
Audit Plan	Sets out the agreed content and timing of all aspects of the external audit.	Director for Business Support and County Treasurer	Draft Audit Plan discussed with Chief Officers prior to presentation to Best Value Committee on 8 May 2002.	January 2002	January 2002	4 March 2002 (Officers)
8 May 2002 (Audit Committee)	
Annual Audit Letter	Draws together the main findings of the audit. To be discussed with Chief Officers prior to presentation to a future meeting of the Council’s Best Value Committee.	Director for Business Support and County Treasurer	To be undertaken later in year. 	TBC (Officers)
19 Dec 2002 (Members)		 	
Annual accounts 	
Core process review	Assessment of Council’s Core processes:
•	Main accounting system
•	Budgetary control procedures
•	Final accounts closedown procedures.	Chief Accountant 	Report currently being drafted.	30 June 2002
			
Final Accounts	Audit of financial statements – leading to audit opinion.	Chief Accountant	Work to commence September 2002.	December 2002 (Opinion)			

Audit Plan	Work programmed or carried out	Lead officer	Status	Target report date	Draft report date	Final report date	
Annual accounts cont	
Pension Fund Accounts 	Audit of financial statements – leading to audit opinion. We will also review the Council’s arrangements to ensure the adequate funding of future liabilities.	Senior Asst County Treasurer. 	Work currently in progress.	October 2002 (Opinion)			
Financial aspects of corporate governance	
Systems of Internal Financial Control.	Assessment of Council’s arrangements to ensure its systems of Internal Financial Control is adequate.	Chief Accountant
Financial Control and Operations Manager	Report currently being drafted.	30 June 2002			
Financial standing	Assessment of Council’s arrangements for ensuring its general financial standing is soundly based. We will also review:
•	the appropriateness of capital transfers including compliance with the capitalisation criteria
•	progress in negotiating a Public Service Agreement (PSA).	Assistant County Treasurer	Initial review completed as part of CORE process review.
Further work to be reported in Audit final accounts report and summarised in Annual Audit Letter. 	July 2002
November 2002			
Legality of transactions	Review of Council’s arrangements for ensuring legality of transactions. 	Head of Legal Services	On-going review. To be reported in Annual Audit Letter.	November 2002			

Audit Plan	Work programmed or carried out	Lead officer	Status	Target report date	Draft report date	Final report date	
Financial aspects of corporate governance cont	
Audit and Risk Management Services (ARMs)	Assessment of work of ARMs to ensure they comply with professional and new CIPFA standards. 	Assistant County Treasurer
Audit Services Manager	Work complete and Action Plan agreed	May 2002	June 2002	July 2002	
Joint District Audit/ ARMs protocol	To clarify the working relationship between the Council’s external auditors, District Audit (DA), and its internal auditors, Audit and Risk Management Services (ARMS). The protocol builds on the Council’s Best Value Review in 2000 of audit arrangements to improve partnership arrangements between external and internal audit in the delivery of audit and risk management.	Assistant County Treasurer
Audit Services Manager	Draft protocol prepared.	June 2002	June 2002		
Standards of financial conduct and preventing and detecting of fraud and corruption.	Assessment of Council’s overall arrangements for the prevention and detection of fraud and corruption and specific testing in risk areas. 	Assistant County Treasurer (Social Services)
Financial Control and Operations Manager	Report currently being drafted				

Audit Plan	Work programmed or carried out	Lead officer	Status	Target report date	Draft report date	Final report date	
Financial aspects of corporate governance cont	
Externalisation of old people’s homes
	Assessment of the arrangements for transferring the Council’s Homes for Older People including an initial view on the accounting treatment.	Assistant Director Social Services (Nick Welch)	Draft report issued and action plan agreed – awaiting agreement before finalising .		11 Feb 2002
3 May 2002		
Registers of Interests, Gifts and Hospitality	Assessment of the adequacy of the Council’s arrangements for the maintenance of registers of interests, gifts and hospitality and to recommend improvements where appropriate.	Head of Democratic Services	Report currently being drafted				
Performance management previous year projects	
Managing Improvement through Partnership	Oxfordshire County Council is developing partnerships with a number of bodies. We will undertake an assessment of the effectiveness of arrangements currently in place within Social Services for partnership working and:
•	identify strengths and weaknesses in the overall approach
•	assess where the Department should target further work to strengthen partnership working.	Assistant Director (Social Services)	Field work complete, draft report issued.	August 2002	August 2002		

