Agenda item

The purpose of this report was to provide details of the audit work during the period 1 March to 30 June 2023, advise on progress of the 2022/23 plan and raise any other matters relevant to the Audit Committee role.

The report was presented by Assurance Lincolnshire Auditors.  Since the last update report presented to the Governance & Audit Committee in March 2023, the following work has been completed:

·       Combined Assurance/ Service Assurance (Consultancy)

Work was completed with the Senior Leadership Team to produce a service assurance report.  This process involved discussion across the Council and provided management with an overview of the Council’s assurance across critical activities, key projects, key partnerships and key risks.  A report had been provided to Corporate Management Team (CMT) and the work used to support the annual opinion and audit planning.

There was one audit remaining from the 2022/23 plan, Debtors, which was at draft report stage awaiting a closure meeting and management agreement. The Capital Programme and Creditors reports were being finalised at the time of issuing this report.  Details would be included in the next progress report to the committee.  It was confirmed the audit opinion was substantial assurance for both these areas.

Following agreement of the 2023/24 Audit Plan at Committee in June auditors were now in the process of liaising with managers to schedule the audits.  They would also be carrying out a review of the audit plan and the remaining time available to provide a revised plan.

The actions made by Assurance Lincolnshire had been tracked since starting with the Council in 2022/23.  Progress in implementing the recommendations made to date had been obtained from the responsible officers and recommendations had been closed off where advised.  All but eight of the actions due by 31st May had been actioned, the eight have had their due date extended.

Members raised the following points during discussion:

·            Why had some audit completions been delayed?  Progress had been disappointing.

·            What assurance or guarantee could be given that the planned workload for the coming year could be completed within the required timeframe?

·            Prioritising the most important work was essential. 

·            Were the required meetings with senior management officers scheduled into the calendar and reports expected at the September Committee still within the agreed timeframe?

The Auditor informed Members that staff resources had been limited and the closing down process had taken longer than planned.  An updated plan on the schedule of audits was being prepared and was to be reviewed during the year according to risk assessments carried out.  The Auditor was unable to confirm that the full annual plan would be completed by March 2024 however, meetings with senior management were to be scheduled and discussions to take place prior to confirming a timescale for audits to take place.

The Chief Finance Officer confirmed that the plan had only been approved by the Governance and Audit Committee less than one month ago.  The purdah period and subsequent election had contributed to a delay which would not have been seen in the previous year when no all-out elections had taken place.  The Draft Plan had been compiled from a risk analysis profile of the Authority and consideration of the resources available.  Prioritisation had to be considered within the context of the audit.  If additions were to be made, delays would be inevitable in other areas as resources were not infinite.  As an example, payroll had become an in-house service from 1 April 2023 and the audit was to be scheduled once the service had operated for a period of time to ensure the risk framework was where it needed to be.  The Audit Plan for the forthcoming financial year was approved by the Governance and Audit Committee, and officers would not want to commence audits that the Committee had not considered or approved.  The Audit Plan was not considered by the Committee until June 2023 causing the first quarter of the year to be lost.  While a progress report was expected to be heard at the September meeting of the Governance & Audit Committee, the Draft Plan would not be completed until later in the year.

The Governance and Audit Committee requested that Housing Repairs be considered as an addition to the Audit Plan.

The progress report from Assurance Lincolnshire was noted by the Committee.