The Chief Internal Auditor provided Members with information related to the delivery of the Internal Audit Service for the period 1 November to 31 December 2013. It supported the revised reporting arrangements by focusing upon –

·  Items of note arising from audit work conducted

These were in relation to IT Disaster Recovery, Directorate Planning, Golf Courses and External Assurances and he advised that management had agreed to implement all recommendations.

·  Issues arising that required actions to be taken by Members

He provided information in relation to those audits where recommended actions had currently not been implemented. With the exception of one item, all of the recommendations were currently Amber rated as being in progress and within agreed timescales. The one Red rated item concerned compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, which was being progressed by IT Services to achieve the March 2014 deadline.

In response to a question from a Member, the Chief Internal Auditor referred to the activities of the Information Governance Board, of which he was a member, and provided assurance that the matters referred to it would be addressed and highlighted in the monthly reports provided to Members.

·  Performance Information related to the Internal Audit Service

He commented that the Service was on target to deliver the Internal Audit Plan. Feedback from clients was good with satisfaction levels remaining consistently high.

·  Developments being undertaken to improve the effectiveness of the Internal Audit Service

Good progress continued to be made to deliver the Improvement Plan within agreed timescales, with 16 of the 18 actions implemented and work progressing well in the outstanding areas. He referred also to other initiatives currently underway to improve the service and commented upon progress to ensure compliance with the new Public Sector Internal Audit Standards and upon work to develop and implement an Auditor Skills Appraisal system.

Resolved – That the report be noted.