Agenda item

The Committee considered a report on progress made by the Council’s internal audit manager (KPMG) on their internal audit plan for 2021-22 for the period April 2021 to January 2022, which included a summary of the work that they had concluded since the previous report to Committee and what they had planned to do ahead of the next.  The report also provided an executive summary of four internal audit reports which examined Financial Controls in respect of: Capital Management, income and accounts receivable compliance, expenditure and accounts payable compliance, and Procurement. 

In debating this item, the Committee raised the following points:

·       In response to concerns raised in relation to a report on an internal audit review already completed this year in respect of HRA Right to Buy receipts, KPMG reassured the Committee that it would be following up progress with their recommendations in respect of that report in the next financial year as part of their next Internal Audit Plan.  The Director of Resources also commented that the enhanced reporting included within the Financial

Monitoring Report elsewhere on the agenda for this meeting provided a good oversight of the current situation in respect of spending Right to Buy receipts.  In addition, a proposed Right to Buy policy, which was one of the core recommendations from the review, would be considered by the Executive on 24 February 2022.

·       In relation to overdue debts in the context of the Income and Accounts Receivable Compliance report, assurance was sought regarding whether:

(a)   the software was now fully functioning

(b)   action had been taken in respect of existing debts where the system had not been able to send out debt recovery letters, and

(c)   the Committee should have a role in monitoring overdue debts

In response, the Director of Resources informed the Committee that the automated reminder letter functionality went live at the end of November 2021, and that this had included reminder letters in respect of those debts that had not previously been the subject of recovery letters. During the process although reminder letters were not being sent statements were being issued setting out details of amounts owed to the Council. With regard to monitoring, the Director reminded the Committee that there was a performance indicator in the Corporate Performance Monitoring Report which showed the number days a debt has been outstanding.  The Director suggested that the levels of overdue debt could also be included into future Financial Monitoring Reports. The Director also reminded the Committee that during the Covid pandemic, the Council made a conscious decision not to pursue debts, partly in recognition of the additional pressure on people's finances but also because it would not have been possible to take action through the Courts as we could not get Court dates.  Furthermore, the Government had decided that no evictions of tenants could take place during the pandemic.

·       In response to a question as to when the Council was aware that it could not track debtors, the Director of Resources confirmed that officers had been aware since the Council went live with the Business World system that the functionality around reminder letters was not working as it should, and that the issue had been pursued by the Project Board to ensure the system fix was in place.

The Committee

RESOLVED: That the internal auditor’s progress against their 2021-22 internal audit plan, together with the key findings from the reviews undertaken, be noted.

Reason:

To ensure good governance arrangements and internal control by undertaking an adequate level of audit coverage.