Appendix 2 - Executive Summaries of Final Reports Issued ...

1

Final Internal Audit Report 2011/12 – Lease arrangements entered into by schools (SCF1)

1. Executive Summary Overall Opinion LIMITED ASSURANCE

Department: Schools, Children & Families Audit Sponsor: Yannick Stupples-Whyley (Finance Business Partner) Distribution List: Yannick Stupples-Whyley; Christine Golding (Head of Financial Compliance); Tina French (Interim Senior Finance Partner); Terry Reynolds (Assistant Director – School Improvement and Early Years); James Sinclair (Category Manager); Margaret Lee (Executive Director for Finance); Louise Wishart (Audit Commission) Date of last review: N/A

Direction of Travel NA - no prior audits have been carried out in this area

Number of Control Design Issues Identified

0 Critical

1 Major

1 Moderate

0 Best Practice

Number of Control Operating in Practice Issues Identified

0 Critical

2 Major

0 Moderate

0 Best Practice

Number of Recommendations

4 Made

0 Rejected

N/A Critical Rejected

tbc Major Rejected

Scope of the Review and Limitations:

The overall objective of this audit is to review and assess the procedures and controls in place in entering into lease agreements at school establishments. Registers of leases maintained at schools were not reviewed.

Each risk area for this review is shown as a segment of the wheel. The key to the colours on the wheel is as follows:

Critical priority Control Design or Control Operating in Practice issues identified

Major priority Control Design or Control Operating in Practice issues identified

Moderate priority Control Design or Control Operating in Practice issues identified

Critical and Major Findings and Recommendations There were 3 major audit findings and recommendations identified in this review which are summarised below:

Procurement guidance and rules, specifically in respect of lease agreements for schools, have not been subject to review or updating for several years. Although information in respect of ECC’s approved leasing provider has been posted onto the school’s intranet site, not all school’s corresponded with were aware of the guidance or the location of such guidance. Consequently, schools have entered into lease agreements which are not providing value for money to the school, without prior consultation with ECC.

ECC gathers information from schools on an annual basis in respective of existing lease agreements, for inclusion within the Council’s accounts. However, information is incomplete, increasing the risk that the Council’s accounts are incorrectly stated. In addition, the information provided by schools is not used in a wider remit by the Council to target those schools with leases close to the expiry date, to offer advice and guidance.

No / Minor Control Design or Control Operating in Practice Issues identified

Policy & Guidelines

1

IFRS Preparation

1

Register of Leases

0 Renewal &

Monitoring of Lease

Agreements 1

Negotiation of Lease

Agreements 1

Appendix 2 - Executive Summaries of Final Reports Issued since 1st April 2012

Page 6 of 50

1

Final Internal Audit Report 2011/12 – Foster Carers Process (SCF5)

1. Executive Summary Overall Opinion SUBSTANTIAL ASSURANCE

Department: Schools, Children & Families Audit Sponsor: Stephanie Bishop, Head of Fostering & Adoption Distribution List: Stephanie Bishop; Head of Fostering & Adoption Mark Hobson, Assistant Director Essex Shared Services; Paul Vincent, Service Manager - AHCW Finance; Paul Abraham, Director for Strategy, Transformation & Performance, SCF Alison Baker, Fostering Service Manager; Louise Wishart, Audit Commission. Date of Issue: May 2012 Date of last review: September 2010

Direction of Travel NA - the scope is not consistent with our prior audit


0 Critical

0 Major

0 Moderate

0 Best Practice


0 Critical

0 Major

6 Moderate

0 Best Practice


6 Made

0 Rejected


N/A Major Rejected


The scope of this audit was to review the Foster Care Payment process and ensure adequate financial and governance controls are in place. Panel decisions were not reviewed in this audit.





Critical and Major Findings and Recommendations Audit testing identified three overpayments to Foster Carers that did not appear on the outstanding debt register and instances where Fostering allowances had not been adequately approved by a Team Manager on Protocol before a payment had been processed. However, since the start of the audit a new payment system has been introduced that should prevent these issues from happening in the future. This is dependent on the accuracy of Protocol, and it is therefore reliant on the Social Care Teams to ensure that the case management system (Protocol) is promptly updated. The Financial Payment Team Manager has also stated that the number of overpayments identified each week has considerably reduced.


Payments to Foster Carers and External

Agencies 1

Data Integrity 1

Financial Management

4

Reconciliations 0


Page 7 of 50

1

Final Internal Audit Report 2011/12 – Locality Commissioning Follow Up (AHCW10)


Department: Adults, Health & Community Wellbeing Audit Sponsor: Will Patten, Commercial Director (AHCW) Distribution List: Will Patten; Margaret Lee, Executive Director for Finance; James Wilson, Senior Manager, Adult Social Care; Lesley Ferguson, Business Development Manager; Louise Wishart, Audit Manager, Audit Commission. Date of Issue: April 2012 Date of last review: October 2010

Direction of Travel Control environment has not changed since our prior audit


0 Critical

1 Major

1 Moderate

0 Best Practice


0 Critical

2 Major

1 Moderate

0 Best Practice


5 Made

0 Rejected


0 Major Rejected


This report focussed on the status of the recommendations agreed in the 2009/10 audit report, and on the risks to ECC that were previously identified. Due to the recent introduction of Ariba (the Essex eSourcing portal), and outstanding staff training on the system, testing of the Contract Register was not undertaken. KPI's are to be included within the Older Peoples Residential Contract, and a method has been designed to measure performance against the contract. However, as this is not yet in place and specified KPI's had not been agreed and measured for previous contracts, testing of this area could not be undertaken.





Critical and Major Findings and Recommendations Since the previous audit the Quality Monitoring team has been re-structured, as the service was deemed to duplicate work undertaken by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). The team was renamed Quality Improvement, it's role to work as a proactive, consultative team. The approach has changed from one of 'monitoring' to 'support', in line with the My Home Life programme. The Commercial Team does not undertake traditional contract monitoring; relationships are managed with a limited number of providers identified as 'key accounts'. A process was implemented in September 2011 to centrally record concerns relating to individual providers (on a 'Provider Concerns Report' spreadsheet); this should capture concerns from the Commercial, Quality Improvement, Complaints, Safeguarding and Service Placement teams, and provide a means to identify trends or issues, to inform where a multi team response is required. The outcome should be reported to the AHCW Social Care Governance Committee. • Evidence of this reporting was not found, the spreadsheet is not updated as required by

all teams, and it is not possible to extract reports, nor identify the chronology, the issues that have occurred, or the actions taken, from the current procedure.

• Two Account Plans reviewed were not up to date; in one case, a formal complaint and safeguarding issue was not recorded on the Provider Concerns Report, and supporting evidence was not held on the Account Plan, or within electronic files held for the account. It was not evident that the complaint had been followed up, or resolved.

• 23 open breaches were evident, of which 11 related to 2010. Assignment of responsibility to follow up any Action Plans submitted by the provider, to promptly resolve the breaches identified, or to record ongoing actions taken and progress centrally is omitted from the record maintained; summary reports are not generated for presentation to the Governance Committee, nor are outstanding issues escalated.


