Agenda item
To consider and
approve the plan
Decision:
To accept the report
To approve the Plan
Minutes:
Submitted – the
plan of the Internal Audit work for the 2021/22 financial year by the Audit
Manager. In accordance with best practice and the Public Sector Internal Audit
Standards, the Internal Audit plan was subject to continuous review in order to
ensure that it remained up to date and reflected changes in the business
together with the consideration of the significant and speedy impacts of the
COVID-19 pandemic on the Council. In
order to ensure that the Council's key controls and correct matters were reviewed, consideration was given to the Corporate Risk
Register, Gwynedd Council's Plan as well as any other significant developments
that are underway. As a result, an
initial draft plan was prepared that would provide flexibility to address any
matters that became apparent, to the Council's risks and priorities and to
ensure the health and safety of Internal Audit officers and clients. The initial plan was
discussed with every Head of Service; this was an opportunity to further
refine the plan, before preparing the final Plan for the Audit and Governance
Committee.
It was noted that
the Audit Plan 2021/2022 gave appropriate consideration to
the following:
·
to be aware at all times of the potential
occurrence of fraud or corruption - taking advantage of the National Fraud
Initiative and undertaking proactive Fraud Prevention Work
·
continue to address specific grants, particularly
where the conditions of the grant expect an Internal Audit
·
to ensure flexibility, Internal Audit will wherever possible use the AGILE
methodology. The main objectives of applying the AGILE principles are:
o Increasing audit quality
o Short audit cycles
o More interaction with clients
o Providing insights
(It was noted that Agile provides a more flexible and dynamic Internal
Audit Planning as a result of continuous risk
monitoring).
It was projected that
approximately 715 days of audit resources would be available to complete the
2021/22 audit plan. The available
staffing resources were analysed, giving consideration to
reasonable budgets for ‘unproductive’ work such as holidays, illness, training,
management and meetings.
Details of the purpose and reason for some audits were
given for members to have a taste of the contents of the audit plan
Gratitude was expressed for the report
In response to a
question regarding the contents of cyber security (identified as a priority
field in a recent workshop) on the work programme, it was
noted that an audit into the security of IT systems had been
identified. However, it was highlighted that an external company was preparing
thorough, professional reports on cyber security and these reports were
presented to the Audit Service. It was added that
these were robust arrangements and to an extent, the Audit Service could add to
what the external company does. It was reported that an item 'Resilience of IT Systems - Cyber
Security' had been included as an item for scrutiny at the 15 July Committee
meeting.
In
response to a question regarding measures to safeguard freedom and the
intention to audit new arrangements that will replace DoLS
and if these new arrangements were better for the Council or for individuals,
it was noted that this was an audit at the request of the Head of Adults,
Health and Well-being who had recommended that the Audit Service would look at
the new system to ensure robust arrangements as a result of past problems.
In response to a
comment that the impact of covid 19 was far reaching
and whether the Education Department had the capacity to get to grips with the
impacts, it was noted that the matter had not been considered, however, the
intention to discuss this further with the Head of Education was noted. It was
emphasised that the contribution of educational psychologists was essential to
assess the impact.
In response to a
question regarding costs to staff of working from home, it was
noted that it was possible to claim an allowance from HMRC (undertaking
this was the responsibility of the individual - the information had been
circulated). It was also noted that it
was possible to claim a higher payment, however, bills
would need to be submitted as evidence.
RESOLVED
To accept the report
To approve the Plan
Supporting documents: