Issue - meetings

Purpose: To update the Committee on the status of Internal Audit work as at the end of Quarter Two 2024/25.

The Committee considered a report (Agenda Item 6) concerning the Internal Audit Update Report - Quarter Two 2024/25.

The Audit Manager introduced the report and highlighted that there were no significant areas of concern from work done in the period. This work included two corporate audits which were given limited assurance, for Birchwood Care Home and Child Care Lawyers, and two follow-up audits which were given an unsatisfactory progress rating, for Accounts Receivable and Business Continuity. As the number of all audits on a less than satisfactory rating was low, the Audit Manager had no concern about having two less than satisfactory audits in the same reporting period.

Members discussed the report and inquired into whether the Governance Committee could support the work of the Internal Audit Team. In response, the Audit Manager highlighted that the Committee could request further follow-up audits if they were unsatisfied with their current progress or request that the Service Directors provide them with a timeline about actions they planned to take. 

A Member queried whether the work done by the Internal Audit Team and that done by the External Auditors were both indicating concerns with financial processes. The Audit Manager highlighted that KPMG were not flagging concerns with financial processes and were overall satisfied that proper financial processes had been followed and there had been no management override of financial controls. In addition, the Internal Audit was only commenting on one area of financial process, that being Accounts Receivable. 

The main area that the Internal Audit had picked up in their audit of Accounts Receivable was about the progress made into the automation of the debt recovery process. The Audit Manager indicated that another follow-up audit of this area would not be likely until they had made a change to their IT system, as otherwise the result would likely be the same.

The Service Director for Community Services provided a progress update to the Committee on the follow-up audit for Business Continuity. She highlighted that every service now had a plan, with work being done on priority services depending on the situation, and that they planned to run a Business Continuity exercise to test preparedness. 

Members requested that a written update for both of the two unsatisfactory follow-up audits be produced, including a timetable for proposed actions, and presented to the next meeting of the Committee.

Overall, as the Committee was satisfied with the report, they agreed to note the Internal Audit Update Report - Quarter Two 2024/25.