A report by the Deputy Chief Executive/Director of Finance outlined areas of work which the Council’s Internal Audit Service could include in its Annual Plan to further strengthen corporate governance.  The report also informed of the work of Internal Audit Service, and in the light of the Corporate Governance Report, set out proposals for strengthening the Council’s existing arrangements for Internal Audit in respect of capability and capacity.

An initial analysis had been carried out and as a consequence Members noted the following specific topics that had been identified that the Internal Audit Service could include in its Annual Plan to strengthen further, the corporate governance of the Council:

·  Corporate Performance – systems, interpretation and use of data.

·  Governance – on-going role to ensure compliance with systems and that systems and policies are appropriate.

·  Risk Management – ensuring culture is embedded in the Council, and particularly that risks and emerging risks are clearly identified.

·  Counter Fraud – an increasing area of risk

·  Identification, dissemination and reporting of good practice across the Council.

·  Corporate Planning - links from corporate to service planning

·  Effectiveness and appropriateness of strategies.

The Committee noted that the service provided by Internal Audit was constantly evolving to support the Council’s Management and Leadership.  The aim now was to ensure that the Service was fit for purpose, both in terms of planned work and skills ability.  It was imperative that the Council’s Management responded appropriately and, as part of that process, Members were informed that advice should be sought on how best to align the professional competency framework with the proposed corporate performance management mechanisms.

RESOLVED: That

(1)  the additional areas of work that Internal Audit could conduct to strengthen further corporate governance be noted and the Deputy Chief Executive/Director of Finance be requested to obtain external perspectives of the workload, organisation and structure of Internal Audit to identify possible improvements;

(2)  the Committee agrees that the objective of this work is:

·  to provide a fit for purpose Internal Audit Service – both in terms of planned work and skills availability to which management responds;

·  thereby strengthening the corporate governance of the Council; and

·  consequently, enhancing service delivery;

and

(3)  the Deputy Chief Executive/Director of Finance be requested to present a further report on proposals flowing from this work to the Committee’s meeting scheduled for 7 December 2011.