Agenda item

To receive the report that outlines the work of internal audit for the period to 31 March 2026, comment on the contents and support the actions that have already been agreed with the relevant services.

·       To accept the report and support the actions that have already been agreed with the relevant services – a specific request to revisit Fleet – Fuel Consumption arrangements.

·       To call in matters relating to School Transportation, Breakfast Clubs and Fire Arrangements before the Service Improvement Working Group to examine the concerns in greater detail.

·       To nominate Rhys Parry (Chair), Dewi Lewis (Vice-chair), along with Councillors Richard Glyn, Menna Baines and Ioan Thomas as members of the Working Group.

·       To present a report on Category Management – Environment to the Committee

In accordance with the requirements of Global Internal Audit Standards (GIAS), Standard 11.3 Communication of Results, which noted that "the chief audit executive must communicate the results of internal audit services to the board (Governance Committee) and senior management from time to time and for each audit as appropriate”, a report was submitted by the Audit Manager updating the Committee on the internal audit work for the period from 26 January 2026 to 31 March 2026. It was highlighted that 12 of the audits in the existing plan had been completed and given a high assurance level; adequate or restricted.

Each audit was referred to in turn and Members were given an opportunity to question or comment on the findings.

The members thanked the officer for the report

During the ensuing discussion, the following observations were made by Members:

·        School Transport Follow-up - adequate assurance level. Although the audit related primarily to financial matters, consideration needed to be given to the safeguarding element and school objectives such as attendance and safe arrival / departure from the premises. There was a need to ensure that there was no deviation from established arrangements to achieve other objectives.

·        Breakfast Club Follow-up - limited assurance level. Concern about a lack of consistency of information related to allergies that could lead to a serious issue. Needed assurance that the actions were robust enough.

·        Fire Arrangements - adequate level of assurance. That actions needed to be followed up and ensure they were completed – this was crucial to worker safety

·        Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) – a limited level of assurance. Despite an improvement in the procedure, a lack of guidance from Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards measures led to an increase in the completion of applications / assessments.

·        Fleet - Fuel Consumption - limited assurance level. The current fleet system did not appear to be fit for purpose, and therefore the arrangements needed to be revisited. It was difficult to understand that there was no system for sharing vehicles between departments or a means of identifying which department owned which vehicle. The Council's fleet as a whole needed to be looked at.

·        Category Management - Environment Follow-up - limited assurance level. It was proposed and seconded that a report providing an update on the work of the Category Team be submitted to the Committee so that Members received information on how the Team prioritised value for money and keeping the benefit local.

It was proposed and seconded to hold an improvement working group to consider in greater detail some of the above-mentioned matters.

RESOLVED

·        To accept the report and support the actions that have already been agreed with the relevant services - a specific request to revisit Fleet - Fuel Consumption arrangements.

·        To call in School Transportation, Breakfast Clubs and Fire Arrangements before the Service Improvement Working Group to examine the concerns in greater detail.

·        To nominate Rhys Parry (Chair), Dewi Lewis (Vice-chair) and Councillors Richard Glyn, Menna Baines and Ioan Thomas, as members of the Working Group

·        That a report on Category Management – Environmental is to be submitted to the Committee