Issue - meetings

To provide members with the position on the progress made by management in implementing agreed Internal Audit recommendations as at 2 November 2021 to 8 March 2022 (report of the Head of Internal Audit enclosed).

Consideration was given to the report of the Head of Internal Audit which provided members with the position on the progress made by management in implementing agreed Internal Audit recommendations for the period 2 November 2021 to 8 March 2022.

The Head of Internal Audit introduced the report and highlighted the following points:

·         The report was looking much healthier than it had in the past, due to officer involvement, and the support provided by the Committee in ensuring that outstanding actions were addressed.

·         The outstanding recommendation (from 2017/18) relating to Asset Management had now been resolved;

·         With regard to the Strategic Housing audit area detailed at Appendix 2, the responsible officer had highlighted that the original idea had been for the development of a strategy to cover all areas of development however, this had since been reconsidered and had been broken down into different activities.  The original risk had been that, from the opportunities presented, it was not clear whether Welland Homes would take these on or whether they would be dealt with through shared ownership, HRA Strategy or internal investment.  This had now been broken down into key pieces of work, and completion of the policies and outline documents was being undertaken step by step.  It could now be confirmed that the shared ownership strategy and the HRA strategy were resolved, that the Welland Homes Strategy would shortly be considered by the Policy Development Panel and Cabinet.  In considering the original risk raised, it was concluded that much work had been done in this area and that it was now possible to sign this off as the original risk had been mitigated.

The following points were raised:

·         Members questioned whether there had been any movement with regard to the Environmental Services item (SH2020 – Car Parks).

o   The Assistant Director – Finance confirmed that the Procurement Manager had advised that the tender specification was currently being written, with the intention of it being published within the next couple of weeks.  The indicative timeline was for a new contractor to be appointed by the end of July at the latest.

o   The Head of Internal Audit confirmed that the original recommendation stated that officers consider what to do, rather than providing confirmation that a contract was in place.  By instructing Procurement to take this forward and to work on a tender specification, this recommendation had been satisfied.

AGREED:

That the content of the report be noted.