Roles and Responsibilities

1

Quality Improvement

and Relationship Management

0

Account and Performance Management

4


Page 8 of 50

1

Final Internal Audit Report 2011/12 – MH Services - Progress with embedding personalisation (Personal Budgets) (AHCW11)


Department: Adults, Health & Community Wellbeing Audit Sponsor: Caroline Robinson – Head of Mental Health Commissioning Distribution List: Liz Chidgey – Executive Director for AHCW; Caroline Robinson; Graham Field – Associate Director Social Care (NEPFT); Christine Holland – Social Work Consultant (NEPFT); Carla Fourie – Associate Director for Partnerships (SEPT); Catherine Harrison – Consultant Social Work Practitioner (SEPT); Louise Wishart, Audit Commission. Date of last review: Not applicable Date issued: June 2012



0 Critical

1 Major

2 Moderate

0 Best Practice


0 Critical

0 Major

3 Moderate

0 Best Practice


6 Made

0 Rejected


0 Major Rejected


This review focused on the progress made within both the North Essex Partnership Foundation Trust (NEPFT) & the South Essex Partnership Trust (SEPT) with embedding personalisation, including the assessment, training and support planning process.





Critical and Major Findings and Recommendations Both the NEPFT and SEPT have embraced the concept of personalisation and can identify the benefit to the service user. However, whilst training is offered to practitioners on a voluntary basis, there remains a lack of understanding and confusion amongst the practitioners as to how to complete the required paperwork and identify appropriately risk-assessed outcomes. Over-reliance is placed on key personnel, particularly within the NEPFT, to assist with individual assessments, which is not sustainable in the long term. Training should be made mandatory, thereby improving the knowledge of the individual practitioners and reducing the reliance placed on key individuals. This may lead to increased confidence in the personalisation agenda and a greater awareness of how to complete the paperwork to identify appropriate outcomes.


Guidance, Training and

Implementation 2

Review 0

Budget Approval

(Validation) 0

Support Planning

1

Assessment 3


Page 9 of 50

1

Final Internal Audit Report 2011/12 – Right to Control Project (AHCW13)


Department: Adults, Health & Community Wellbeing Audit Sponsor: Liz Chidgey, Executive Director Adult Social Care Distribution List: Liz Chidgey; Executive Director Adult Social Care; Karen Wright, Internal Standards and Governance Director ASC; Teresa Ash, Programme Manager, Right to Control; and Louise Wishart, Audit Commission. Final Report Issued: June 2012 Date of last review: N/A



0 Critical

0 Major

1 Moderate

0 Best Practice


0 Critical

0 Major

2 Moderate

0 Best Practice


3 Made

0 Rejected


N/A Major Rejected


The overall objectives of the audit were to review the finance and governance arrangements in place in respect of the Right to Control Project. The accuracy of the funding payments granted by Job Centre Plus was not tested.





Critical and Major Findings and Recommendations The Right to Control pilot has been operational with effect from December 2010. Although processes have been put in place to administer Work Choice direct payments to customers on behalf of JCP and streamline the review process, these processes are reliant on manual procedures which are not sustainable should the project become business as usual.

Additionally, resources may be required in the short term to ensure that the OSCARS database, which is the source data used for updating the Right to Control database, is complete and up to date. This will help to ensure that appropriate reviews are delegated to third parties to complete.

It is acknowledged that the quality of data / accuracy of the Oscars database is not specific to this project although will have an impact on its success.


Policies and Procedures and Training

0

Management Information

1

Data Protection

0

Direct Payments

0

Review Process

2


Page 10 of 50

1

Final Internal Audit Report 2011/12 – Learning Disability Centres (AHCW8)


Department: Adults, Health & Community Wellbeing Audit Sponsor: Liz Chidgey, Executive Director Adult Social Care Distribution List: Janice Shwky, Service Manager Residential & Short Breaks, Learning Disabilities - Adult Social Care; Christopher Prole, Registered Manager, Shernbroke Denis Bateman, Registered Manager, Magdalen Close;; Norman Wagstaff, Registered Manager, Bridgemarsh; Louise Wishart, Audit Commission. Final Report Issued: July 2012 Date of last review: September 2010

Direction of Travel Not Applicable. This review is not consistent with previous reviews.


0 Critical

0 Major

0 Moderate

0 Best Practice


0 Critical

2 Major

6 Moderate

1 Best Practice


9 Made

tbc Rejected


tbc Major Rejected


The aim of the audit reviews is to provide assurance that there are adequate controls in place to mitigate the risks associated with the financial management and safeguarding arrangements in place at establishments.

Limitation of scope: Market research and income generation were not reviewed as the service is not fully equipped to offer their services to an external market.





Critical and Major Findings and Recommendations There were two major recommendation for this audit relating: Safeguarding The service are not able to provide evidence that staff, where necessary, have completed mandatory training in respect of safeguarding, and refresher training is not always completed within the required timeframe. Financial Control A total of 16 blank cheques had been pre-signed, weakening the control framework and increasing the risk that fraudulent payments could have been processed.


Service Users Money & Property

2

Business Continuity

1

Strategic Management/Forecasting

1 Financial Monitoring & Management

3

Recruitment & Safeguarding

2


Page 11 of 50

1

Final Internal Audit Report 2011/12 – A4W (ACHW2)

1. Executive Summary Department: Transformation Audit Sponsor: Paul Vincent – Service Manager ACHW Payments Distribution List:

Paul Vincent – Service Manager ACHW Payments Rachel Richardson-Wright – Consultant Practitioner, AHCW Margaret Lee – Executive Director for Finance Mark Hobson – Assistant Director, Essex Shared Services Louise Wishart – Audit Commission

Date of last review: August 2011 Date Issued: August 2012

Overall Opinion

SUBSTANTIAL ASSURANCE

Number of Control Design

issues identified

Critical

Major

Moderate

Best Practice

Number of Control Operating

in Practice issues identified

Critical

Major

Moderate

Best Practice


7 Made

0 Rejected

N/a Critical Rejected

N/a Major Rejected

Direction of Travel

No change.

Scope of the Review

and Limitations:

This audit focused on controls around social care payments made through A4W. The review has focused primarily on A4W and has not considered the following areas: Consistency of data between that recorded on A4W, OSCARS, Swift and the Service Placement System (SPITS); and Reviewing a sample of suspended and supplementary invoices in order to assess the root cause for these exceptions arising.

Critical and Major Findings and Recommendations

There were no critical or major recommendations.

Each risk area for this review is shown

as a segment of the wheel. The key to

the colours on the wheel is as follows:





Provision of

assistance with

redeployment

0

Accuracy of data entry and

consistency of data between

systems

3

Financial assessments of care recipients

1

Timely updating of A4W with approved

care packages

1

Update of care packages for Panel

Sheet changes

0

System access

1

Investigation and clearance of suspended/

supplementary invoices and

suspense accounts

1


Page 12 of 50

1

Final Internal Audit Report 2011/12 – Atkins Contract Management (ESH23)


Department: Environment, Sustainability & Highways Audit Sponsor: Leslie Pilkington, Head of Commissioning - Facilities Distribution List: Leslie Pilkington; Roger Moore, Head of Property Management and Strategy Group; Jo Smith, Director of Essex Properties & Facilities; Diane Crix, Service Development Manager; Gary Sexstone, Technical Operations Manager; Louise Wishart, Audit Commission. Date of last review: N/A Final Report: April 2012


Number of Control Design Issues Iden tified

0 Critical

2 Major

0 Moderate

0 Best Practice


0 Critical

0 Major

4 Moderate

0 Best Practice


6 Made

0 Rejected


0 Major Rejected


Internal Audit was requested by the Head of Commissioning - Facilities to undertake a review of the Atkins Ltd Contract Management. The contract between Atkins Ltd and Essex County Council has been in place since 2005 and was to manage and commission an array of skilled contractors. The contract was extended in April 2010 for two years and is due to expire in May 2013. The overall value of works provided under the contract is in the region of £11m for 2011/12. The scope of the audit was to identify the risks around contract management, financial management and the management information ensuring they are adequately mitigated. Management Information is incorporated within Contract Management.

