Issue - meetings

The committee is requested to consider and note the Building & Facilities Service audit report, to note progress on the 2017-18 Audit Plan and to consider and comment on the Audit Plan for 2018-19.

The committee considered the report attached to the agenda.

Mr James presented the report.

The Building & Facilities Audit – In the main contract standing orders are being complied with however, the service did not keep adequate records relating to low value contracts. It was agreed that detailed procedure notes needed to be put in place to support Contract Standing Orders. These procedures were currently being updated together with Health & Safety procedures. Mr James was able to give an update to committee that the process of writing procedures was almost complete. 

2018-19 Audit Plan – A large proportion of the 2018-2019 Audit Plan would be Key Financial Systems work which would be undertaken by Internal Audit in order that reliance could be placed on the work by the Council’s External Auditors and to avoid any increase in audit fees.

The committee was reminded that at the last meeting it had requested that information on audits which had been deferred be presented in a more detailed form.  Mrs Belenger acknowledged that this had not been included for this meeting saying that it had been a very busy time of year for the team but that a new system for reporting would be introduced next year. The committee’s attention was drawn to the second item on the committee’s Terms of Reference considered earlier to ‘Review or determine the Internal Audit priorities based on the corporate governance issues and risk assessments made’ and stated that the committee could not do this if the information on reports was not transparent as to why audits had slipped.

Mr James confirmed that he had met with the Novium Museum’s Manager. The scope of the audit had been agreed and testing had started.

The committee noted the Building & Facilities Audit report, the progress achieved on the 2017-18 Audit Plan and the newly developed 2018-19 Audit Plan.