Mark Niblock, Chief Internal Auditor, introduced his report that identified and evaluated the performance of the Internal Audit Service and included four items of note arising from the actual work undertaken during the period 1 January to 28 February 2019. The items of note were:

Annual Governance Statement - The Chief Internal Auditor’s report informed that work was in progress, in conjunction with colleagues from Governance and Assurance (Legal), to support the preparation of the Annual Governance Statement for 2018/19. Outcomes from this work were to be reported to the Corporate Governance Group and SLT prior to consideration by Members and other stakeholders in May 2019.

Integrated Commissioning – The report informed that a joint audit review with Merseyside Internal Audit Agency (CCG Internal Auditors) had recently been completed culminating in the preparation of a position statement. Further joint audit work was planned for 2019/20, the outcomes of which were to be reported to Members of this Committee.

Merseyside Pension Fund (MPF) - The Chief Internal Auditor’s report informed that, at the request of the Director of MPF, an audit had been conducted as part of the Internal Audit Plan for 2018/19 to ensure the risks associated with the proposed investment system and processes have been appropriately addressed. The review concluded that the development process for the Internal Factor Portfolio has been robust and the proposed control environment for the operation of the Portfolio was considered effective.

Regeneration Projects - The report informed that Internal Audit were providing input to key strategic initiatives on an ongoing basis supporting regeneration project initiatives, providing advice and guidance on a range of governance related issues to ensure that effective control environments were in operation. Projects included:

·  Wirral Waters

·  New Ferry Fund Workshop

·  Markets

The Chief Internal Auditor further apprised the Audit and Risk Management Committee on outstanding audit recommendations, internal audit performance indicators and internal audit developments. He was pleased to report that, at the time of reporting there were no outstanding items and no significant issues arising. The Chief Internal Auditor also provided examples of work underway to improve the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the Internal Audit Service.

Members questioned the Chief Internal Auditor if sufficient resources were in place to ensure that the service continued to deliver an efficient and effective service. Mr Niblock confirmed that this was the case.

Resolved – That the report be noted.