Audit Plan	Work programmed or carried out	Lead officer	Status	Target report date	Draft report date	Final report date	
Performance management previous year projects cont’d	
Rehabilitation services for older people	The audit will provide health and social services agencies locally with information about how rehabilitation is being provided to older people, helping them develop their services.	Chief Executive (SW Oxon PCT)
Assistant Director Social Services	Work complete. Action planning workshop held 22 January 2002 to discuss findings and agree actions. Final report to inter –agency group Intermediate Care Strategy Group (ICSG) 19 March 2002.		22 Jan 2002	19 March 2002	
Performance management 2001/2002 projects	
Comprehensive Performance Assessment	Auditor input into the CPA process:
•	assessment of the adequacy of the arrangements put in place by the Council for different elements of the Code of Audit Practice (scored judgements)
•	discussions with the Corporate assessment Team including comment on the self-assessment process.	Chief Executive
Director of Strategy
	Initial assessment completed and discusssed with key officers.
Assessment to be re-visited in September and returned to Audit Commission. 	December 2002			
Best Value Performance Plan (BVPP)	Assessment of the Council’s compliance with the statutory requirements in respect of the preparation and publication of its BVPP	Director of Strategy
Head of Performance and Review	Work currently in progress.	December 2002			

Audit Plan	Work programmed or carried out	Lead officer	Status	Target report date	Draft report date	Final report date	
Performance management 2001/02 projects cont	
Performance Indicators	Assessment of the arrangements put in place to prepare and publish specified performance information. Our work will include testing of a sample of BVPIs and we will report to the AC whether they are fairly stated.	Director of Strategy
Head of Performance and Review	Work currently in progress.	September 2002			
Democratic Renewal	On-going monitoring of review of decision making based around the recommendations in our original report in 2000/01 on Democratic Renewal.	Head of Democratic services	Initial letter issued 11 June 2002 on progress made by the Council. Further work on the effectiveness of the scrutiny function to be undertaken late summer.	October 2002			
Social Services	Specific project within Social Serrvices that addresses the risks within SS.	Assistant Director Social Services (Nick Welch)	Meeting held and summarised in letter to Assistant Director Social Services. Two main options identified:
•	build on current partnership work with additional probes as identified by SS
•	undertake overview of SS Performance management which will provide a base for future targeted support and involvement. 				

Audit Plan	Work programmed or carried out	Lead officer	Status	Target report date	Draft report date	Final report date	
Performance management 2001/2002 projects cont’d	
MIS Strategy	Assessment of implementation of new SAP management information system (MIS). Work to cover a review of access controls and the resilience of the system, relying on the work of IA, as appropriate. 	Senior Assistant County Treasurer	Initial discussions with IA on extent of their coverage.
Timing of work not yet agreed.				
E-Government	Assessment of Council’s capability to deliver E-Government agenda.	E-Gov’t Advisor	Initial discussions with IA on extent of their coverage.
Timing of work not yet agreed.				
Other follow-up	In addition to our work on the Acute Portfolio we will follow-up implementation of our recommendations on:
•	School budgets (1999/2000)
•	National Grid for Learning (1999/2000)
•	Fees and charging (1999/2000)
•	Asset management (1999/200).		Work currently in progress.	November 2002			

Audit Plan	Work programmed or carried out	Lead officer	Status	Target report date	Draft report date	Final report date	
Other work	
Grant Claims	To provide an audit opinion on around 40 grant claims in accordance with Grant Instructions issued by the Audit Commission.  	Principal Financial Manager	Claims currently audited in accordance with deadlines except FEFC which was submitted past due date.	As required