Agenda item

Report of the Head of Internal Audit.

Considered:  The report of the Head of Internal audit which provided a summary of the internal audit work performed in 2022/23 and expressed an opinion on the overall framework of governance, risk management and control in place within (the now former) North Yorkshire County Council; and informed the Committee of Veritau’s conformance to professional standards and the conclusions arising from the Quality Assurance and Improvement Programme (QAIP).

Max Thomas, Head of Internal Audit, Veritau gave an overview of the salient points in his annual report to the Committee.  In particular he drew attention to paragraph 17 of the submitted report and the significant control issue on Information Security which was considered relevant to the preparation of the 2022/23 Annual Governance Statement (AGS).  He also referred to two small anomalies in the report, on page 42 on “Final report issues” the heading “Reported to Committee” was incorrect and on page 43, the entry for Fairburn CP School should read “No Opinion Given” and not “Substantial Assurance”   

In response to a question from David Marsh, Co-opted Member regarding the Annual reports relating to legacy District/Borough Councils, Max Thomas confirmed all had received annual reports in March 2023 and a list of opinions could be circulated to Committee Members if required.

Gary Fielding Corporate Director – Resources also placed on record his thanks to Veritau and its staff during Local Government re-organisation who had proved very helpful in providing short term additional capacity in a number of areas during this period of major transition.

In response to a question from a Member regarding Information Security, Gary Fielding Corporate Director – Resources added he was the Council’s Senior Information Risk Officer (SIRO) for this area of work and Max Thomas added the Information Commissioner’s Office had been satisfied with the Council’s response to incidents.

In response to a question from David Portlock, Co-opted Member regarding School themed audit – ICT, Max Thomas responded that whilst there had been found to be some weaknesses in school information security arrangements, these had been identified and an action plan put in place.

Daniel Clubb, Assistant Director, Corporate Fraud then presented the Counter Fraud Annual report 2022/23, which was contained at Appendix 2 of the submitted report.

In response to a Member’s question whether the Council had a policy for publicising successful prosecutions, Mr Clubb confirmed it was covered by the Council’s fraud policy framework and it was good practice to do so as a deterrent to others not to undertake fraud against the Council.  

Another Member enquired about the impact home working during and following the pandemic had had on the number of Whistleblowing referrals. Mr Clubb responded that whilst referrals continued to be received, the challenge was getting North Yorkshire Police to take forward more formal action in many cases of fraud detected.  

Resolved –

(a)  That the Substantial Assurance opinion of the Head of Internal Audit regarding the overall framework of governance, risk management and control operating with North Yorkshire Council, as set out in Appendix 1 of the submitted report be noted;    

(b)  That the significant control issue which was recommended for inclusion in the 2022/23 Annual Governance Statement (AGS) be noted;

(c)   That the outcome of the quality assurance and improvement programme and confirmation that the internal audit service conforms with the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards be noted; and

(d)  That the Counter Fraud Work undertaken during the year as set out in Appendix 2 of the submitted report be noted.