The Chief Internal Auditor, Mark Niblock, introduced his report which identified and evaluated the performance of the Internal Audit Section and included four items of note arising from the actual work undertaken during the period 1 March to 31 May 2018. The items of note were:

·  Accounts Payable

·  Merseyside Pension Fund

·  Wirral Growth Company

·  ICT Audit

and he gave details of audit work undertaken in these areas and identified how any actions arising were being addressed by officers.

In response to a question raised at the previous meeting in March (minute 66 refers) Mark Niblock referred to HMRC IR35 regulations and of 187 active placements only 4 were outside IR35 and he had been advised by HR that engaging staff in this way was fairly rare and was certainly not a developing trend.

In response to comments from Members, Mark Niblock’s comments included:

·  A number of audits had been completed since the report was written so the target for the period had now been reached.

·  He confirmed that a report on Council Partnerships would be brought back to a future meeting of the Committee by relevant officers identifying and mapping governance arrangements currently in place.

·  With regard to the Wirral Growth Company his team would continue to input to the Project Board advising on risks and controls and he would be able to provide some more information in future updates to the Committee.

·  The Director for Children did attend the last meeting of the Committee and further information would be provided at the next meeting as to where Children’s Services were up to in terms of training with regard to grievances.

Resolved – That the report be noted.