Issue - meetings

The committee is requested to consider and note the audit plan progress report.

The committee considered the report circulated with the agenda.

Mr James presented the report, advising that there were no audit reports for the committee to review at this meeting.

The committee made the following comments and received answers to questions as follows:

·             Five audits had been deferred during the last financial year with three brought forward. The Museum audit had been deferred until Q4 as there was a service review underway at present and they were in the process of appointing a new Museum Manager. IT had been deferred due to the introduction of GDPR and the Leisure Centre Contract Management audit had been deferred to allow the new contractor to settle in.

·             The annual report on Internal Audit at agenda item 8 stated that the reasons for deferral of audits had been reported to this committee orally, however members were not satisfied that the reasons were sufficiently communicated. The committee therefore requested that this information be provided in the audit plan progress report in adequate detail in future.

The Shared Services review had identified that the average standard number of internal audit days at Horsham, Arun and Chichester would be 400, compared to 560 days previously operated at Chichester. Following the decision not to go ahead with Shared Services the internal audit service had therefore been required to achieve a cost saving target resulting in a reduction to 400 days. Mr James was concerned that in his professional opinion 400 days may not be enough to give sufficient assurance to the committee. Mrs Belenger advised that changes to the internal audit team and the 400 days were approved by the Strategic Leadership Team for 2017-18, but discussions would take place with EY to establish the level of internal audit support required in the accounts finalisation process, and the risk areas that the team would in future be directed to in order to ensure the internal audit work plan adequately reflected available resourcing and high risk areas. (Post meeting note: The audit plan approved by the committee is 420 days, not 400 as referred to during the meeting.)

RESOLVED

1)          That the Audit Plan progress report be noted.

2)          That the reasons for deferrals of audits be adequately informed in the audit plan progress report.

3)          That pressures within the audit process be noted and request further confirmation at the next meeting as to whether those pressures have been alleviated.