Issue - meetings

Report of the Director of Governance and Monitoring Officer is to follow.

The Committee received a report from the Director of Governance and Monitoring Officer which sought to inform members of the proposed Internal Audit Plan for 2020-21 and of changes to the Internal Audit Service.

Members were advised there had been circumstances which had impacted on the progress of the Internal Audit work for the year. As a result of COVID, members of the team had been seconded to the community hub, which limited their ability to undertake Internal Audit work.

The capacity of the Internal Audit team had also been reduced with the temporary service lead having left the Authority. A proposed new structure had been presented to the Shared Services Joint Committee (SSJC) and proposed appointing a re-established shared service lead and the introduction of a senior auditor. Subject to consultation, Officers were expecting these proposals to be approved in the beginning of October.

Members expressed disappointment at the lack of detail contained with Appendix 1 – SRBC & CBC Audit Plan 20-21. The Director of Governance assured Members that priority will be based on a highlighted risk within the audit plan to ensure that they are delivered and for the Council to meet their obligations, a senior temporary auditor had been appointed to assist with the delivery of the plan however due to pre-arranged commitments they were unavailable a week after their start date.

Members requested that a schedule of the high-risk audits be provided outside of the meeting for consideration.

RESOLVED: (Unanimously)

1.    That a schedule of the high-risk audits would be provided to Members outside of the meeting.

2.    That the report be noted.