Each risk area for this review is shown as

a segment of the wheel. The key to the

colours on the wheel is as follows:

Critical priority Control Design or

Control Operating in Practice issues

identified

Major priority Control Design or


identified

Moderate priority Control Design or


identified

Critical and Major Findings and Recommendations Two major findings and recommendations were identified during t he review: 1. A variation to the contract was made on 12 April 2010, It states that simplified performance measurements will be implemented however, these measures have not been agreed between Essex County Council and Atkins Ltd. There is no evidence of high level contract management although individual projects have been monitored separately. Recommendation: The Property Facilities Team should resume the contract performance measures to enable effective monitoring of contractor performance. Future contracts should identify methods for reviewing contractor compliance and performance, these should be robust, timely and provide an escalation process where contractors are found to be failing. Any contract or variation should be appropriately authorised with copies retained securely and appropriately, ensuring an adequate audit trail is maintained. 2. Contractor payments with an IFS (General Ledger) capital code attract an automatic 15% uplift to cover fee payments. It was identified that no adjustment is made to this amount to reflect the actual fee payment, resulting in the full 15% being capitalised. Fee payments are no greater than 11%. Fee payments are managed through a mini chart of accounts, the over recovery balance has been used to fund other activities related to the contract. Recommendation: It is recommended that the automatic uplift of 15% is cancelled as soon as possible stopping any further capital codes attracting the uplift, the actual fee payment should be charged to the code. The capitalisation of project fees for 2011/12 should be re-visited to ensure that the correct amounts are being capitalised.

No / Minor Control Design or Control

Operating in Practice Issues

identified


5

Contract Management

1


Page 13 of 50

1

Final Internal Audit Report 2011/12 – Olympic Legacy Follow-up Review (ESH24)

1. Executive Summary Department: Strategic Services Audit Sponsor: Jason Fergus (Head of Sports Delivery and 2012 Legacy) Distribution List: Jason Fergus (Head of Sports Delivery and 2012 Legacy), Barbara Mills (Hadleigh Farm Stakeholder and Delivery Manager), Margaret Lee (Executive Director for Finance), Richard Puleston (Assistant Chief Executive), Louise Wishart (Audit Commission). Date of last review: May 2011

Overall Opinion SUBSTANTIAL ASSURANCE

Number of further Control Design issues identified

Critical

Major

Moderate

Best Practice

Number of further Control Operating in Practice issues identified

Critical

Major

Moderate

Best Practice

Number of Follow-up Recommendations

1 Made

n/a Rejected

n/a Critical Rejected

n/a Major Rejected

Direction of Travel Control environment has not changed since our prior audit review.

Scope of the Review: Limitations:

The Council has agreed with the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Ltd (“LOCOG”) to provide a venue for staging the mountain biking events. The venue is located at Hadleigh Farm, Essex and is owned by the Salvation Army Trustee Company Limited (SATCO). The Council is seeking to promote arrangements for the benefit of the wider local community, as well as a legacy facility linked to, and arising from the Olympic venue. This audit reviewed progress against the recommendations made in the previous review (PCPR9) and the current arrangements in place for promoting the legacy facility.

Critical and Major Findings and Recommendations No critical and major findings and recommendations were identified during the review.






Legacy

Assurance

0

Governance

0

Business Planning

1

Monitoring Information

0

Risk Management

0


Page 14 of 50

1

Final Internal Audit Report 2011/12 – Community Transport Follow Up Review (ESH18)

1. Executive Summary Overall Opinion


Department: Community Transport Audit Sponsor: John Pope (Head of Passenger Transport) Distribution List: John Pope ; Don Gibson (Community Transport & Community Link Manager); Andrew James (Senior Passenger Transport Strategy Officer) Paul Bird (Director for Highways & Transportation); Robert Overall (Executive Director, Environment, Sustainability & Highways); Margaret Lee (Executive Director for Finance); Louise Wishart (Audit Commission). Final Report Issued :

Date of last review: 2010/11

Direction of Travel

The control environment has improved since the original review.

Number of Control Design issues iden tified

� Critical

� Major

� Moderate

� Best Practice

Number of Control Operating in Practice issues identified

�� Critical

�� Major

�� Moderate

�� Best Practice

Number of Re commendations

7 Made

0 Rejected


N/A Major Rejected

Scope of the Review:

Limitations:

This review has focused on following up the progress of recommendations made as result of the 2010/11 Community Review to ensure that the appropriate actions have been taken to address the risks raised.

No limitations of scope.





Control Operating in Practice

issues identified



issues identified

Moderate priority Control Design

or Control Operating in Practice

issues identified

No / Minor Control Design or


Issues identified

Critical/Major Findings and Recommendations:

No critical or major findings and recommendations were identifi ed during this review.

Although it is pleasing to note that a significant amount of work has been undertaken to address the findings of the previous report, which received an overall opinion of ‘No Assurance’ it is essential that in order to maintain the new Substantial level of assurance it is vital to ensure that the additional controls that have been implemented are fully embedded as business as usual and do not represent one-off ‘fixes’. In particular, controls relating to regular checking and updating of Criminal Records Bureau checks and MOT tests.

Performance Variations

against SLA

1

Quality and Accuracy of Data

3

Contract Assurance

Arrangements

3


Page 15 of 50

1

Final Internal Audit Report 2011/12 – Essex Trade and Investment Limited (ESH4) 1. Executive Summary

Overall Opinion LIMITED ASSURANCE

Department: Environment, Sustainability & Highways (ESH) Number of Control Operating in Practice Issues Identified

Number of Recommendations Number of Control Design Issues Identified

Audit Sponsor: David Adlington, Head of Enterprise Distribution List: David Adlington; 0 Critical 0 Critical 7 Peter Manning, Head of International Trade; Made

Adam Bowles, Head of HR 4 Major 0 Major 0 Sarah Richards, Head of Strategic Commissioning Hub

Sustainable Environment and Enterprise; Rejected Direction of Travel

2 Moderate 1 Moderate Robert Overall, Executive Director ESH; N/A Critical Rejected NA - no prior audits have been carried out in this area Margaret Lee, Executive Director for Finance;

0 Best Practice 0 Best Practice Louise Wishart, Audit Commission. 0 Major Rejected Final Report Issued: July 2012 Date of last review: Not applicable


The review focussed on reviewing controls around company governance, financial management, policies and procedures, risk management and value for money.

There were no limitations of scope.


Critical and Major Findings and Recommendations: There are four major findings and recommendations included in this report, which

are summarised below:


• A Foreign Travel Policy needs to be devised to ensure that appropriate

controls/governance around international travel, subsistence and gifts and hospitality as these are not adequately covered under the current arrangements.


Roles and responsibilities were not clearly defined which resulted in accounts and returns not being filed in time to meet statutory deadlines with fines having to be paid.

