Venue: Committee Room 5, Guildhall, Swansea. View directions
Contact: Democratic Services: - 636923
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Disclosures of Personal and Prejudicial Interests. Minutes: In accordance with the Code
of Conduct adopted by the City and County of Swansea, the following interests
were declared: - Councillor P M Black –
Minutes No. 89 – Draft Internal Audit Annual Plan 2020/21 – School Governor at
Pentrehafod Comprehensive School – personal. Councillor P R Hood-Williams –
Minute No.83 – Internal Audit Annual Plan 2019/20 – Quarter 3 Monitoring Report
for the Period 1 October 2019 to 31 December 2019 – Governor of Crwys and Cila Primary Schools – personal. Councillor J W Jones - Minute
No.83 – Internal Audit Annual Plan 2019/20 – Quarter 3 Monitoring Report for
the Period 1 October 2019 to 31 December 2019 – Governor of Olchfa
Comprehensive School – personal. Councillor M B Lewis – Minute
No.89 – Draft Internal Audit Annual Plan 2020/21 – Member of the Port Health
Authority – personal. Councillor T M White – Minute
No. 89 – Draft Internal Audit Annual Plan 2020/21 – Member of the Port Health
Authority, School Governor at Pentrehafod Comprehensive School and Councillors
Expenses & Allowances – personal. |
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Additional documents:
Minutes: Simon Cockings, Chief Auditor
presented a report which provided the audits finalised
and any other work undertaken by the Internal Audit Section during the period 1 October 2019 to 31
December 2019. A total of 39 audits were finalised during the quarter. The audits finalised were provided at Appendix 1, which also showed the level of assurance given at the end of the audit and the number of recommendations made and agreed. Appendix 2 provided a summary of the scope of the reviews finalised during the period. A total of 482 audit recommendations were made and management agreed to implement 480 recommendations, i.e. 99% of the recommendations made were accepted against a target of 95%. Details of those recommendations that were not accepted were provided at Appendix 3. Details of the grants certified in the quarter were also provided. Appendix 3 also showed that by the end of December 2019, 59% of the planned reviews had been completed to at least draft report stage, with an additional 33% of the planned audits in progress. As a result approximately 92% of the Audit Plan was either completed or in progress. It was added that five moderate reports were issued in the
quarter and brief details of the significant issues which led to the moderate
ratings were provided. These were for
the following service areas and progress updates were provided at the meeting:
- ·
Gwyrosydd Primary School; ·
Ysgol Pen-y-Bryn; ·
Fleet Maintenance; ·
Building Services Plant (Heol y Gors); ·
Employment of Agency Staff. Information regarding the follow-ups completed between 1 October 2019 to 31 December 2019 were provided, including the second follow up of the Young People’s Services audit in November 2019, which concluded that significant progress had been made in implementing the outstanding recommendations. Follow up work was also undertaken in relation to the Swansea Bay City Deal. The Chair and Chief Finance Officer expressed concern
regarding the common themes of procurement, purchasing, lack of control, lack
of compliance, lack of resources, lack of management control and the lack of IT
progress. The Chair added that she would
like to see those responsible to be held to account in
order for these issues to be addressed. Resolved that the
contents of the report be noted. |
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Gwyrosydd Primary School Audit Report 2019/20. (Jonathan Atter - Headteacher) PDF 300 KB Minutes: Jonathan Atter and Viv Dodd, Headteacher
and Chair of Governors at Gwyrosydd Primary School presented a report that provided an update on the Gwyrosydd Primary
School Audit Report 2019/20. It was outlined
that as a result of an internal audit of the school in
2019, a moderate assurance level was given.
Following this, an action plan, provided at Appendix A, was developed to address the issues identified and
appropriate implementation steps put in place. The follow up Audit
in January 2020 acknowledged that 18 of 21 recommendations were
being fully implemented. 3 low risk recommendations had not been fully implemented
and would be reviewed at the next Audit review.
These had now been implemented from the point
of view of the school. The Action Plan
highlighted all the high and medium risk
items, progress to date / updated actions in the areas below as follows: - · Banking procedures · Unofficial funds · School meal income · Expenditure · Inventory · Computer security The Committee asked questions of the Headteacher and Chair of Governors in relation to the report and responses were provided accordingly. Discussions centred around the following: - · Lack of financial procedures undertaken by
the school / Governing Body / lack of awareness of financial procedure; · How larger items (over £5k) were referred to
the Governing Body, breaches caused by cumulative spends on providing supply
cover / covering utility bills, lack of official orders on SIMS and how no
spends of over £5k were made without the knowledge of the Headteacher; · Auditing of the school fund, how everything
was clear and transparent and VAT issues highlighted; · Lack of procurement advice available to
schools and acceptance of oversights made in respect of cumulative spend; · How all spends made were for the benefit of
the School and its pupils; · How the Headteacher
kept the Governing Body informed of spending and had managed to obtain items
outside of the formal ordering process, e.g. several whiteboards for £150,
saving the School significant expenditure; The Chair thanked
the Headteacher and Chair of Governors for attending
the meeting and for providing assurance.
