Issue - meetings

To receive the Internal Audit Activity Report.

The Principal Auditor presented the Internal Audit Activity Report for the period 1 January 2024 to 31 March 2024 and the unplanned work to date.  An update was also provided on the progress of previous audit reports issued.

During the reporting period, nine reports had been issued, six yellow (reasonable) and three green (good).  Internal Audit intend to follow up, where necessary, within three to six months to check that recommendations had been implemented and they were confident that management would implement the controls to bring about an improvement.  There were no other issues to bring to the attention of the Committee at this time.

Audit Committee members approved the 2023/24 Internal Audit Plan at the May 2023 committee meeting.  Progress made against this plan from a total of 73 audits, 27 audits have been completed, 11 were in progress and 31 have been deferred or removed due to requests from the service area. 

Work continued on the commercial contracts with Academies and Town Councils and there had been recent success in winning two new contracts with Manor Multi Academy Trust and Lykos Academy.   The Audit Team now provided audit services to a total of 11 Academy Trusts and 2 Town Councils. Internal Audit continued to look for opportunities to expand their commercial offering.

During the debate, some Members asked if further information could be provided on areas that were having a second follow up in order to understand how “limited” improvement was being managed.

The Principal Auditor confirmed that they were working with the teams involved where a lot of recommendations had been put in place, but testing was due to be undertaken when there was information to test.  The Audit Committee would be kept informed of progress, but it was expected that improvements would be made on the second follow up.

The Audit, Governance & Procurement Lead Manager explained that limited or poor reports are reported the to the Director of the service and the Chief Executive who also takes these reports very seriously and if requested they could come before the Audit Committee.

Members noted the report.