Agenda item

Report of Internal Audit Manager.

The Committee considered the report of the Internal Audit Manager regarding a summary of the activities of Internal Audit for the second quarter of the financial year 2015/16.

A list of all final audit reports issued from 1 April to 30 September 2015 and the level of assurance attained were detailed in the report.  The Committee was advised that during this quarter one report had been issued with an assurance level of inadequate which was Licenses for Entertainment and Taxis.

Audit work carried out to date against the audit plan was set out in appendix A.  The Internal Audit Manager advised that staffing issues had led to delays to the scheduled plan and some reviews taking longer than the time allocated.  The team were working to ensure the completion of as much of the plan as possible was completed before work begun on the annual reviews in the new calendar year.  Requests had also been made to postpone the reviews on performance management and engineering to 2016/17 and asset management to 2017/18.  Further details were contained in the report.

Further information on reports issued in final during the year with an assurance level below excellent was set out in Appendix B, with any issues highlighted in the reviews which informed the assurance level given.  The Committee was reassured that these were the assurance level given at the time the final report was issued and did not reflect recommendations that had been addressed.

A brief explanation for a number of outstanding high and medium priority recommendations from audits, reasons why they had not been implemented along with the month when the next follow up date was due was set out in appendix C.

The comments made by the Corporate Management Team and officers following consideration of outstanding high risks was set out in appendix D.  Appendix D was designated as confidential to reduce the risk of opportunities to commit fraud. The Committee was advised that a follow up on Events had been carried out and work was ongoing on addressing the recommendations outlined in Appendix D.

Work undertaken by the Corporate Fraud team was detailed in the report. 10 reports had been produced from the first exchange of data for matching.  Of the 5,918 matches, 216 were highlighted as issues that needed to be reviewed and 19 of these had been issued for investigation.  Appendix E to the report detailed the number of cases worked on and the resulting savings and income made, along with the cost of the team by the quarter, as requested at the last meeting of the Committee. The cost of the team equated to 16% of the savings that were made.

Performance figures for the first two quarters of 2015/16 of the East Sussex Counter Fraud Hub were detailed in the report.  The savings in relation to Blue Badge fraud now correctly calculated £500 per badge, as opposed to £5,000 in the last quarter.

Appendix F to the report projected the savings for the Hub in 2015/16 and actual savings for the first half of the year, which were below the forecasted performance. Possible reasons for this were detailed in the report.

An update on the Single Fraud Investigation Service (SFIS) was also detailed in the report.

Councillor Dow, speaking as Chair of the Licensing Committee addressed the performing inadequate rating of Licences (Entertainment and Taxi), detailed in the report. He advised the Committee that he was meeting monthly with the Senior Specialist Advisor for licensing to ensure the licensing team worked effectively and efficiently.  He reassured the Committee that all the issues noted in the report were being addressed.  It was also agreed that managers of specific areas would consult with the relevant committee chair and Cabinet portfolio holder about whether they would like to receive audit reports when they are undertaken.

The Committee addressed the IT inadequacies detailed in appendix B. The Internal Audit Manager clarified that work was currently being undertaken on creating a joint Disaster Recovery Plan and Business Continuity Plan with Lewes District Council.  The Committee was advised that the plans were currently in place but had not been recently updated or tested.

In response to a question from the Committee on Internet Controls, the Internal Audit Manager clarified that the 984 recorded entries of unknown names into Council buildings noted in the report were not all people as the system picked up other technology and entities. A follow up was due in January 2016.

(NB: Councillor Smart left the meeting during this item and gave his apologies for the rest of the meeting).

RESOLVED: That the report be noted.