Agenda item

(To receive a report from Lucy Pledge, Audit and Risk Manager, which presents to the Committee the draft Internal Audit Plan for 2018/19)

Consideration was given to a report which presented to the Committee the draft internal audit plan for 2018/19.  Members were guided through the report and the following points were noted:

·         The introduction set the context of the plan and ensured that it was focused on the right areas.  it was noted that the Plan was a living documents and set out the intent at the beginning of the year.

·         The focus for 2018/19 highlighted that there was a significant piece of work underway on the Highways 2020 project and Corporate Support Services contract.

·         It was felt that the Head of Internal Audit Opinion for 2019 would be able to be given.

·         It was confirmed that the income from the external clients, as set out in Appendix F of the report, did contribute to the Audit Team operating costs.

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:

·         It was commented that the priority areas did seem to be in line with report which had been received and members were satisfied with this.

·         It was queried whether there was a schedule which showed when areas were last audited.  Members were advised that the Plan was more dynamic and risk based, but this information did in part inform what was in the Plan.  This information would be stored within the Audit Team's systems.  It was acknowledged that there would be some areas which had never been audited as they were low risk, but this information could be brought as part of the work plan in future.

·         It was queried whether officers could ensure the Plan distinguished between those audits which were consultancy or management requests, and those which were part of the Plan.  It was noted that those which were consultancy would not receive an audit opinion but still focused on governance, risk and control (within the role and remit of Internal Audit).  Internal Audit would not undertake consultancy assignments at management requests unless it fell within the scope of internal audit or if it would undermine independence and objectivity.

·         It was noted that consultancy work was evidence based, and assurance could be provided for a project, but this would generally be through making recommendations.  This work was still part of the Audit Committee's oversight and was taken into account as part of the Head of Internal Audit Annual Opinion.

·         With reference to the payroll audit, listed in Appendix A, it was queried what the justification for making it a medium priority rather than a high priority was.  It was noted that this report was compiled in January and it was expected that more progress would have taken place, than the reality.  It was confirmed that this had been rescheduled as high priority.  It was a dynamic plan therefore priorities and planned activity would be reassessed as necessary throughout the year.

·         It was confirmed that there were no other audits which had changed priority within the Plan (at this time).

·         It was noted that one area requiring closer challenge was ICT as there had been some delay in firming up the audit, the low level of assurance.  It was highlighted that there may be a need to look for support from the Audit Committee to escalate this.

RESOLVED

            That the Audit Plan for 2018/19 be agreed as presented.