Issue - meetings

(i)       to approve the rescheduling of the planned audit of the Craft Workers Payroll to 2018/19 in view of delays in the renegotiation of the Craft Workers Terms and Conditions;

(ii)      to approve the merging of additional work requested by the Committee relating to controls in the programme management office with the planned audit of the Capital Plan;

(iii)      to note that the draft Internal Audit Plan would be circulated to Directors and Heads of Service for their input prior to it being submitted to this Committee in February 2018;

(iv)     to request the Interim Director of Communities, Housing and Infrastructure to  ensure that every step is taken to ensure that the new process within the programme management office is embedded before the audit takes place;

(v)      to otherwise note the content of the report.

The Committee had before it a report by the Internal Auditor which advised on Internal Audit’s progress against the approved 2016/17 and 2017/18 Internal Audit plans.

The report recommended:

That the Committee –

(a)       approve the rescheduling of the planned audit of the Craft Workers Payroll to 2018/19 in view of delays in the renegotiation of the Craft Workers Terms and Conditions;

(b)       approve the merging of additional work requested by the Committee relating to controls in the programme management office with the planned audit of the Capital Plan; and

(c)        review, discuss and comment on the issues raised within the report and the attached appendices.

In response to a question from Councillor Duncan relating to Services not responding to Internal Audit, the Chief Internal Auditor advised that Services were advised of the timescales at the start of the audit process and that the Head of Legal and Democratic Services had issued instructions to senior officers for them to respond to Internal Audit requests.  He further advised that the draft Internal Audit Plan would be discussed with Heads of Service to ensure they had input into the process prior to the Internal Audit plan being approved by this Committee in February 2018.

In response to a question from Councillor Lumsden relating to whether the audit on the Programme Management Office could be brought to this Committee sooner than the timescales outlined, the Chief Internal Auditor advised that April would be the earliest that Internal Audit could present the audit report and that at its meeting of 27 June 2017, the Interim Director of Communities, Housing and Infrastructure presented a report on the Review of Capital Programmes which outlined the governance arrangements to be put in place in the Programme Office.  He further advised that the audit would be undertaken once the new arrangements were In place to gain assurance that the changes were effective.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)         to note that the draft Internal Audit Plan would be circulated to Directors and Heads of Service for their input prior to it being submitted to this Committee in February 2018;

(ii)        to request the Interim Director of Communities, Housing and Infrastructure to  ensure that every step is taken to ensure that the new process within the programme management office is embedded before the audit takes place; and

(iii)       to otherwise approve the recommendations contained in the report.