• The company’s bank accounts can only be accessed online by the Head of

International Trade (see below). •


Control Operating in Practice issues identified

There is insufficient segregation of duties and management oversight over the authorisation of payments/transfers, recording of transactions (income and expenditure reports) and reconciliation of the ETIL bank account (this account is credited with £10,000 a quarter by ECC and is used to pay the salary of the China Representative and China office expenses. All other expenditure such as travel costs to China is met from International Trade budgets).

• No / Minor Control Design or Control

Operating in Practice Issues identified


3

Value for Money

0

Policies and Procedures

2

Risk Management

1

Company Governance

1


Page 16 of 50

1

Final Internal Audit Report 2011/12 – Inter Authority Agreements Follow-up Review (ESH24)

1. Executive Summary Department: Environment, Sustainability and Highways

Audit Sponsor: Jason Searles (Head of Waste and Recycling)

Distribution List: Jason Searles (Head of Waste and Recycling) Phil Butler (Project Director - Waste) Peter Kelsbie (Assistant Director for Major Programmes & Infrastructure) Margaret Lee (Executive Director for Finance) Louise Wishart (Audit Commission) Final Report Issued: August 2012

Date of last review: August 2010

Overall Opinion


Number of further Control

Design issues identified

Critical

Major

Moderate

Best Practice

Number of further Control

Operating in Practice

issues identified

Critical

Major

Moderate

Best Practice

Number of Follow-up

Recommendations

1 Made

0 Rejected


n/a Major Rejected

Direction of Travel

The control environment has improved since our prior audit review.

Scope of

the Review:

Limitations:

An Internal Audit review of the key controls in place to manage and monitor the inter authority agreements and ensure that the District Councils (DCs) deliver what is required by the County was undertaken in 2010/11. This review was given a Substantial Assurance opinion, however as one of the recommendations made was major priority, this high-level follow-up review was completed in 2011/12. The review has focused on following up the prior year findings, identifying through discussion any changes to the systems and controls in place, and validating to supporting evidence a targeted sample of key controls areas. These related to the following areas: a) The contractual position with Colchester Borough Council; b) Meetings of the Member Partnership Board; c) Meetings of the Essex and Southend Joint Member Board; d) Meetings of the Member Working Group; e) Confirming that an updated Service Delivery Plan was in place; and f) Confirmation that annual reviews had been completed. The review did not follow-up Advice and Best Practice recommendations.


No critical and major findings and recommendations were identified during the review.








Monitoring of Targets

Benefit Realisation

Tracking Evolution of Waste Service

High Level Governance Risks

Financial Viability of Agreements


Page 17 of 50

1

Final Internal Audit Report 2011/12 – IT Assets Follow-up (IS15)


Department: Information Services Audit Sponsor: Geoff Thorneloe, IS Business Consultant Improvement Distribution List: Geoff Thorneloe; David Wilde, Chief Information Officer (CIO); Robert McPhee, IS Business Officer (Asset and Licence); Richard Moore, Service Asset and Config Manager; Louise Wishart, Audit Commission. Date of last review: May 2011

Direction of Travel Control environment has improved since our prior audit


0 Critical

1 Major

2 Moderate

3 Best Practice


0 Critical

3 Major

4 Moderate

1 Best Practice


14 Made

0 Rejected


0 Major Rejected


This review has followed up the IT Assets Audit undertaken in 2010/11 and all the recommendations within it. It has been a detailed follow up audit, and has considered some areas that were not covered by the original report due to significant system changes and reorganisation within IS. Additionally, acknowledgement is made in several of the recommendations and findings in relation to the ongoing EUC project.






identified



identified



identified


There has been significant improvement since the previous audit, specifically in the development of system control processes and the physical storage of assets. However, there are still outstanding issues that need to be addressed which means that only limited assurance can be provided. The main areas being:

• Receipting of assets on handover to and from the customer • The physical check of the estate to identify unused assets • Adherence to policies by IS Engineers in satellite offices • Use of network exception reporting to enhance asset

management



identified

IT Asset Register

Maintenance 6

Transfer of IT Assets to ECC from Contractor

1

Receipt, Recording and Storage of IT

Assets (Purchases and Reusable)

3


4


Page 18 of 50

1

Final Internal Audit Report 2011/12 – Data Protection (Compliance with Legislation) (IS5)


Department: Information Services Audit Sponsor: David Wilde, Chief Information Officer (CIO) Distribution List: David Wilde Chief Information Officer (CIO); Lydia Portbury, Information Risk Manager; Katrina McGough, Head of Information Management; Louise Wishart, Audit Commission. Date of last review: September 2010



0 Critical

0 Major

1 Moderate

3 Best Practice


0 Critical

0 Major

1 Moderate

0 Best Practice


5 Made

0 Rejected


N/A Major Rejected


Interviews were held with key members of staff and sample testing undertaken to ensure compliance with and existence of agreed policies and procedures. The review focused on several key areas to ensure the council has established sound procedures to identify and manage any associated risks.






identified



identified



identified


No critical or major findings and recommendations were made from the testing undertaken as part of this audit.

ECC has recently delivered Information Governance e-learning, which is mandatory for all staff. The findings in relation to training and awareness identified within this report will be addressed by this training. This is vital in promoting good information governance.



identified

Data security 3

Data breach 1

Data retention and destruction

1

Data in transit

0


Page 19 of 50

1

Final Internal Audit Report 2011/12 – IT Business Continuity, Back up, Archive and Recovery (IS3)


Department: Information Services Audit Sponsor: Gill Furlong, Head of IS Business Delivery Distribution List: Gill Furlong Head of IS Business Delivery; David Wilde, Chief Information Officer (CIO); Sara Chamberlain, IS Business Consultant; David Wright, IS Senior Analyst, Service Desk; Chris Larsen, IS Senior Analyst; Kevin Newton, Head of Infrastructure; Louise Wishart, Audit Commission. Final Report Issued: June 2012 Date of last review: May 2011



0 Critical

0 Major

3 Moderate

3 Best Practice


0 Critical

1 Major

3 Moderate

1 Best Practice


11 Made

0 Rejected


0 Major Rejected


This audit has not looked at the back-ups undertaken in schools nor in Country Parks or similar services that do not use IS Services for provision of their IT. Similarly it has not reviewed the 3rd party contracts for backup ECC have in place. Although several sites were visited for testing, due to time limitations it was not possible to visit all sites around the County where local back-ups are in place; however, a suitable cross section has been selected. It is recognised that there have recently been significant changes in the IS staffing and structure, so the findings in this report have been taken from testing undertaken on a 'snapshot in time' sample. Similarly, the ongoing changes to the SAN and the Exchange 2010 server have been taken into account through the testing.






identified



identified



identified

Critical and Major Findings and Recommendations The business continuity and back up processes in place through IS are generally sound. However, there are some areas that need some attention to ensure that in the event of a major incident, all the required systems, processes and functions would be prioritised and restored in a timely fashion:

1. The BC plan needs to be updated to ensure the staff named and in addition some processes are accurate and up to date to ensure it is aligned to the current structure

2. The Business Impact Analysis documentation for the major applications across ECC needs to be completed and updated to minimise the risk in the event of a major systems failure.

