Agenda item

To provide the Committee with an update of Internal Audit activity as at January 2025 (report of the Head of Internal Audit – Lincolnshire County Council enclosed).

Consideration was given to the report of the Head of Internal Audit (Lincolnshire County Council) which provided the Governance and Audit Committee with a progress report update on audit work undertaken.

The report was introduced by the Head of Internal Audit (Lincolnshire County Council) and provided the committee with the following information:

• The role of Internal Audit;
• The purpose of the document;
• Performance dashboard;
• Update on Internal Audit activity;
• Analysis of ‘live’ audit reviews:
  • The Treasury Management review and the Housing Benefits and Council Tax review had both received the highest assurance opinion of ‘substantial; and
  • The Bank Reconciliations review and the Insurance review had both received ‘limited’ assurance opinions.
• Executive summaries had been provided regarding the assurance opinions given;
• Planning and resourcing;
• The work plan 2024/25; and
• Appendix 1 reported on the tracking of overdue medium and low priority actions, of which there were just two and one, respectively. The low number of items evidenced that actions were being addressed by management. Members were to note, and be satisfied, that an extension to the end of March 2025 had been requested for the completion of two outstanding actions.

Members considered the report and made the following comments:

• Members referred to the audit review of ‘Service Level Agreements (SLAs) – SELCP and PSPS’ summarised from page 12 of the report and requested further information regarding the observation findings that communication between the councils and PSPS required improvement.   
  • The Head of Internal Audit responded that:
    • The issue applied to both parties of the service level agreements;
    • The timely communication of mid-year projects was identified as an area for improvement to enable all parties to react as required; and
    • Communication was an aspect integral to all reviews.

• Members queried whether an update had been received for the ‘Carbon Reduction and the Natural Environment’ medium priority action which requested sight of the evidence tool.
  • The Head of Internal Audit responded that verbal assurance had been provided however the action would remain active until the evidence tool information had been provided to the audit team. It was expected that this action would be completed ahead of the next Governance and Audit Committee meeting.

• Members referred to the Insurance review on page 11 of the report, specifically the issued raised during the asset register comparison with the insurance asset records, and queried when this would be rectified.
  • The Deputy Chief Executive – Corporate Development (S151) responded that:
    • The Insurance audit had been undertaken at her request and all of the identified matters had now been addressed;
    • There was a requirement that mechanisms implemented for the future were regularly reviewed and tracked to ensure that data remained current and relevant;
    • Services now had a greater understanding of their responsibilities in terms of assets and insurances, in accordance with the Constitution; and
    • Follow-up reviews of ‘no’ and ‘low’ assurance audits were undertaken which ensured that progress was tracked and reported.

• Members referred to the Bank Reconciliation review from page 9 of the report and queried the number of bank accounts held by the council and whether clearly documented processes were now in place for newly appointed staff.
  • The Chief Finance Officer (PSPS) responded that:
    • The council held one bank account for all transactions;
    • The 31 January 2025 deadline for the completion of work instructions for newly appointed staff had been met;
    • The assessment of skills and knowledge within the team regarding responsibilities for bank reconciliations had been completed;
    • Since September 2024, bank account reconciliations had been completed, reviewed and signed off within 10 working days; and
    • This activity was monitored internally on a monthly basis as a Key Performance Indicator and reported to both PSPS and Council senior leadership teams.

AGREED:

That the Internal Audit Progress Report January 2025 be noted.