Agenda item

(To receive a report from Jill Thomas (Principal Auditor) which presents the audit work completed to August 2020; advises on progress and presents the updated 2020/21 plan)

Consideration was given to a report which provided details of the audit work completed to August 2020; advised on progress on the 2020/21 plan and the impact of Covid-19; and presented the updated 2020/21 Audit plan.  It was noted that the report covered the period 22 May 2020 to 31 August 2020 and reported on progress made against the audit plans.

It was reported that work had shown no significant governance issues with all assurance opinions given being high or substantial assurance.

Members 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 points:

·         In terms of the annual care assessments, which had received high assurance, it was noted that care assessments had been suspended since March 2020 and it was queried whether there was a potential financial risk from a back log of cases.

·         In relation to the Accounts Payable audit, it was queried whether suppliers were being paid on time, this was particularly important for small businesses.  It was noted that payment of invoices was included as part of the KPI information on a monthly basis and these targets were being met.  Officers were not aware of issues which had arisen around the payment of invoices.

·         It was highlighted that the audits were carried out in March and April 2020 and there were very strong monitoring controls in place, which means that any risk could be mitigated going forward. 

·         Reference was made to the appointment of a Senior Auditor to the team, and officers were congratulated on being able to recruit externally to this position.

·         It was queried whether there were any particular areas of work which Covid-19 restrictions had impacted.  It was reported that the commercial team had been working throughout the covid-19 pandemic with suppliers and supporting the supply chain.  This included governance support and due diligence.  The Counter Fraud team had also been providing assistance.  There had been a continuous dialogue with suppliers.

·         It was commented that it was good to see that flexibility was being shown in amending the audit plan where necessary.

·         The Corporate Leadership Team (CLT) was aiming to have more accountability of risks for major projects, and the audit would be considered by CLT before coming to the Committee.  

·         It was noted that there were specific actions around Carillion, and it was highlighted that one of the issues that was picked up was around time lag as the due diligence work was carried out at the beginning of the procurement process, as a result of this due diligence was now carried out throughout the procurement process, right up until the contract was let.  It was commented that due diligence was particularly important at this time.

·         Reference was made to p.309 of the report and the guide produced by Audit Scotland, which focussed on some of the new risks to public bodies in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. It was queried, in light of risks presented by Covid-19, what the process was for determining which work would be carried out.  It was reported that officers used a risk based approach and if the risk profile changed then the work plan would be revised.  The methodology was currently in the process if being updated.  It was also highlighted that emerging risks were monitored and there was a lot of information sharing.

·         It was queried to what extent had original risks been changed by the introduction of new risks from Covid-19.  It was reported that the risk profile of risks had not changed significantly, however some of the control mitigations had been changed.

·         Members were advised that the Commercial Team had weekly updates with suppliers and carried out financial viability work and officers would be aware if any of the suppliers were starting to struggle with financial pressures.

(NOTE: Councillor P A Skinner joined the meeting at 11.15am)

·         Members commented that they felt reassured regarding risks and challenges around Covid-19, and that this was a very dynamic situation.  However, it was queried whether there were any emerging risks around Brexit.  Members were advised that there had been a Brexit Working Group, and the Head of Internal Audit advised that she would find out what the governance arrangements were and feed that information back to the Committee.

·         It was highlighted that in relation to the Business World redesign project, there were still a number of red risks which were being reported to the Project Board.  It was noted that there were a high number of super users, and they were used over to the Hoople platform, there would be a review of what access people had.

·         It was commented that the Covid-19 situation had presented an opportunity for those who wished to cheat the system, and it was queried whether there was any evidence that the small business grant funding had been mis-used.  Officers advised that there was no intelligence indicating this was the case in Lincolnshire, however, it was on the work plan.

RESOLVED

1.    That the Committee notes the outcome of Internal Audit's work; and

2.    That the Committee approves the revised 2020/21 Internal Audit Plan