Agenda item

As previously stated this item was changed by the Chair from item 8 to item 7.

The Chief Internal Auditor informed the Committee that following the presentation of the Internal Audit’s six monthly update on unfavourable audit opinions in June 2019, Members of the Committee agreed to call in the Chief Education Officer to provide reasons why controls were poor and to provide assurances to the Committee that actions would be taken to make the necessary improvements. 

The Chief Education Officer explained that in the procuring of an expert working in the service, value for money was very important and as it was very difficult to risk assess school trips, alternative solutions were considered such as what was available in other local authorities. However nothing had met service needs and now as an option for a new contract on January 1st 2020 had arisen, Audit were informed that there would not be anything in place until then. It was confirmed for the Committee that this new contract would meet Audit requirements. 

Steps taken:

• A contract for a further procurement expert was delayed.

• In relation to the Evolve computer based system, 1-2 trip coordinators were needed to log on the trips for approval e.g. a small trip or a large long distance trip. A number of people logged on this system that should have been removed were still on the system. It was advised that the checks on the trips would be carried out by the trips coordinator and if the Evolve system was different then the school was contacted to remove that person and this was done in a dual way but the responsibility was placed on the school and this would be tightly mandated in the future.

• Criticisms were noted where schools had not provided adequate 28 day’s notice of a trip.  Schools had been submitting late information as Schools pay into those trips. The school had been notified that this was unacceptable. As this did not meet Audit requirements checks were now being done on all school trips coming through and those that were not authorised by the trips coordinator were being highlighted in red. Two schools had submitted a late notice and this was escalated to the Headteacher. It was hoped that this assured the Committee that improvements had been made.

• No unauthorised trips were identified. It was up to the Headteacher and governing body to ensure authorisations were made and it was potentially a disciplinary issue if authorisations were not made.      

• In relation to Training it was picked up by Audit that training was not received but was now advised that training was now offered every autumn term on a bespoke basis.  Evolve has a training facility to evidence training was being done which was now being used as it had previously not been utilised.

Questions:

It was discussed that if a school trip was not authorised and an incident occurred on that trip then the liability lies with the Headteacher and the Governing Body.

If the trip was authorised and an incident happened then it depended on the nature of the incident, however the school was always liable for the safety of individual pupils and that the risk assessments have been addressed.

The Chair questioned that if the liability was with the school what difference did Evolve make. It was confirmed that it demonstrated that the risk assessment was completed and that the Headteacher was not the trip coordinator and that certain categories needed more high level status.

It was explained for the Committee that when a trip occurred the ratio of teachers that have to be there depends on where the trip is, gender of pupils, food and drink required, weather conditions also and the Trips coordinator would also need to know the terrain of the location etc and so it was a very detailed risk assessment.

A Member asked a question as to who was responsible for outside activity.  It was stated that the trips guidance came up in 2010 from Welsh Government and the trips policy was now agreed and it was the school’s responsibility to have it authorised.

A Member mentioned a previous trip where a person had died while on a school trip and how the schools ensured safety as it was a concern. It was confirmed that there were arrangements at present and it was being looked at as to whether it was the appropriate level, and a trip was never allowed to occur if the risk was too high.

The Chair made reference to point 1.09 on page 50 and asked whether it was a problem and it was confirmed that this was a self-employed individual and this role was limited on the market so it was a case of balancing the risk and alternative delivery models were being looked at. The Chair stated that they had no problem with a third party etc but that this line implied that this person was caught by IR35 so was this a finance issue as every contractor has to be considered in the same way.

It was explained that the process was that the person would go through HR and Payroll but were they properly assessed and would payroll do this. It was recommended that the Head of Finance could have a discussion with the Chief Education Officer and the team about this. HR had already provided support.

The Chair commented that there were two unfavourable audit reports and that this was easily fixed. The Chief Education Officer stated that the issue was that the individual was    retired and that they did not want an employment contract with the Council and if        enforced they may no longer be interested in the role.

The Chair confirmed that that this advice was erroneous as being caught within IR35 did not mean that a contract of employment existed. IR35 is tax law not employment law. They did not need an employment contract for this individual but worker was still caught by IR35.

To summarise, the Chief Internal Auditor stated that Audit were checking against Council policy to make sure things were compliant and in some cases strengths and weaknesses were present but that the Committee could be reassured that improvements were being made.