Issue - meetings

Consideration was given to report of the Audit & Risk Manager.

The Audit & Risk Manager presented the report which provided the strategic Audit Plan for the period 2021-2026, and the rationale for implementing a one-year operational plan.

The Officer reported that a number of changes had been made to the Plan this year, however, it still complied with the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards (PSIAS) and the criteria as detailed in section 2.2 of the report.  The main differences for this year were highlighted at section 2.4 onwards, and the Officer highlighted the key points contained therein.

A Member asked whether there would be greater focus on overspending Portfolios moving forward, particularly in light of discussions at the Joint Scrutiny (Budget Monitoring) Committee held the previous day regarding the Environment Portfolio.

In response the Officer confirmed that any overspends would be considered as part of the risk matrix.  However, she explained that whilst a particular Portfolio may score high on the budget position, it may score lower in other areas of the matrix and balance out.  In terms of the Environment Portfolio, some systems were rated high risk but not the Department as whole.

Another Member pointed out that a number of the high risk budgets had been mitigated by the Welsh Government Hardship Fund.  He asked whether these budgets would now be removed from a high risk rating, and also whether the Council’s spend of WG Hardship Funding would be audited.

The Officer explained that an area would not be removed because it received WG Hardship Funding.  The risk assessment was based on a broader range of issues, and not just finance.  In terms of auditing the Council’s spend of WG Hardship Funding, this was dependent on the requirements for audit under the terms of funding, or whether we choose to undertake an audit due to the money involved, as was the case with the NNDR Grants provided as part of the Covid pandemic support.  Due to the large sums of money being passed through the Authority it was felt appropriate to consider those as part of the Plan last year.

RESOLVED that the report be accepted and the Committee note the basis for audit selection / prioritisation as described in section 2, and approve the audit plan attached at Appendix A, deeming it to provide sufficient coverage upon which the Audit and Risk Manager can provide an annual audit opinion, enabling the Governance & Audit Committee to fulfil its assurance role.