3. The documentation relating to the back up procedures needs to be updated and reviewed on a regular basis to ensure that as well as being thorough, it is also current and up to date.



identified

Completeness of IT BCP

2

Testing of IT BCP

0

Communication of IT BCP and

Back-up Procedures

2

Operational Ability

relating to IT Business Continuity

1

Back-up of data

2

Storage of back-ups

3

Recovery using back-

ups 1


Page 20 of 50

1

Final Internal Audit Report 2011/12 – Managing Equality and Diversity during Restructuring (PT3)



Department: Equality and Diversity

Audit Sponsor: Keir Lynch (Executive Director for Transformation)

Distribution List: Adam Bowles (Head of HR) Maxine Taylor ( Head of Corporate HR Services); Jo Smith (Director, Essex Property and Facilities)Yvonne Howard (Liz Fowler (People Relations Consultant); Margaret Lee (Executive Director for Finance);Louise Wishart (Audit Commission). All Directorate D&E Leads

Date of last review N/A

Final report issued 17 July 2012

Direction of Travel

N/A – This area has not been previously subject to audit review.


� Critical

� Major

� Moderate



�� Critical

�� Major

�� Moderate



9 Made

0 Rejecte d


n/a Major Rejected


Limitations:

The audit sampled three projects involving different types of re-structuring or transformation. The sampled projects were: Connexions - change of service delivery (involving changes to service provision and redundancy), Harlow Hub office moves entitled ’Project 1 Property Transformation Programme’ (property purchase and office consolidation), and the Property and Facilities Management project - Essex Property and Facilities contract implementation of MITIE partnership arrangement (provision of internal-facing services in partnership with third party and TUPE transfer of staff). The projects were selected for their type and for meeting the criteria of: project is concluded (or first phase is concluded) and project had used the council’s Organisational Change Toolkit. Two of the chosen projects were within the Environment, Sustainability and Highways Directorate however our work suggests the sample may be representative of findings within the wider organisation. Limitations included: the sampling approach reviewed a small selection of the overall number of projects completed and in-progress and findings may therefore be indicative in nature.






issues identified



issues identified



issues identified



Issues identified

Critical and Major Findings and Recommendations There were no Critical or Major findings arising from this review, and we note the following contextual summary: Content of Report: The findings in this report fall broadly into two areas:

• The need for consistent and timely application of agreed equality processes; and • The need to ensure that ECC’s equalities duties are delivered satisfactorily when

carried out by third parties.

Areas of Good Practice: There were various examples of good practice noted in this review: Knowledge and understanding :

• Detailed re-organisation guidance is available to managers and affected staff; and • The Officers involved were aware of their equalities responsibilities.

Documentation and templates: • A audit trail of documentation existed.

Selection and assessment during change: • Restructuring selection process were adjusted following staff feedback (e.g. the

adjusting of selection processes following feedback). Embedding in business process and innovation:

• The use of staff / service user consultation during re-structuring activity; • An Equality Impact Assessment is a requirement on the Business Case template; • Transformation activity was used as an opportunity to re-asses flexible working /

work style options through cultural change management; and • The procurement re-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) contains an assessment of

the supplier’s equal opportunities policies and standard Diversity & Equality clauses.

Planning to meet legal and

equalities duties

4

Assessing impact of changes on employees and

customers

3

Addressing feedback and findings from assessments

1

Managing devolved equalities

responsibilities

1

Seeking and applying HR legal

advice

0


Page 21 of 50

1

Final Internal Audit Report 2011/12 – Capital Programme (F2)

1. Executive Summary Department: Finance Audit Sponsor: Nicole Wood – AD Financial Management; Stephanie Mitchener – AD Financial Management Distribution List: Margaret Lee, Executive Director for Finance; Tina French, Interim Senior Finance Business Partner; Peter Kelsbie Assistant Director Major Programmes and Infrastructure Louise Wishart, Audit Commission. Date of last review: July 2009 Final report issued: 24 August 2012

Overall Opinion

LIMITED ASSURANCE


0 Critical

1 Major

0 Moderate

0 Best Practice


0 Critical

7 Major

0 Moderate

0 Best Practice


8 Made

0 Rejected


0 Major Rejected



This audit focussed on the risks regarding approval of the Capital Programme, project monitoring and reporting, with a sample of projects selected across all services. Testing of the financing of schemes was not reviewed as part of this audit. The IS Capital Programme was not included in the scope of this audit.

Critical and Major Findings and Recommendations During the course of the audit a number of changes were introduced, including from Month 9 capital reporting moved to COGNOS (ECC's new financial planning, budgeting, forecasting and reporting tool), and a new methodology was adopted within the budget planning cycle to prioritise and score projects for inclusion in the 2012/13 Capital Programme. Due to the timing of these changes we have not been able to fully evaluate their impact as part of this review. Testing identified weaknesses in respect of the overall management and monitoring of the Capital Programme, resulting in the recommendations below:

It should be ensured there is clarity regarding the standard approach for the Council's programme management governance process which should apply to all capital projects. Published guidance should include details regarding how the governance timeline corresponds to the formation of the Capital Programme.

Information provided for scrutiny needs to include the full life cycle of projects, to allow a robust method of tracking individual projects throughout their duration.

Budget tracking should be improved, to ensure that additions, reductions, slippage and other changes are transparent and can be easily identified and reviewed.

Consideration should be given to the adequacy of the budgetary reports, particularly in respect to the adequacy of reporting against the whole Capital Programme and projects across their lifespan, to allow an overview to be maintained in addition to the 'in year' focus required at DLT level.








Accounting Arrangements

0

Capital Programme

3

Reporting 2

Project Monitoring and Management

3


Page 22 of 50

1

Final Internal Audit Report 2011/12 – Management Information (F7) 1. Executive Summary

Overall Opinion


Department: Finance Audit Sponsor: Peter Lewis – Assistant Director: Financial Strategy Corporate Finance (Audit Sponsor)

Distribution List:

Nicole Wood – Assistant Director Financial Strategy Mark Golledge – Strategic Intelligence Manager, Robin Nason – MI Development Specialist, Jenny Anderson – Strategic Information and Intelligence Manager Margaret Lee – Executive Director for Finance Louise Wishart – Audit Commission

Date if last review : N/a

Final Report Date : August 2012

Direction of Travel

No equivalent recent review.

Number of Co ntrol Design issues identified

� Critical

� Major

� Moderate

� Best Practice


�� Critical

�� Major

�� Moderate



7 Made

0 Rejected


N/a Major Rejected


This audit focused on gaining an understanding of key processes in place relating to management information; assessing the effectiveness of these processes to gain assurance that adequate supporting data is in place and (where relevant) to consider whether the management information reflects data quality principles; to assess the extent to which achievement of the Council’s corporate objectives is underpinned by the production of management information; and to understand and assess the linkages between officers leading on the development of corporate priorities and those responsible for identifying and generating key management information through which priorities can be monitored and assessed.






issues identified



issues identified



issues identified



Issues identified



Provision of assistance with redeployment

0

Integration of financial decisions

and the achievement of outcomes

2

Joint working with

partner organisations

0

Coordination between corporate

objectives and management information

2

Adequate supporting evidence

1

Policies, procedures

and guidance

1

Compliance with key milestones and

deadlines

1


Page 23 of 50

1

Final Internal Audit Report 2011/12 – Accounts Receivable (KFS2)


