Issue - meetings

The Shared Internal Audit Service (SIAS) Officer gave a brief summary of the report.

Councillor Curtis thanked the SIAS Officer for his report. He asked about the disaster recovery plan and whether Officers were comfortable with the amount of time the work on IT systems was taking, given the Council’s exposure in the meantime. He added that he hoped that the Committee would have oversight of the new document.

The SIAS Officer said that the work on the disaster recovery plan was simply to collate all relevant policies and procedures into one comprehensive document. This did not suggest there were problems with existing procedures.

Councillor Townsend asked whether business continuity would be incorporated into the disaster recovery plan.

The SIAS Officer said that business continuity was usually a comprehensive set of procedures in itself and would generally be collated separately, but he would check this and respond to Members outside of the meeting.

The Chairman asked about disused audit days being added to the contingency balance.

The SIAS Officer confirmed that these days were not lost, but simply used elsewhere when an unplanned business need was identified. Not all audit needs could be foreseen and it was normal practise for the audit plan to change throughout the year.

Councillor Alder asked what constituted a low level of fraud regarding fly-tipping.

The SIAS Officer said that he would look into this and respond to Members outside of the meeting.

The Chairman asked about the gaps in the policies and procedures regarding fly-tipping as identified in the report and whether this was something which should be referred to Overview and Scrutiny Committee for further consideration.

The SIAS Officer said that there were well-established processes regarding fly-tipping, but documentation of these could be improved to aid business continuity in the event of staff absence.

It was moved by Councillor Curtis and seconded by Councillor Stowe that the recommendations, as detailed, be approved. After being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED.

RESOLVED – that (A) the Internal Audit Progress Report be noted;

(B) changes to the Internal Audit Plan as at 9 July 2021be approved; and

(C) the status of Critical and High Priority Recommendations be noted.