Agenda item

1.    The Head of Internal Audit commenced by making a special mention to two colleagues who would be shortly leaving the Council, Sarah Bubb, Audit Manager and Shelley Etherton, Counter Fraud Specialist who had both had a tremendous impact for the Internal Audit and Counter Fraud service at the Council.

2.    The Head of Internal Audit and the Internal Audit Manager introduced the report which detailed summaries of completed Audit reports for the period January to May 2023. It was said that the ‘CS03-2023 – Purchase Cards’ audit had been finalised since the publication of the report. Members were told that ‘CR03-2023 – Preparedness for CQC Inspection (ASCH)’ had been proactively sought by the Directorate for validation of their self-assessment results and that this was an example of the Internal Audit service adding value as the Council seeks to meet its objectives.

3.    Several high-risk areas for development were highlighted to Members, including those in the limited audit opinions, Individual Contracts in the ASCH Directorate, Budget Savings and the Councils Net Zero Action Plan audits. 

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

a)    Regarding ‘CR03-2023 – Adult Social Care Reform – Preparation for the CQC Inspection’, the Corporate Director for Adult Social Care said that the Strategic Reset Programme Board would be used as the governance structure for providing the Corporate Management Team and Members with regular updates on the CQC inspection. It was said that additional resources had been allocated towards the development and monitoring of the management action plan to resolve the identified gaps.

b)    The ongoing review into the restructure of the commissioning function aimed to identify and allocate the necessary resources for formal contract monitoring. In response to the ‘RB03-2023 – Individual Contracts with Care Providers’ audit, the Interim Strategic Commissioner was working with Legal colleagues on the rewording of individual contracts to ensure that clearer timescales are provided to care providers for agreeing to the terms and conditions.

c)    The Director of Environment and Waste said that the national and local context had changed significantly since Laser Energy had carried out carbon modelling and cost forecasting in 2020. Considering this, there was an ongoing review into the requirements and estimated costs for achieving Net Zero targets, including the financial implications of carbon offsetting. An update on the formal governance arrangements, the risk register and the revised, costed actions would be brought back to the Governance and Audit Committee at a later meeting date for assurance purposes.

d)    While referencing to the Limited Assurance on Budget Savings which Internal Audit reported on, members reflected on a previous External Audit report and raised concerns regarding the £4m invoice to an NHS CCG without any supporting evidence. As this was currently under investigation, it was agreed that an update could not be provided to the Committee at the time of this meeting. However, the Corporate Director Finance assured Members that there had been a closer collaboration between Adult Social Care and the Integrated Care Board over the last 18 months to mitigate the risks identified in the External Audit report, such as integrated commissioning and pooled budgets.  

e)    A Member briefing on Section 256 agreements would be arranged as part of the Governance and Audit Committee’s training programme.

5.    RESOLVED to note the Internal Audit Progress Report for the period January to May 2023.