Mark Niblock, Chief Internal Auditor, introduced the report that summarised the work of the Internal Audit Service for the period 1 March to 31 May 2021. The report identified the significant impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on scheduled audit work and included an analysis of planned work for the remainder of 2020/21.

The report identified to Members some of the impacts of the pandemic on the normal work of the team including the increased demands outside of the norm to address additional risks presented and the impact of this on routine planned work. The report focused on the following:

·  The ongoing impact of Covid-19 on the Internal Audit Plan;

·  The Internal Audit Activity for the March to May reporting period;

·  The planned Internal Audit work for the remainder of the year.

The report provided further detail on some of the workstreams including work on evaluating the effectiveness of the Council’s arrangements to combat enhanced cyber threats during the pandemic as well as evaluating the effectiveness of the physical and environmental controls in the Treasury Building Data Centre. The Committee was also advised that work was ongoing to evaluate the action points from the Liverpool City Council Best Value Inspection Report, with the learning to be presented to SLT and then back to the Audit and Risk Management Committee.

Members sought further clarification on both the hardware and software controls in place, and it was suggested that colleagues responsible for Cyber Security be invited to a future meeting. Further assurances were also sought on the risks associated with the Audit Plan not being fully compliant with the Public Sector Internal Auditing Standards, where the Committee was advised that there was an acceptance nationally that Councils would not be able to operate to normal standards whilst responding to Covid-19, but work was underway at Wirral to return to business as usual as soon as possible.

Resolved – That the report be noted.