Agenda item

The purpose of this report is to inform Members of the Internal Audit reports that have been completed since the last meeting of this Committee in March 2013.

The Committee reconvened at 2pm with Bill Barker in the Chair.  All Members were present apart from Nick Harrison.

Declarations of Interest:

None.

Officers:

Sue Lewry-Jones, Chief Internal Auditor

Key Points Raised During the Discussion:

1.    The Chief Internal Auditor introduced the item and highlighted that Transport for Education and Commercial Services had both received a ‘Major Improvement Needed’ audit opinion.

Nick Harrison joined the meeting and took the Chair.

2.    In response to queries, the Chief Internal Auditor highlighted the lack of incentives for education officers to keep transport costs down as they do not hold the budget.  SEN officers are not present at the annual review by schools of SEN children, which covers their transport.  There is also no incentive for schools to change arrangements.  A Member who had sat on Education Select Committee discussed the challenges in encouraging children to attend their local school.  Members also suggested that best practice is for transport officers to attend meetings with parents and to encourage parents to provide transport training to older children with SEN.  It was agreed that the Chairman would write to the relevant portfolio holders about concerns.

3.    With regard to the Follow-up Review of Rental Income, Members queried whether data is in the right format to enable PAMS to work effectively.  The Chief Internal Auditor replied that there had been work to reconcile rent deposits.  The Chairman requested an update following the end of the first financial quarter of 2013/14. 

4.    In response to a query, the Chief Internal Auditor clarified that for every Audit Report a Management Action Plan (MAP) is agreed.  Internal Audit reviews progress on implementation.  If an audit is classified ‘Major Improvement Needed’ or ‘Unsatisfactory’, a full follow up audit is undertaken. 

5.    Members queried how VAT is worked out for Commercial Services.  The Chief Internal Auditor offered to provide a written response to this query.

6.    The Chief Internal Auditor informed the Committee that a progress report would be provided on the Residential Block Care Contracts MAP in September 2013.  Individual actions are not all tracked upon reaching their deadline due to the number of recommendations made by Internal Audit each year.  A progress check is made every six months.  The Chairman stated that in theory where a service misses a deadline they should inform Internal Audit.  The Deputy Chief Financial Officer informed the Committee that the contract with Anchor would be up for review in 2018/19.

Actions/Further Information to be Provided:

1.    The Chairman to write to the Cabinet Member for Transport, Highways and Environment and Cabinet Member for Schools and Learning about concerns over Transport for Education (Recommendations tracker ref: A20/13).

2.    The Chief Internal Auditor to provide an update on the reconciliation of rent deposits following the end of the first financial quarter of 2013/14 (Recommendations tracker ref: A21/13).

3.    The Chief Internal Auditor to provide a written briefing on how VAT is worked out for Commercial Services (Recommendations tracker ref: A22/13).

Resolved:

The Committee noted the completed Internal Audit reports.

Next Steps:

None.