Agenda item

Internal Audit Plan Update

Minutes:

Members received the report of the Executive Director which gave details of a new audit plan, as the audit planning process had been disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic and the work plan originally proposed for 2020/21 had had to be abandoned.

 

A new plan necessitated a radical new approach, some aspects of which would differ from the one documented in the Internal Audit Charter. The new approach would however still need to provide sufficient coverage to enable the Audit Manager to produce an annual Internal Audit opinion on the Council’s control environment.

 

The Standards required that the Audit Manager communicated the plan and resource requirements, including significant interim changes, to senior management and the Audit and Standards Committee for review and approval. For the current year, this would be done via quarterly Internal Audit Plan updates.  A new, more flexible approach was required to cope with the current unprecedented circumstances and to encourage greater management engagement.

 

The Audit Manager had given a verbal update at the last meeting outlining his proposals for a new approach to Internal Audit work in 2020/21 and more detail was provided in the report for Members with progress made.

 

It had only been possible for the Audit Manager to provide an outline of the audit work that would be undertaken during the year as information on the key risk areas that had emerged from the Covid-19 pandemic, and the pressure points and challenges facing the Council over the next three to six months was still being gathered.  Three-monthly plans would therefore be presented to the Committee each quarter until the effects of the crisis had abated.

 

No distinction would be made between priority audits and consultancy audits, as it was unclear how much work each task would involve.  Also, none of the items listed in the Priority Audits/Consultancy Work section were given individual time allocations for the same reason.  The total time available for all work in this section was however shown in the plan.

 

An Indicative Plan for the next six month period was attached at Appendix B to the report, providing Members with a preview of the proposed work programme for later in the year.  Both the Indicative Plan and the Quarterly Plan would be kept under review by the Audit Manager and may need to change at short notice if new risks emerged.

 

It had not been possible for the Audit Manager to properly quantify the audit needs at that time and it had to be assumed that the existing staff resources would be sufficient.  This would be kept under review.

 

Progress against the plan would be monitored by the Audit Manager and reported to the Audit and Standards Committee at the next meeting.

 

The Chairman thanked the Audit Manager for his work in the current difficult circumstances.

 

RESOLVED:  That

 

1)         the new approach to Internal Audit work (as set out in the report) be approved and adopted until such time as the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on normal Council business is significantly reduced; and

 

2)         the Internal Audit Plan for 2020/21 (Quarter 2) be approved.

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