She added that the control of cumulative spend was critical and that
procurement advice available to schools required strengthening, particularly
the lack of official orders which had become a regular theme. Resolved that: - 1)
The
contents of the report be noted; 2)
’The Chief Auditor notes the regular occurrence
of lack of official orders on SIMS in future school audits. |
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Ysgol Pen y Bryn Audit Report Update 2019/20. (Gethin Sutton - Headteacher) PDF 314 KB Additional documents: Minutes: Gethin Sutton, Headteacher of
Ysgol Pen Y Bryn presented a report
that provided an update on the Ysgol Pen Y Bryn Audit Report 2019/20. It was outlined that as a result of an internal audit of the school in 2019, a moderate assurance level was given. The report highlighted only five Medium Risk items as there were no High Risk actions to address. All items were listed in the Management Action Plan at Appendix A, which details all recommendations, Medium Risk, Low Risk and recommended Good Practice, as well as the associated actions taken to remove them. A follow up visit in January noted that
good progress had been made although 7 of the 25 recommendations had not been
fully implemented, including 2 Medium Risks, 4 Low Risks and 1 Good
Practice. The Headteacher
provided a progress update regarding the outstanding actions and explained that
the delay had been caused by him having to take time
off to recover from an operation. He
confirmed that only 1 action was not fully
implemented. The Action Plan highlighted
all the high and medium risk items,
progress to date / updated actions in the areas below as follows: - · Unofficial funds · Expenditure · Management of
delegated resources · Bank
reconciliations · Inventory · Mini buses · Computer security The Committee asked questions of the Headteacher in relation to the report and responses were provided accordingly. Discussions centred around the following: - · Closure of dormant flexible saver
account highlighted in the audit; ·
Official
orders being raised in advance for all expenditure to ensure authorisation /
non-order payments being restricted to utilities / teaching supply invoices
only; ·
Monitoring
of the school budget going forward; ·
Attendance
at a conference in Swansea by school representatives, the significant benefit
this had brought to the senior team; ·
Concern
regarding the cost of attendance / overnight accommodation when teachers worked
in Swansea, decision to cease attending future conferences by the school and
the Chair’s unease with the school’s previous attendance / justification of the
cost of attendance; ·
How
all spends made were for the benefit of the School and its pupils. The Chair thanked the Headteacher for attending the meeting and for providing
assurance. She stressed the importance
of complying with internal control systems to safeguard the school and its
teaching staff. Resolved that the contents of the report be
noted. |
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Fleet Maintenance Audit Report 2019/20. (Mark Barrow) PDF 346 KB Additional documents:
Minutes: Stuart Davies, Head
of Highways and Transportation and Mark Barrow, Fleet Manager presented a
report that provided an update on the Fleet Maintenance Audit Report 2019/20. It was outlined
that as a result of an internal audit of the service
area in 2019, a moderate assurance level was given. The report addressed 1
high risk and 1 medium risk within the Final Internal Audit Report provided at
Appendix A. All other risks were either
low risk or good practice. An Action
Plan was developed and was provided at Appendix
B. The Action Plan
highlighted all the high risk, medium risk, low risk, good practice and
progress to date / updated actions in the areas below as follows: - · Purchase cards (P-Cards) · Stores – Oil, tools & tyres · Expenditure · Third party recharges / income · Inventory · Petty cash The Committee asked questions of the Officer in relation to the report and responses were provided accordingly. Discussions centred around the following: - · Compliance with Council’s Contract Procedure Rules (CPR), particularly all eligible single or aggregated expenditure being subject to competitive tender or quotations or obtaining a CPR 20 waiver if this was not possible; · Implementing all the actions within the Action Plan by March 2021; · Working in partnership with Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council in specialist areas by 2021; · Inability due to lack of resources to introduce a system of independent review / spot checks to confirm parts / oil requisitioned from the Stores had been fitted to the relevant vehicle, the continued need to trust highly skilled / qualified employees in ensuring all vehicles were road worthy and legal and the option of introducing six monthly checks; · Materiality risk in respect of consumables and management controls; · Supervision of work / shop floor procedures undertaken; · Audit / stock control measures / contracts awarded for tyre provision under appropriate CPR / possibility of introducing bar coding for stock control; · Significant ongoing work managing the fleet; · Sub contract / non-contract spend / lack of control with the ordering of supplies / introduction of new stores system. The Chair thanked the Officers for providing the update and
assurance. She highlighted the lack of
control, particularly in respect of stores / ordering and added that based on
materiality of expenditure that consideration be given
to retrospective checks on usage / costs.
