Agenda item

1.    The Chairman introduced the Internal Audit review which had been commissioned by the Chief Executive (Head of Paid Service when commissioned), General Counsel and the s.151 Officer following significant and well publicised service failures in the redesign of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) transport services and the adverse reputational impact upon and loss of confidence in Kent County Council. It was said that the relevant Cabinet Members and officers had not had prior sight of the report and therefore would be invited to future Governance and Audit meetings to respond to the findings of the review.

2.    The General Counsel told the Committee that the report was the outcome of an investigative review and should not be considered as an Internal Audit report. As previously agreed, the outcome of the review had been shared with the Governance and Audit Committee Members first, given the vital oversight role set out within the terms of reference for the Committee. The General Counsel formally thanked the Head of Internal Audit and his team for the work that had been carried out to ensure that the review was completed as quickly as possible while protecting the independence and objectivity of the Internal Audit Service.

3.    The Head of Internal Audit said that the review highlighted significant governance failures across the Directorates within the Council that ultimately led to the service failures in Home to School Transport for children with special educational needs and disabilities. It was said that if existing and longstanding governance arrangements contained both within the Council’s Constitution and its agreed processes had been followed or complied with, particularly those relating to key decisions, project management and risk management, then the service failure may not have occurred.

4.    The Head of Internal Audit referred to the report setting out over 90 Key Observations and over 60 Lessons Learnt. He said that it is insufficient to talk about good governance, but that members and officers have to ‘live and breathe’ good governance.

5.    It was also highlighted that some members of the Scrutiny Committee, at meetings in Spring 2022, had expressed doubts as to whether such a review should be undertaken by Internal Audit and explained that prior to commencing the review, the service explained how it remained independent to several parties. He concluded that the manner in which the investigation was undertaken, the unrestricted questions asked to members and what was included in the report would suggest that the independence and professionalism of KCC Internal Audit had been amply illustrated.

6.     The Committee were told that the Internal Audit Team would continue to support the organisation by advising and monitoring the actions required to address the observations and lessons learnt from the review.

7.    In response to questions and comments from Members it was said that:

a)    The Governance and Audit Committee would have a role to play in monitoring the management action plan to address the lessons learnt from the review. A meeting had been set up to establish the agendas for both Scrutiny and Governance & Audit to discuss the findings and necessary actions.

b)    The ‘Review into the changes to SEND transport’ page on the Kent County Council website would be kept updated with the appropriate information.

c)    The internal audit review of the Annual Governance Statement process was in progress and would be submitted to the General Counsel prior to the completion of the final Annual Governance Statement for 2021-22.

d)    Members expressed their thanks to Internal Audit for a thorough and frank report.

8.    Kent PACT welcomed the report and expressed their ongoing willingness to work together with the Council.

9.    RESOLVED to note the SEND Transport Lessons Learnt Review Report.