The Chief Internal Auditor presented a regular report which provided Members with information related to the delivery of the Internal Audit Service for the period 1 January to 20 February 2014. The report focused upon –

·  identifying any items of note or items escalated from monthly reports that required the attention of or action by Members;

·  performance data relating to the IA Service;

·  developments being undertaken to improve the effectiveness of the Internal Audit Service.

Members’ attention was drawn specifically to a number of items of note that had been identified, which included:

·  The findings of an audit conducted to assess the adequacy and effectiveness of the arrangements in place to manage Corporate Procurement. It included an evaluation of:

o  Procedure Rules and Policies

o  Utilisation of iProcurement

o  Processes for Completion of Contracts

o  Contract Management and Performance Monitoring

The work had identified some areas of good practice however the overall opinion provided was that systems of control and compliance were rated as providing ‘minimum’ assurance. Four High priority recommendations were included in a report for management and the Strategic Director, the Director of Resources and the Head of Procurement had responded very positively and were currently coordinating the implementation of agreed actions within an agreed timescale.

Follow up work was scheduled for May 2014 and the findings would be the subject of an update reported.

·  The findings of follow up work being undertaken on systems in operation at Central Libraries and Income Control where significant issues had been identified in earlier audits and reported to this Committee in November 2013. However, it was encouraging to note that good progress was identified as having been made to address agreed actions and in the case of Income Control all of the agreed actions had now been implemented.

·  An update on the work of the Information Governance Board and the outcome of the meeting held on 6 February 2014.

Members attention was also drawn to a table appended to his report, which identified information related to audits where recommended actions included in audit reports had not currently been implemented. He advised that with the exception of one item, all of the recommendations were currently Amber rated as being in progress and expected to be completed within the agreed timescales. The one Redrated item concerned compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard and was one that had been discussed previously by the Committee. He confirmed that actions were in hand and progress reports would continue to be provided to Members.

Information was also provided in relation to the performance of the Internal Audit Service, which was on target to deliver the Internal Audit Plan. Feedback from clients and management remained good with all key actions identified in audit reports being agreed and client satisfaction levels remaining consistently high. The Chief Internal Auditor commented also upon continuing Improvements that had been made to the delivery of the Internal Audit Service as part of our overall improvement plan. Good progress continued to be made to deliver the program within the agreed timescale and he commented that 16 of the 18 actions had been implemented with work progressing well in the outstanding areas.

In response to questions from a Member with regard to outstanding audit recommendations in respect of Libraries cash systems, the Chief Internal Auditor confirmed that the disparity had not been as a result of theft or fraud but in relation to recording procedures. There had been a positive response from the Principal Librarian and improved procedures had been rolled out to all libraries.

Resolved – That the report be noted.