Agenda item

Andrew Wathan, Chief Internal Auditor, presented this item, explaining that an unsatisfactory opinion on Gwent Music had been issued in the previous year. After receiving this, the Education Management team then provided a paper in terms of the progress against the action plan, which is considered a very detailed account. The Music Support Service Manager has made a concerted effort to address these concerns. Members still wanted further information with regards to the musical instrument use (e.g. loaning in and out etc.), which is why the item has been brought for review at this meeting.

The Deputy Chief Education Officer, Andrew Powles, explained that the service was furloughed from April to September 2020. In September, the staff returned and the first priority of senior managers was to address the audit concerns. Following this, the service was furloughed again, but the senior managers remained working to continue addressing these concerns. In March, Internal Audit  carried out an interim follow up review. This demonstrated satisfactory progress and that the audit process was being taken very seriously.

The Music Support Service Manager, Emma Archer, commented that a number of the actions from the initial audit have now been completed satisfactorily. Covid-19 has posed significant difficulties to some of these actions due to school sites not being open or not allowing access for visitors. The focus has mostly been on moving forward on the stock check. 94% of the instruments on the asset register have been checked (5048 instruments). Out of 154 schools, all but 29 schools have been stock checked. There will therefore be some remaining instruments which need to be updated on the asset register.

Discussions included the following:

·         Members thanked the team for the update and recognised the difficulty posed by Covid-19. It was questioned why there is such a long time between stock checks. Is there a systematic difficulty with doing this?

o   The Music Support Service Manager responded to explain that it is a time consuming process. The stock is constantly moving under normal circumstances, so the best time to do a stock check is normally over the holiday period. With over 5000 instruments, this is a significant piece of work. Moving forward, the service would need a different way of working- the new software being introduced will have more automation in it, which will stream the automation side. The service may need to revisit the process of the physical handing out and handing back of instruments. This currently relies on peripatetic self-employed staff to undertake this. The service may have to be more restricted in the future as to how we hand over loans in the future.

o   Members responded, wanting to ensure that students can access instruments still and that a new way of working doesn’t make this more difficult. Would there be a way to ‘barcode’ the instruments to be scanned in and out?

o   The Music Support Service Manager explained that one of the improvements in the new software incorporates a scanning in and out system.

·         The Chair commented that the Audit Committee don’t want to create bureaucracy for the sake of it. The basic premise to be monitored is that if a student is given an instrument, potentially there could be a loss of asset. Could a negative assurance approach be taken? I.e. students/parents have a duty to tell the service if the asset is returned, and if contact is not made, the service has a right to request payment. This would help to reduce bureaucracy, whilst still retaining control.

o   The Music Support Service Manager explained that the process that was in place currently/historically was a paper driven form. Moving forward, the improvements are moving to a digital platform, meaning the parents sign up to the T’s&C’s of the loan, see the details of the instrument, requirements of the loan etc. on the portal or app. The whole process should be a lot more automated and streamlined now.

o   The Chief Internal Auditor expressed that the concern from an audit perspective is to safeguard the assets of the Authority, so a more streamlined way of controlling this would always be advocated, to ensure that appropriate controls are in place.

·         Members asked whether, of the 5000 instruments identified, are all of these related back to the initial purchase on the system, and if new instruments are purchased are they also uploaded into the system?

o   The Music Support Service Manager replied that, in 2016, all this information was transferred over to the new system using an access file. New purchases are therefore automatically added. Part of the process has been to review all of the data transferred in 2016. Going forward, the purchases are automatically logged on the system.

·         The Chief Internal Auditor mentioned that previously, there had been issues identified with instruments being on loan for much longer than reasonable, is this now being tracked?

o   The Music Support Service Manager explained that this was due to an error in recording rather than the instruments actually being out on loan for a long period. Now all of these have been tracked. There are only 280 live loans currently. The service is currently operating at less than 10% of normal pupils. Aside from this, there are six outstanding loans, but these are to university students who have had their loans approved as they assist the service.

·         The Chair enquired whether any instruments not identified had to be written off?

o   The Music Support Service Manager explained that there are 900 records which the service haven’t been able to confirm. However, this is likely to include duplication of some instruments, for example, brass and wind instruments are easy to track, but string instruments are harder to identify. The service will seek approval from the Chief Education Officer to write-off the final number of instruments once this number is established.

·         The Chief Internal Auditor questioned whether the service is confident that all the instruments have now been recorded.

o   The Music Support Service Manager was confident that all instruments have been recorded, apart from those in the 29 schools which are not allowing access.

·         Members asked if the financial responsibility is quantified, particularly for instruments where we are not sure of their location.

o   The Music Support Service Manager replied that insurance has been taken out on all the instruments that are in location. There is a full asset list with valuations which has been approved by the brokers. The vast majority of instruments are for students, so there is a recognised amount of wear and tear and general damage to the assets which would be expected. The vast majority of instruments are 7 years or older.

o   Members asked if the audit report reflects this.

o   The Chief Internal Auditor explained that the interim follow up audit was still underway so we are awaiting the results of this. Internal Audit is hoping to do a full follow up audit later in the year once everything is back in motion.

Agreed:

The Audit Committee noted the report and commended the improvements made by the Gwent Music Service. The Committee acknowledged the forthcoming follow up audit due to take place later this year.