(a)

the report detailed the position statement on the audit work carried out since September 2013 based on work performed to date during 2013/14;

(b)

Appendix A provided progress on audits undertaken up until November 2013;

(c)

it was the opinion of Internal Audit that adequate controls were in place to control operations in the Council;

(d)

70% of planned audits had commenced and 42% of audit fieldwork was completed;

(e)

customer satisfaction remained high;

(f)

officers were confident that the Internal Audit Plan would be delivered as expected;

(g)

management were aware of strategic risks and mitigating controls had been established;

(h)

there were no significant concerns identified in the Corporate Services, Place  and People departments however the audit of Fostering and Adoption Panel Processes/ EDRMS  (Electronic Document and Records Management System) highlighted that progress was slow for sending documents electronically and implementing an EDRMS. Officers advised Members that progress had been made and this issue was moving forward;

(i)

the delivery of the audit plan to schools had made progress and was to a good standard;

(j)

work had continued on providing support to the Devon and Cornwall Constabulary as part of the investigation at St Boniface’s Catholic College however charges of fraud were dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service therefore the Partnership’s involvement in the case had come to an end;

(k)

the Devon Audit Partnership, as part of the 2012/13 National Fraud Initiative (NFI) data matching exercise, continued to monitor the work undertaken within departments. A total of 9,316 matches were received of which 2,739 were categorised by the Audit Commission as the highest priority. A total of

4,449 matches had been processed of which 683 errors and three potential frauds had been identified.

(l)

officers confirmed that the issue involving the Electronic Document and Records Management System, as part of the Fostering & Adoption Panel Processes, was making progress, delays were due to the lack of resources available to test the solution being offered;

(m)

officers confirmed that there were a lot of changes taking place with regards to ICT arrangements in the Council; Internal Audit had been working through logs of audited work and were working to manage issues in order to make the management more efficient and less time consuming. There were ongoing discussions regarding the Civica system and how it could be enhanced to give managers more access to real time data; this would be reported to the Committee at the March 2014 meeting;

(n)

information regarding delays at the Data Centre at Windsor House would be reported to Members at their scheduled March 2014 meeting;

(o)

the old mini bus fleet identified in the report for replacement had a small residual value; the Council would go through a dealer to try and sell the vehicles however this was not always successful;

(p)

the customer survey results, shown on page 36 of the agenda pack, demonstrated that 3% of those questions did not consider that the draft audit report was issued on a timely basis; auditors confirmed that this could be because of a variety of reasons including the sickness or working arrangements. It was confirmed that Internal Audit had part time staff and whilst they supported flexible working, part time working hours could affect the service provided to the client. More information regarding the specific details of draft reports issued would be provided to Members;

(q)

the pie charts depicting the results of the customer survey were from the customer base of Devon Audit Partnership and not just the Council;

(r)

officers confirmed that the service area for the Control of fuel, fuel cards and fuel contained were under different management and requested an audit; a final audit report had been issued and an action plan was in place to implement any necessary changes and controls;

(s)

auditors were continuing to look at pupil data being held at schools in order to help improve the service;

(t)

St Boniface’s Catholic College was a local payment school responsible for managing their own budgets; the school was now under the umbrella of the City Council however, initially the college had procured a school financial information management system that was not used elsewhere in the country. The information management system was now the same as those used by other schools in the city and the college was expected to transfer into academy status;

(u)

auditors confirmed that the new iTrent payroll system had been implemented; it was considered that due to the long standing dedicated payroll team there were controls in place with an action plan going forward.

1.

officers would provide Members with more information regarding the delays of the implementation of the Electronic Document and Records Management System;

2.

an update regarding the Civica system would be reported to the Committee at the March 2014 meeting;

3.

information regarding delays at the Data Centre at Windsor House would be reported to Members at their scheduled March 2014 meeting;

4.

the legality of St Boniface’s Catholic College debt being transferred to the Council is investigated in order to ascertain the feasibility of recovering the lost money;

5.

the report is noted.