The Chair suggested that Officers seek further advice from the Chief
Auditor to introduce appropriate level of controls. Resolved that: - 1) The contents of the report be noted; 2) The Officers liaise with the Chief Auditor regarding the retrospective nature of checking. |
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Additional documents:
Minutes: Nigel Williams, Head of Building Services and Rob Myerscough, Area Support Manager – Transport provided an update on the Building Services Plant – Findings Update Internal Audit 2019/20. As a result of an internal audit on
the Building Services Plant function carried out in 2019, an assurance level of
moderate was given. Following this, an action plan, provided at
Appendix A, was developed to address the issues
identified and appropriate implementation steps put in place. Appendix B provided a graph of plant items
out. The Action Plan
provided at Appendix A highlighted all the high, medium and low risk items,
progress to date / updated actions in the areas below as follows: - ·
Plant
records ·
Movement
of Plant ·
Orders
and payment of invoices ·
Recharges ·
Red
diesel The Committee asked questions of the Officer in relation to the report and responses were provided accordingly. Discussions centred around the following: - ·
Regular
sample testing of stock to confirm that records maintained were accurate,
progress made and bi-annual testing; ·
Management
/ coding of plant / store items; ·
The
Service challenging itself to make improvements / provide assurance; ·
Significant
improvements made by the service; ·
Testing
of all electrical items on a quarterly basis and maintaining a register of the
stock; ·
Possibility
of introducing bar reader for plant items. The Chair thanked the Officers for presenting the update report and for providing assurance through the significant improvements made, particularly in respect of stock / plant management. Resolved that: - 1)
The
contents of the report be noted; 2)
The
service area further investigates the introduction of a bar reader in respect
of stock management. |
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Employment of Agency Staff - Audit Report 2019/20. (Adrian Chard) PDF 300 KB Additional documents: Minutes: Adrian Chard, Strategic HR & OD Manager and Ben Smith,
Chief Finance Officer, presented a report which
outlined the actions arising from the Employment of Agency Staff Audit Report
2019/20. As a result of an internal audit on
the Employment of Agency Staff carried out in 2019, an assurance level of
moderate was given. Actions had been taken to address the issues identified and
appropriate implementation steps put in place. An Action Plan
provided highlighted all the medium risk items only (there were no high-risk
actions), progress to date / updated actions.
The current Agency Workers Policy was provided
at Appendix A. The Committee asked questions of the Officer in relation to
the report and responses were provided
accordingly. Discussions centred around
the following: - ·
Concern
regarding that the period April to November 2018 was reviewed and not a more up
to date period, ·
Non-compliance
with policies and procedures throughout the Authority, potentially during the
last 12 months; ·
The
delay in obtaining relevant information from departments; ·
Lack of
up to date information available regarding non-compliance and spend; ·
Agency
workers being employed in certain sections for over 12 months / vacancies not
being filled and Agency workers still being employed in those areas; ·
There
were approximately 150 agency workers posts currently in the Authority which
cost a significant amount; ·
Lack of
internal control and introducing triggers to ensure procedural compliance; ·
Detailed
testing due to occur during the Quarter 1 follow-up audit. The Chair thanked
the Officers for presenting the report and expressed concern regarding the lack
of accountability and control throughout the Authority with regard to the
employment of agency workers. Resolved that: - 1)
The
content of the report be noted; 2)
The Strategic HR & OD Manager provides up to
date agency worker numbers, levels of non-compliance and cost to the Authority
and this detail be reported to the next meeting in the Audit Committee Tracker
report. |
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Draft Internal Audit Annual Plan 2020/21. (Simon Cockings) PDF 265 KB Additional documents: Minutes: The Chief Auditor presented the Draft Internal Audit Annual Plan for
2020/21 for consideration, prior to the final plan coming to Committee in April
2020 for approval. Appendix 1 provided the draft Internal Audit Annual Plan
2020/21(Summary) and Appendix 2
provided the Draft Internal Audit Annual Plan 2020/21. The Chair commented that following discussions with the Chief Auditor,
critical issues like governance, risk management, partnerships and delegated
decision-making were included in the plan. She also reiterated that she had concerns regarding
procedures and wide scale non-compliance.
The Committee also commented upon a pattern of non-compliance and silo
working. Resolved that: - 1) The contents of the
report be noted; 2) Any
potential additional items be highlighted to the Chief Auditor. |
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Audit Committee Action Tracker Report. (For Information) (Jeremy Parkhouse) PDF 458 KB Minutes: The Audit Committee Action Tracker report was provided ‘for information’. The Chair stated that she was scheduled to meet with the Chief Executive on 16 March 2020 to discuss some outstanding issues. |
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Audit Committee Work Plan. (For Information) (Jeremy Parkhouse) PDF 228 KB Additional documents:
Minutes: The Audit Committee Work Plan
was reported for information. |