Agenda item

This report was presented to Committee by the Chief Internal Auditor.

This report was about the opinions that the team issued, and it gave the Committee an update on the progress on the Unfavourable opinions that were issued.

Main Points:

·       During 2018/19, 48 audit opinions had been issued; 10 were Unsatisfactory, 1 was Unsound.

·       During 2019/20, 32 audit opinions had been issued; 6 were Unsatisfactory, none were Unsound.

·       During 2020/21, 29 audit opinions had been issued; 1 was Unsatisfactory, none were Unsound.

·       During 2021/22 (to 30-9-21), 9 audit opinions had been issued; none were Unsatisfactory or Unsound.

This was a promising way forward as the number of unfavourable opinions were reducing. Members can see improvements have been made and there was a commitment made to follow up on any Unfavourable opinions and report back to the Committee the secondary opinion which could be positive or negative.

·       In some case there have been 2 consecutive Unfavourable opinions then Committee have called in the relevant Head of Service to challenge the individual as to why little action was taken and to make those improvements.

·       In 2015-16 Paragraph 6 of the report, 34 audit opinions were issued; 8 of which were deemed to be Unsatisfactory; one was noted in the summary  as table as the 7 previous reports have been followed up and more favourable opinions were issued and have been duly reported to the Committee.

·       Table 6 showed the Joint Venture- Newport Norse which was Unsatisfactory some years ago. There have been some delays in getting this report in terms of follow up. Follow up was started in 2021, continued into 2022 and a new opinion was issued which was reported to be more favourable and this would be reported back to the Committee in due course.

·       In 2016/17, 35 audit opinions were issued; 5 were deemed to be Unsatisfactory, 1 was Unsound. One report has not yet been followed up. This was an SRS issue and the previous 4 Unsatisfactory reports and one Unsound have been followed up by a more favourable opinion. SRS and the Digital Team have engaged with a consultant to identify a gap analysis and an update would be provided to the Committee in due course.

·       Paragraph 8 stated that in 2017/18, 40 audit opinions were issued; 6 were deemed to be Unsatisfactory, none were Unsound. 4 out of the 6 have been followed up; 3 of which have resulted in a more favourable audit opinion. Two reports have not yet been followed up. In relation to the Preferred Catering Contractor this was not yet picked up as the school were yet to engage with a new contract.

·       In 2018/19, 48 audit opinions had been issued; 10 were deemed to be Unsatisfactory, 1 was deemed to be Unsound. 6 audits have been followed up which resulted in more favourable opinions. The outstanding opinions were shown in the table. Adoption Allowances were being followed up in this current financial year. Commercial & Industrial Property Portfolio was originally Unsatisfactory, and the final report was issued in March 2021 which was an improved opinion of Reasonable. Highways has seen an improved opinion of Reasonable. Vehicle Tracking System & Usage was previously Unsatisfactory, this has not yet been followed up as they were implementing a new tracking system. Trips and Visits have had a follow up undertaken and the Committee have previously called in the Head of Service who gave assurances that things would improve. There was a delay in this follow up due to Covid/Pandemic school closures. Caerleon Comprehensive was Unsatisfactory and due to Covid this was not followed up as of the 30^th September 2021. However, this was subsequently followed up and the report would be submitted to the Committee at a future meeting.

·       In 2019/20, 32 audit opinions had been issued; 6 were deemed to be Unsatisfactory, none were deemed to be Unsound. 3 audits have been followed up which has resulted in more favourable opinions. Taxi Contracts were to be followed up in this Quarter 4 of 2021/22. Corporate Governance was to be followed up in 2022/23 next financial year. Kinships have received 2 consecutive Unsatisfactory opinions and the Head of Children and Young People was called in to give assurances that things would improve. A follow up was completed which improved the opinion to Reasonable. Children & Families Imprest Account was originally Unsatisfactory with the final report issued in August 2021 which was a better Reasonable opinion. Gwent Music Support had an Unsatisfactory report and discussions have been ongoing with their service manager, a follow up was not carried out but advice was issued and post Covid a follow up Audit would be completed.

·       In 2020/21, 29 audit opinions had been issued; 1 was deemed to be Unsatisfactory, none were deemed to be Unsound.

·       In 2021/22, to September 2021, 9 audit opinions have been issued; no audit reports have been issued with an Unsatisfactory or Unsound audit opinion.

·       Managers have a commitment to make the changes that were suggested, and the managers put their own management actions to address their issues and it was up to the operational managers to move this forward.

Questions:

Councillor Giles stated that it appeared that everything was quite detailed and was very efficient. They stated that some opinions were familiar, and some were unexpected. Councillor Giles also noted that there were a lot of covid aspects and asked whether there were any examples to explain how services were affected.

The Chief Internal Auditor confirmed that the main audit areas affected were our schools and not being able to carry out site visits due to Covid restrictions and school closures. The Audit Team would work with schools and Head Teachers, and they would have a controlled risk self-assessment to be sent out to them to make sure adequate controls were in place. With other service areas the focus was on frontline provision during the pandemic rather than audit which was acknowledged.

Councillor Hourahine remarked on the summary sheet which mentioned audit opinions as this was touched on this before. Councillor Hourahine requested for there to be an indication in the summary tables of when the team were next able to visit as this would be helpful e.g., 2018/2019 opinions.

The Chief Internal Auditor stated that they would take this on board and stated that the information was captured in the tables, and it depends on when the job appeared on the Audit cycle as other risks come on board which may take priority. In relation to the follow up to an Unfavourable report a follow up would be completed within 12 months but sometimes this could be accommodated.

 Agreed:

The Governance and Audit Committee noted the report