Department: Transformation Audit Sponsor: Mark Hobson, Assistant Director Essex Shared Services Distribution List: Mark Hobson; Dean Leather, Senior Finance Manager; Keir Lynch, Executive Director for Transformation; Jo Cook, Senior Finance Assistant; Louise Wishart, Audit Commission. Date of last review: December 2010 Final report: April 2012

Direction of Travel The control environment has improved since our prior audit


0 Critical

0 Major

0 Moderate

0 Best Practice


0 Critical

0 Major

4 Moderate

1 Best Practice


5 Made

0 Rejected


N/A Major Rejected


The audit examined the extent to which the identified risks regarding accounts receivable processes are being addressed, controlled and managed. There were no limitations of scope.






identified



identified



identified


There were no critical or major findings or recommendations



identified

Policies & Procedures

2 Raising & Managing Debtors

Accounts 1

Debt Recovery

1

Reconciliations 0

Security & Access Controls

1


Page 24 of 50

1

Final Internal Audit Report 2011/12 – Asset Management (KFS3)


Department: Finance Audit Sponsor: Peter Lewis, Interim Assistant Director - Financial Strategy Distribution List: Peter Lewis Interim Assistant Director - Financial Strategy; Christine Golding, Head of Financial Compliance; Lesley Shields, Interim Senior Accounting Compliance Specialist; Roger Moore, Head of Property Management and Strategy Group; Philip Thomson, County Solicitor; Louise Wishart, Audit Commission. Date of last review: December 2010 Final Report: April 2012


Number of Control Design Issu es Identified

0 Critical

0 Major

1 Moderate

0 Best Practice


0 Critical

0 Major

2 Moderate

0 Best Practice

Number of Recommendat ions

3 Made

0 Rejected


N/A Major Rejected


The focus of this audit was to test the implementation of the recommendations made in the 2010/11 Internal Audit report to ensure the risks identified were mitigated. Issues identified by the Audit Commission in their work on the Audit of Accounts for 2010/11 relating to the accuracy and efficiency in updating the register were considered during the review.


as a segment of the wheel. The key to the




identified



identified



identified

Critical and Major Findings and Recommendations There were no critical or major findings and recommendations identified during the review. The recommendations made during the 2010/11 internal audit review have been implemented or are in progress. The opening figures for 2011/12 within the fixed asset register (RAM) have now been agreed. Although the figures for 2011/12 are currently being managed in several spreadsheets and have not yet been input onto RAM, significant work has been completed by the Compliance Team to prepare the information to be input and obtain information at an earlier stage than last year particularly in relation to valuations. It is therefore envisaged that the 2011/12 closure process will be completed in a more timely and accurate manner.


Control Operating in Practice Issues

identified

Fixed Asset Verification

2

Fixed Asset Register

0

Reconciliations 0

IFRS reporting

0

Guidance and Training

1

System Security

0


Page 25 of 50

1

Internal Audit Report 2011/12 – IFS (General Ledger system) (KFS7)


Department: Transformation Audit Sponsor: Mark Hobson, Assistant Director Essex Shared Services Distribution List: Mark Hobson Assistant Director Essex Shared Services; Diana Brown, Financial Systems Manager; Sarah Kendall, Systems Development Manager; Louise Wishart, Audit Commission. Date of last review : July 2011 Final Report : May 2012



0 Critical

0 Major

1 Moder ate

0 Best Pract ice


0 Critical

0 Major

1 Moderate

0 Best Practice


2 Made

N/A Rejected


N/A Major Re jected


The audit examined the extent to which the risks identified within the General Ledger System are being addressed, controlled and managed. Journal and virements, system reconciliations for payroll, accounts payable and accounts receivable have all been audited separately and have not been tested within this review.






identified



identified



identified


There are no major or critical findings and recommendations dur ing this review.



identified

Management of the Suspense

Account 0

User Access Controls

2

Business Continuity Planning

0

Back ups 0

Integrity of data on IFS

0


Page 26 of 50

1

Final Internal Audit Report 2011/12 – Journals and Virements (KFS8)


Department: Finance Audit Sponsor: Stephanie Mitchener, Assistant Director Financial Management, Finance Professional Services Distribution List: Stephanie Mitchener Assistant Director Financial Management, Finance Professional Services; Vernon Strowbridge Head of Financial Support; Nicole Wood Assistant Director Financial Management Corporate Finance; Christine Golding Head of Financial Compliance; Sally Farquhar, Assistant Accountant; Louise Wishart, Audit Commission. Margaret Lee Executive Director for Finance Date of last review: January 2011 Date of Iss ue: June 2012



0 Critical

0 Major

0 Moderate

0 Best Practice


0 Critical

0 Major

2 Moderate

0 Best Practice


2 Made

0 Rejected


N/A Major Rejected


This audit reviewed the controls in place with regards to authorising and processing of in year journals and virements.






identified



identified



identified


No critical or major findings were identified during the review.



identified

Independent Review

1


0

Authorisation 1

System access 0


Page 27 of 50

1

Final Internal Audit Report 2011/12 – Key Fundamental Systems - Budget Monitoring (KFS5)



Department: Finance Audit Sponsor: Stephanie Mitchener, Assistant Director Financial Management, Finance Professional Services Distribution List: Stephanie Mitchener; Margaret Lee, Executive Director for Finance; Vernon Strowbridge, Head of Financial Support; Kelly McQuade Operations Manager Financial Support Louise Wishart, Audit Commission. Final Report Issued: 19 June 2012 Date of last review: January 2011



0 Critical

0 Major

1 Moderate

0 Best Practice


0 Critical

0 Major

2 Moderate

1 Best Practice


4 Made

0 Rejected


N/A Major Rejected


The review focussed on the implementation of the Risk Based Reporting model (designed in respect of the Revenue budget, agreed by Corporate Leadership Team on 21st April 2011 and implemented in August 2011), which uses an overall risk score to focus financial support and the frequency of budget holder forecast outturn meetings consistently. We have not engaged with individual Budget Holders, to investigate the basis or accuracy of the outturn forecast figures.






identified



identified



identified

Critical and Major Findings and Recommendations There were no major recommendations identified during this review. It was identified at the end of the fieldwork period that a significant underspend was forecast across ECC for the 2011/12 financial year. Testing was not undertaken to establish the cause of this underspend, and therefore recommendations are not included within this report. However, it was evident that although support is given in accordance with the published timetable to Budget Holders to identify their outturn position, and detailed narrative supports the variances identified, the process in place did not appear to identify the risks and opportunities presented by these variances.



identified

Budget monitoring

2

Policies, procedures,

guidance and training

1

Application of risk criteria

1


Page 28 of 50

1

Final Internal Audit Report 2011/12 – Payroll - Oracle (KFS9)



Department: Transformation Audit Sponsor: Mark Hobson, Assistant Director Essex Shared Services Distribution List: Mark Hobson; Margaret Lee, Executive Director for Finance; Keir Lynch, Executive Director for Transformation; Janet Tindall, Payroll Manager; Marion Jones, Payroll Consultant; Michelle Barnett – Contracts & Processing Manager, Sarah Kendall - Systems Development Manager Louise Wishart, Audit Commission. Date of final report July 2012 Date of las t review: March 2011



0 Critical

0 Major

4 Moderate

0 Best Practice


0 Critical

0 Major

4 Moderate

1 Best Practice


9 Made

0 Rejected


N/A Major Rejected


The audit examined the extent to which the risks identified in the terms of reference in relation to policies and procedures, starters, leavers, amendments, system security, reconciliations and scenarios are being managed. The review focussed on both Essex Business Group payroll and Schools’ payroll. I-expenses were excluded from this review.






