The Chief Internal Auditor introduced his report that identified and evaluated the performance of the Internal Audit Section and included items of note arising from the actual work undertaken during the period 1 March to 31 May 2016. The report focused upon:

·  Any items of note arising from audit work conducted;

·  Any issues arising that require actions to be taken by Members;

·  Performance information relating to the Internal Audit 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:

Risk Management – the report informed that this audit had resulted in an overall organisational risk opinion of ‘moderate’ with a number of recommendations to improve systems across the following themes:

• Management and maintenance of Risk Registers;
• Compliance with Risk Management Policy;
• Consistency of approach across the Council;
• Risk Appetite.

Organisational Culture – Members were informed that a follow up audit had been undertaken to verify implementation of recommendations included in the 2015 report.

Members noted that whilst none of the recommendations had been fully implemented, progress continues and further audit work is planned for later in the year to confirm continued implementation, broadening the focus of the work into other areas of organisational culture.

Annual Governance Statement – The Chief Internal Auditor informed that the Annual Governance Statement 2015/16 (draft) was listed as a separate item on the Committee Agenda.

In terms of this update report, Internal Audit had undertaken work to review adequacy and effectiveness of the Council’s governance arrangements and had concluded that the arrangements were adequate.

Safeguarding – the report informed that findings and actions arising from a review of governance arrangements as contained within the ‘Safeguarding Children in Wirral Scrutiny Review’ would be reported to the relevant Strategic Director and the Audit and Risk Management Committee upon completion.

Merseyside Pension Fund: Contract Procedures – The Chief Internal Auditor reported that following an audit into the Merseyside Pension Fund (MPF) 2015/16 it was concluded that the contract processes within MPF are effective, although a number of improvements to the current control environment had been agreed as a result of the audit. 

Members discussed the content of the report, items of note, outstanding audit recommendations, performance indicators and audit developments. A Member pointed out that a number of items rated as ‘major risk’ contained within the report  continued to appear in the action summary, and questioned why, after continued monitoring these issues remained. Another Member questioned whether, if areas showed  no apparent significant improvement, why detailed reports should not be submitted to the Audit and Risk Management Committee and Officers questioned.

A Member pointed out that Internal Audit had been proactive in its actions to identify and bring matters of note before the Audit and Risk Management Committee, and it was correct that Members should be calling officers to account if they were not seemingly considering the advice of Internal Audit or the Committee.

The Chief Internal Auditor stated that the ‘major risk’ reference was from the initial audit work that had been undertaken. The subsequent follow-up work identified those actions which had been implemented and led to the revised RAG (red, amber, green) rating. In his report he highlighted his areas of concern for the Members of the Committee. His report informed in summary format that although some items had been listed for a period of time, recommendations continued to be monitored and assessed, and where necessary further steps would be followed to ensure full implementation. The Chief Internal Auditor additionally reported that recommendations for action, and exception reporting, would continue to form the basis of the Internal Audit Work Programme. He further informed that the residual RAG (Red, Amber, Green) rating for all outstanding Audit Recommendations were identified as ‘Amber’. 

Resolved - That the report be noted.