Agenda item

Internal Audit Update Report

Report of the Head of Audit and Risk Management (City of London Corporation).

Minutes:

Members considered an Internal Audit update report of the Head of Audit and Risk Management and the following points were made.

 

·         The Head of Audit and Risk Management (ARM) noted that in addition to the update provided within the report three other items of internal audit work were underway which he planned to update Members on in more detail at a future meeting. With regards to reference 5/2020/P (Internal Audit to be benchmarked against peer Forces/Authorities) the Head of ARM noted that a peer network existed for this purpose and baselining would take place as part of the pre-planning process for next year’s internal audit programme. Pre-planning would commence in November 2020.

 

·         In response to a question regarding the skills-set of the Internal Audit Team, the Head of ARM noted that the City has a small in-house team covering the City of London Corporation’s local authority functions, one of whom had been with the team for over 20 years. That particular member of staff was retiring in March 2021 so work was ongoing to conduct knowledge transfer. In addition, the Internal Audit Team worked with Mazars to provide extra audit capability. To date this had not benefited the internal audit of the Force but Mazars could offer Force audit expertise going forward. The Head of ARM was confident his team could offer value on strategic issues but he would look to Mazars for support on specialist areas of work.

 

·         In response to a question regarding how engagement was sought from the Force on internal audit matters, the Head of ARM noted that internal audit followed an iterative planning process that commenced with the Assistant Commissioner and the Force’s senior leadership team, where engagement was positive. Engagement could become more challenging at the fieldwork stage, where internal audit activity risked clashing with delivery of business as usual activity. The Head of ARM had been encouraging his team to make more timely escalations when agreed timescales risked being delivered properly.

 

·         The Commissioner noted that the Force’s Strategic Development function was engaged with the Internal Audit Team and was able to facilitate contacts, and monitor implications of holiday and work commitments within the Force.

 

·         A Member commented that he was very supportive of internal audit and in his experience so was the Force, acknowledging that the Force was subject to scrutiny and audit by a number of bodies. As per the internal audit work programme summary within the report, the intention was to audit items that were of strategic importance to the Force at the present time, and to look forward rather than adopt a retrospective outlook. The Member considered internal audit as a key element of driving improvement in key risk areas facing the Force.

 

RESOLVED, that the report be received.

Supporting documents: