To receive and consider the SWAP Quarterly Report.
Minutes:
Documents Considered:
· SWAP Quarterly Report
Issues Discussed:
· The role of the Committee is to be assured that what Internal Audit is covering is appropriate, that work areas are linked to the key risks, objectives and financial security of the Council. This is also about providing the Committee with assurance that areas are being covered by either Internal Audit work or other assurance providers.
· There are many sources from where the plan is drawn, including service and programme risk, work from other auditors / regulators.
· Appendix A contains the work programme for Quarters 1 and 2 of the year.
· Questions:
Question |
Response |
How much reliance does external audit take on Internal Audit’s work when scoping their work. Do they have any involvement in the planning of Internal Audit’s work. |
There is regular liaison between Audit Wales and Internal Audit and a high level of co-ordination between the two organisations to ensure there is no duplication of work in the planning process.
Audit Wales generally does not place a reliance on Internal Audit’s work, but does use it as a risk assessment basis to identify areas where Audit Wales might need to do further work. Audit Wales does liaise with Internal Audit about its programme of work and Audit Wales’ programme to ensure there are no overlaps. |
Welcome that there will be a tracker which will assist the Committee understand trends.
Languishing reports – do we have a body of reports that have not been acted upon and the Committee is pushing on. If we do have these sorts of issues what is the approach to encourage action to be taken. |
About three years ago, the Council was behind in implementing recommendations from SWAP reports. A tracker was produced some two years ago to address this which did have an impact on officers following up on actions in reports. That was the position but the culture is better now in terms of services being aware of recommendations and addressing those actions.
There are quarterly monitoring reports at Head of Service and Cabinet Member level which gives the opportunity to challenge delivery against the tracker. The Senior leadership Team see this on a quarterly basis as well.
A new system will be in place by the end of the year. If there are areas where the Council or Internal Audit are not being agile in relation to audit reports, the Committee will be notified of this. |
The Committee agrees the plan, but does it see the terms of reference of individual audits or is that only for the officers. |
The detailed scoping of audits is undertaken at an officer level. Any changes to this can be discussed with the Chair, the Head of Finance and the Chief Executive. |
Outcomes:
Action |
Action By / Completion Date |
That the Audit plan for Quarter 1 and 2 is approved. |
IH |
That the Audit Charter is endorsed. |
IH |
Supporting documents: