The purpose of this report was to provide Members with a position statement on internal audit recommendations that have been made to identify those that have been implemented and those that are outstanding.

A Member asked about the consequences for overdue actions.

In response, the Head of Regional Internal Audit Service (RIAS) noted that in terms of the consequences, overdue actions were reported to the Governance and Audit Committee as well as Corporate Management Board (CMB), so they were reported at Director level. If the Committee wished, Directors or Heads of Services could be called in to account for their actions, especially where there is a risk to the authority if a recommendation is not implemented.

The Chairperson proposed that the overdue actions be referred to CMB as a matter of urgency and that each director was held accountable for the actions that were outstanding. He noted that some actions had been outstanding since 2021.

He requested a report back to the November meeting of the Committee, and if there were major issues for which they couldn’t account then he proposed they should be called in to be questioned by Members in due course.

RESOLVED:

Members of the Governance and Audit Committee noted the content of the report and considered the information provided in respect of the status of the high and medium priority recommendations made by the Regional Internal Audit Service.

Members of the Governance and Audit Committee agreed that Appendix B be referred to the Corporate Management Board as a matter of urgency and that a report on the outcome be submitted to the November meeting of Governance and Audit Committee.