The Chief Internal Auditor introduced his report that provided an overall opinion as to the effectiveness of the Council’s control environment.

The Chief Internal Auditor directed the Committees attention to Sections 3, 4 and 5 of the report that set out the Audit Outcomes for 2016/17 and the Effectiveness of Internal Audit for the same period. He stated that his overall opinion is that:

“On the basis of our programme of work last year, I can provide moderate assurance overall that there is a generally sound system of internal control, designed to meet the Council’s objectives, and controls are generally being applied consistently.

However some weaknesses in the design and inconsistent application of controls put the achievement of particular key objectives at risk. The key governance, risk and internal control issues of which the Chief Internal Auditor was made aware during the year and that impact on the overall opinion are included within Sections 3 and 4 of this report”.

The Chief Internal Auditor further informed that the elements that affected his opinion included assessment of the governance, risk management and overall framework of assurance and the outcomes of risk based assignments and external assessments undertaken during the year..

The Committee noted the numerous audits undertaken in the past year (103), and the majority of ratings assessed as being Moderate, Minor or Negligible. The Chief Internal Auditor reported that only 2 reports were classed as presenting a Major Organisational Risk and that in both these areas actions had been agreed with management to improve arrangements, with both areas having further follow-up work scheduled during 2017/18.

Resolved – That the report be noted.