identified



identified



identified

Critical and Major Findings and Recommendations With the implementation of e-Payroll, the Payroll team has been restructured in 2011and the team has reduced from 67.5 FTE to 36.8 FTE. An e-Payroll solution which included self service has been implemented although not all processes are part of the self service. It was noted during the review that the processes within the Payroll team have remained substantially the same as previously. The checking procedures are based on the same format of pre e-Payroll reports. This has increased pressure on the Payroll staff. It is recommended that reports be redesigned in consultation with the Contracts and Processing team to adopt reports that are fit for purpose and adapted to an e-Payroll solution. The processes within the team should be targeted to fit the current structure of resources ensuring that the payroll process is efficient and effective. Testing was completed on starters to establish that employees are recruited to an approved position number. There were 2 employees who had been recruited to a different position number. This issue has not been raised in this report as it was raised in a separate Internal Audit review (HRCE6) Working for Essex report issued in September 2011. As e-Payroll is still in its early stages there has not been formal feedback collected from users on functionality. This issue has not been raised in the report as there are plans within the team to collect feedback.



identified


2

Starters 1

Amendments and Overtime

2 Leavers

1

Scenarios 2

Reconciliations 0

System security

1


Page 29 of 50

1

Final Internal Audit Report 2011/12 – Budget Setting (KFS6)



Department: Corporate Finance

Audit Spons or : Peter Lewis – Interim Assistant Director; Financial Strategy Corporate Finance

Distribution List: Nicole Wood- Assistant Director; Financial Strategy Margaret Lee – Executive Director for Finance;

Stephanie Mitchener – Assistant Director Financial Management

Anna Casbolt – Senior Finance Analyst – Corporate Finance

Neil Sinclair – Finance Analyst – Corporate Finance Louise Wishart – Audit Commission.

Final Report Issued: 30 July 2012

Date of last review: January 2012

Direction of Travel

N/A – This area has not been previously subject to audit review.

Number of Co ntrol Design issues identified

� Critical

� Major

� Moderate

� Best Practice


�� Critical

�� Major

�� Moderate

� Best Practice


9 Made

1 Rejected


N/a Major Rejected


This audit focused on the budget setting process for revenue income / expenditure only. Capital budgets are examined as part of a separate review (Audit Plan Ref F2). The review has considered the arrangements in place to ensure that the risks highlighted in the table below have been mitigated. This has been undertaken through interviews with key financial officers and validation on a sample basis to supporting documentation.






issues identified



issues identified



issues identified



Issues identified



Overview

The process undertaken in 2011/12 to build the 2012/13 budget was the first year for which the Cognos system had been used as a repository for the detailed budget estimates from which data was uploaded to the general ledger. A significant amount of work was undertaken by Finance officers in order to facilitate this.

Interviews with key Finance Officers during this review highlighted that integrating Cognos in to the budget setting process represented a significant challenge, both in terms of understanding the most effective approach to configuring data on the system and ensuring that budget returns were in the format and detail required. Despite this, a balanced budget was approved by the Members in advance of the statutory deadline.

For future years, the intention is that Cognos will be used as the key tool for building the budget, with assumptions and cost and activity drivers built on the system to generate budget figures. Through this, it is expected that Cognos can be used as a dynamic tool to generate budget projections in future. Implementing and embedding this approach during 2012/13 will require effective coordination between Directorate Leadership Teams, key Members, Finance Business Partners and Corporate Finance.

NB: in two instances, individual findings related to more than one risk area.

Policies, procedures

and guidance

1

Compliance with key milestones and deadlines

1

Internal Support and

Challenge

1

Maintaining Clear Audit

Trails

3

Forecasting and Systems

5


Page 30 of 50

1

Final Internal Audit Report 2011/12 – Accounts Payable (KFS1)

1. Executive Summary Department: Transformation Audit Sponsor: Mark Hobson, Assistant Director Essex Shared Services Distribution List: Mark Hobson, Assistant Director Essex Shared Services; Nicole Edbrooke, Purchase to Pay Manager; Keir Lynch, Executive Director for Transformation; Lin Sanderson, Processing Manager; Sarah Kendall Systems Development Manager; Louise Wishart, Audit Commission. Date of last review: N/A

Overall Opinion



0 Critical

0 Major

0 Moderate

0 Best Practice


0 Critical

0 Major

3 Moderate

0 Best Practice


3 Made

0 Rejected


N/A Major Rejected



The scope of this audit was to review the management of Marketplace and Accounts Payable systems and test the key financial controls within those systems. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Procedures were not tested in this review for the Accounts Payable Module of IFS.

Critical and Major Findings and Recommendations It has been identified that the Business Support hub arrangement allows for orders to be raised, approved and receipted without the correct budget holder ever being involved in the process. Because of this arrangement, a work around is being developed outside of the Marketplace system which undermines the integrity of the audit trail within Marketplace. Marketplace is not set up to support a hub arrangement and if the organisation is to continue with the business support hub arrangements for all directorates then risks around inappropriately authorised purchases could increase substantially. The proposals for aligning the new hub arrangements with Marketplace require considerable work to redefine permissions within Marketplace to ensure alignment with the scheme of delegation.








Processing and

Authorisation of payments

2

System Reconciliations

0

Security and Access Controls

1

Compliance 0

Setting up new

suppliers 0

Duplicate Payments

0


Page 31 of 50

1

Final Internal Audit Report 2011/12 – Gifts and Hospitality and Declarations of Interest Follow-up (CC2)

1. Executive Summary Department: Cross Cutting Audit Sponsor: Terry Osborne, Assistant Director - Corporate Law (Monitoring Officer) Distribution List: Terry Osborne; Margaret Lee, Executive Director for Finance; Keir Lynch, Executive Director for Transformation; Maxine Taylor, Head of Corporate HR Services; Louise Wishart, Audit Commission. Date of last review: May 2011 Date issued: 10 August 2012

Overall Opinion



0 Critical

0 Major

4 Moderate

0 Best Practice


0 Critical

0 Major

0 Moderate

1 Best Practice


5 Made

0 Rejected


N/A Major Rejected



This audit was a primarily a follow-up of the 2010/11 review to ensure recommendations made therein have been implemented, and in addition the Declarations of Business Interests and Gifts & Hospitality registers were inspected.


The review found that the majority of the previous recommendations had been implemented or risks identified mitigated and no critical or major recommendations are made. The main issues identified in the last review i.e. Gifts and Hospitality not approved in advance, no evidence of the registers being reviewed regularly, the decisions not being documented on declaration of interest forms and a lack of declarations completed by consultants/interims have all been addressed. There remain a number of moderate and advice and best practice recommendations that if implemented would improve the process. There is a generally held belief that declarations of interest should only be completed by level 1 - 4 budget holders and interims/consultants. As the council moves towards a more commissioning based organisation and collaborative working with partner organisations the groups of staff required to complete declarations of interest should be wider than this and include other staff dependant upon their job e.g. staff who can impact upon commissioning but not a budget holder. In practice some directorates have already proactively widened the scope of staff required to complete declarations but for clarity this should be reflected in policy/guidance.








