The Chief Internal Auditor presented a report to the Committee of the actual Internal Audit performance against the five months of the audit plan year covering April to August 2015

She provided a summary of the work completed by the Bridgend and Vale Internal Audit Shared Service for the period April to August 2015 and provided the Head of Audit’s current opinion on the Council Framework of Governance, Risk Management and Internal Control.  Based on the work carried out for the five months of 2015, her overall opinion was that the Council’s Framework of Governance, Risk Management and Control was considered Reasonable. 

The Chief Internal Auditor informed Members that during 2014-15 a self-assessment was undertaken to review the Authority’s compliance with the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards.  The review confirmed that there were no areas of non-compliance. 

The Chief Internal Auditor stated that subject to the Accounts and Audit (Wales) Regulations 2015 principal local authorities must make provision for internal audit in accordance with the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards (PSIAS).  She stated that in accordance with the PSIAS there is a requirement that Internal Audit undergo an external assessment at least once every five years.  She stated that she was currently exploring different options that included local authorities joining up to purchase the services of one external auditor to undertake the external assessment or alternatively that Chief Internal Auditors from each local authority auditing their peers.

Members favoured having an external auditor undertake the assessment as they felt this would provide more rigour and have a higher level of independence.  The Chief Internal Auditor agreed to bring a report back to a future Audit Committee.

The Chief Internal Auditor went on to explain to Members the shortfall of 79 productive days; she stated the reason for the shortfall was due to the 2.5 vacant posts in the department.  The Chief Internal Auditor went on to explain that there were no plans at present to fill the vacant posts due to the expectations that the service will make significant savings over the next three years.  She added that targets would need to be reduced in line with reductions in  resources which will have an overall impact of reductions in the number of  productive days that could be delivered.

Members were concerned at the pressure to continue to cut posts to achieve budget cuts and asked if the additional risks could be covered with the current staffing levels.

The Chief Internal Auditor advised that the team are always looking at innovative ways to complete Audits and are IT driven.  She explained that the team are currently looking at the targets that can be reduced whilst ensuring they satisfy the requirements of the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards and that she is in a position to provide a robust opinion at the end of the Financial Years.

RESOLVED:               That Members gave due consideration to the Internal Audit Outturn Report covering the period April to August 2015 to ensure that all aspects of their core functions were being adequately reported