Agenda item

(To receive a report which provides an update on progress made against the Audit Plan 2013/14)

Consideration was given to a report which provided an update on progress made against the Audit Plan for 2013/14.  The Committee was informed that good progress had been made in the first quarter, with 17.8% of the planned work for 2013/14 being completed and closing down audit work which had been carried over from the previous year.  It was reported that some staffing issues had been experienced with one person being on long term sick leave which has had an impact on performance, but arrangements were now in place to cover this shortfall for the rest of the year.

The Committee was informed that 22 school audits had been completed as well as finalised 16 County Council audits since the previous progress report, 5 of these had resulted in limited assurance.  A further 19 County Council audits were in progress, and draft reports had been issued for the majority of them.

Members of the Committee were provided with the opportunity to ask questions to the officers present in relation to the information contained within the report, and some of the points raised during discussion included the following:

Adult Services Project Risk Management

·         On smaller projects it was important to recognise that the risk had been considered and managed;

·         In Adult Care there was a targeted approach to risk, as some could be left with individual managers to manage;

·         It was clarified that detailed information was generally provided for those areas which were given 'limited' assurance, as a focus for the Committee;

Coroners

·         The audit for the Coroners was requested as management had identified a number of areas which were not working as well as they should.  A number of new processes had now been put in place;

·         The direction of travel for the Coroners Service was improving, and the action plan was quite comprehensive, with all actions being put in place except for those with a completion date of 1 August or 1 September 2013, but they were on track;

·         An internal health check was carried out with full assurance being given;

·         The main change which had occurred was in relation to the production of invoices;

·         There was a need to be able to respond to new legislation;

·         There were proposals for the introduction of medical examiners, but officers were still awaiting further details of this, and it was expected that this would have an impact on the service;

Child Protection Plans

·         An audit was undertaken which looked at children's safeguarding, and a number of areas of good practice were identified.  Child protection plans were found to be detailed.  Limited assurance was given due to concerns that information was not always clearly evidenced on the central record.  A contract for a new IT system was currently out to tender, and officers were contributing to the design and procurement of the system.  The recommendations from the audit were being taken very seriously and new processes were being put in place to ensure implementation of the actions;

·         One of the challenges of keeping paper records was around indexing.  Business Support had now taken over the indexing of records;

·         The authority had invested heavily in the frontline staff being involved in the procurement of the system to ensure that it was fit for purpose.  This system was approximately 18 months away from implementation;

·         Limited assurance was given as officers recognised the importance of recording the information;

·         There were several similar systems which had been implemented in other authorities;

·         There were five tenders which were being looked at in detail, and each would be coming to spend a day at the authority, and staff would be involved in this as well;

·         Children's Services had significant quality assurance processes, but the recording system was a strategic risk, and so officers were disappointed that substantial assurance could not be given;

General

·         It was important that directors provided the resources and commitment to implement actions identified on action plans;

·         In relation to Fire and Rescue, the Committee was informed that follow up work had been undertaken and all recommendations had now been implemented;

RESOLVED

            That the outcomes of the Corporate Audit work be noted.