Agenda item

To submit the report of the Audit Manager.

Submitted - the report of the Audit Manager. On the basis of the work of Internal Audit that was completed in 2016/17, the officer was satisfied that Gwynedd Council had a sound framework of internal control.

It was reported that 69 out of 72 audits in the final amended internal audit plan had been completed by 31 March 2017, which corresponded to 95.83% of the plan, against a performance target of 95% for 2016/17.

Attention was drawn to the true 2016/17 result in terms of 'Percentage of Internal Audit follow-up reports with an "Acceptable" opinion or better (corporate indicator)' was 92% rather than 83% as noted on page 12 of the agenda.

Reference was made to a new achievement measure for Internal Audit - 'Percentage of the agreed actions that have been implemented in accordance with schedule.' It was noted that drawing up agreed actions with officers rather than drawing up recommendations, as was done in the past, would encourage officer's ownership of the actions.

In response to members' observations regarding a decrease in staffing level of Internal Audit, the Senior Revenue and Risk Manager noted that that the decrease in accordance with the efficiency savings that were approved by the Full Council. He added that there was currently a vacant post in Internal Audit, the job had been advertised but the response was disappointing. He noted that it might be considered to advertise the post as a training contract to qualify.

A member noted that a Council Department received opinion C in many audits, he asked if the situation had improved and how likely it was that steps had been taken by the Department. In response, the Audit Manager noted that a service within a specific Department had received opinion C in many audits and that follow-up audits would be conducted. She added that it was unfortunate when audits had received opinion C, but it was good to see controls in place in response and she hoped that agreed actions would encourage officer's ownership.

A member noted that on occasion, new managers would ask Internal Audit to conduct an audit. In response, the Audit Manager noted that a new manager of one leisure centre had asked for an audit and had used the report as an action plan.

A member referred to paragraph 4.13 of the report, and asked whether it would be beneficial to note the follow-up audit that had received an unsatisfactory opinion. In response, the Audit Manager noted that it was a follow-up audit of the Highways and Municipal Department's Workshops, Garages and Depots' Site Maintenance, that had received an unsatisfactory opinion. This was reported to the Committee in a previous meeting. She explained that since receiving an unsatisfactory opinion, the service had implemented an action plan in response.

The Lay Member noted that the Controls Improvement Working Group was good practice, and asked if the arrangement would continue. In response, it was noted that the Working Group would continue and that it enabled members to discuss audits in greater detail with the relevant officers.

The Lay Member referred to the 'GwE Business Arrangements' audit in the 2017/18 Internal Audit Plan, and asked if other councils would contribute as GwE was a cross-county provision. In response, the Audit Manager noted that the audit was included in the 2017/18 plan at the request of the former Head of Education. She explained that the Council was GwE's Lead Authority.

RESOLVED to accept the report as the formal annual report of the Head of Internal Audit in accordance with the requirements of the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards for the 2016/17 financial year.