Policy 2

Compliance with Policy

2

Approval 0

Recording 1


Page 32 of 50

1

Final Internal Audit Report 2011/12 – Management of Grants Receivable (G3)


LIMITED ASSURANCE

Department: Corporate Finance

Audit Sponsor: Peter Lewis – Interim Head of Corporate Finance (Audit Sponsor)

Distribution List: Peter Lewis

Hadiza Sala mi-Boye – Statutory Reporting Specialist/ Grants Coordinator; Christine Golding – Head of Financial Compliance; Stephanie Mitchener – Senior Finance Business Partner Vernon Strowbridge – Head of Financial Support

Margaret Lee – Executive Director for Finance;

Louise Wishart – Audit Commission.

Date of last review: March 2011

Date of final report: May 2012

Direction of Travel

Direction of travel has remained the same as the previous two reviews.


� Critical

� Major

� Moderate

� Best Practice


�� Critical

�� Major

�� Moderate



8 Made

0 Rejecte d


0 Major Rejec ted


Limitations:

Process and controls in place within the respective service areas and Finance Professional Services for ensuring effective and accurate collation of grant claims prior to sign off by the Director for Finance and submission to grant-paying bodies. None noted.






issues identified



issues identified



issues identified



Issues identified

Critical and Major Findings and Recommendations There were two major findings and recommendations identified fr om this review: • A significant number (48%) of grants were submitted late. Controls within Service Areas

for managing claims prior to the submission to Compliance require strengthening. • The Grant Register may not be complete. It is the responsibility of individual Grant

Administrators to notify the Statutory Reporting Specialist of new claims and updates on existing claims in order to ensure that the grants register is complete and accurate up to date. This is not always complied with.

However, we also noted areas where the central Compliance team has taken steps to improve key processes. For example: • Efforts to strengthen engagement with Finance Business Partners (FBPs) to highlight the

importance of their roles in taking a lead on identifying claims and monitoring progress in completion. For example, through involvement by the lead Compliance Officer for grants at a team meeting with FBPs;

• Updating of the grants register on a timely basis with information received, and adding due dates for compliance to the diary for follow-up; and

• Extending the grants register to include a submission tracker, which includes details of performance against key internal and external deadlines for compilation, review, approval and submission. The submission tracker is emailed to the finance leadership group.

The key responsibility remains with Service Areas to identify sources of grant income and communicate details of these via FBPs to the Compliance Team. Without effective arrangements to implement this approach, there is a significant risk of grant income being delayed or lost.

Accounting and Budget

Management

2

ECC Central Management and

Support

2

Monitoring and Compliance

2

Segregation of Duties and

Divisions of Responsibilities

1 New Grant Accounting

Ar rangements introduced through

adoption of IFRS

1


Page 33 of 50

1

Final Internal Audit Report 2011/12 – The Leverton Junior School (SCF212)


Department: Schools Audit Sponsor: Denise Murray, Senior Finance Business Partner Distribution List:; Mr Neil Woolcott, Headteacher; Mrs H. Kane, Chair of Governors; Mrs L. Ferris, Bursar; Margaret Lee, Executive Director for Finance; Terry Reynolds, Director of learning SCF; Frances Scott, Assistant Service Manager; Louise Wishart, Audit Commission. Final report date: April 2012 Date of last review: September 2002



0 Critical

0 Major

3 Moderate

0 Best Practice


0 Critical

1 Major

9 Moderate

1 Best Practice


14 Made

0 Rejected


N/A Major Rejected


The overall objectives of the review were to ensure that an adequate control framework is in place to manage or mitigate the school’s financial, fraud and governance risks. There were no limitations to this review.





Critical and Major Findings and Recommendations One major recommendation has been raised in the report. A staff member who had recently changed job roles was noted not to have an enhanced CRB clearance, although a List 99 check was completed on original appointment in 1996. It is recommended that CRB checks should be requested for existing staff members if they change role and their work involves greater contact with children than their previous role, and their previous role did not require an Enhanced CRB. Additionally, all other staff members should be reviewed to ensure CRB checks are in place as necessary.


Management and Regulatory

1 Budgetary Control

& Financial Management

2

Security 0

Purchasing 4

Catering and Trading Activities

2

Income 0

Personnel & Payroll

4

Management of the Bank

Account 1


Page 34 of 50

1

Final Internal Audit Report 2011/12 – The Leverton Infant and Nursery School (SCF213)


Department: Schools Audit Sponsor: Denise Murray, Senior Finance Business Partner Distribution List: Isobel Barron, Head teacher; Adrian Platts, Chair of Governors; Debra Doubleday, Office Manager; Denise Murray; Senior Finance Business Partner; Margaret Lee, Executive Director for Finance; Terry Reynolds, Director of learning SCF; Frances Scott, Assistant Service Manager; Louise Wishart, Audit Commission. Final report date: Date of last review: February 2003



0 Critical

0 Major

2 Moderate

0 Best Practice


0 Critical

0 Major

4 Moderate

2 Best Practice


8 Made

0 Rejected


N/A Major Rejected


The overall objectives of the review were to ensure that an adequate control framework is in place to manage or mitigate the school’s financial, fraud and governance risks. There is no petty cash or charge cards at the school.





Critical and Major Findings and Recommendations There are no critical or major recommendations.


Security 0

Personnel & Payroll

1

Income 1


0

Purchasing 2


Account 0

Budgetary Control & Financial

Management 1

Management and

Regulatory 3


Page 35 of 50

1

Final Internal Audit Report 2011/12 – Baddow Hall Infant School (SCF220)


Department: Schools Audit Sponsor: Denise Murray, Senior Finance Business Partner Distribution List: Mrs L Schlanker, Headteacher; Mrs S. Cilvert, Chair of Governors; Mrs B. Foster, Office Manager; Margaret Lee, Executive Director for Finance; Terry Reynolds, Director of learning SCF; Frances Scott, Assistant Service Manager; Louise Wishart, Audit Commission. Final report date:16th May 2012 Date of last review: January 2000



0 Critical

0 Major

3 Moderate

1 Best Practice


0 Critical

0 Major

8 Moderate

2 Best Practice


14 Made

1 Rejected


N/A Major Rejected


The overall objectives of the review were to ensure that an adequate control framework is in place to manage or mitigate the School’s financial, fraud and governance risks. No testing was completed on petty cash.





Critical and Major Findings and Recommendations There were no major or critical findings to this review.



5

Security 1

Purchasing 3

Catering and Trading

Activities 3

Income 0


Account 0

Personnel & Payroll

1


Management 1


Page 36 of 50

1

Final Internal Audit Report 2011/12 – Lexden Springs School (SCF244)


Department: Schools, Children & Families Audit Sponsor: Denise Murray (Senior Finance Manager, Children & Young People’s Services) Distribution List: Jacky Wood (Headteacher); Elaine Jones (Chair of Governors); Denise Murray (Senior Finance Manager, Children & Young People’s Services); Terry Reynolds (Assistant Director – School Improvement and Early Years); Margaret Lee (Executive Director for Finance); Frances Scott (Assistant Service Manager); Louise Wishart, Audit Commission. Final report date: May 2012 Date of last review: November 2004



0 Critical

0 Major

2 Moderate

0 Best Practice


0 Critical

0 Major

4 Moderate

2 Best Practice


8 Made

0 Rejected


N/A Major Rejected







Critical and Major Findings and Recommendations There were no critical and major findings and recommendations during this review.


Management & Regulatory

1

Security 1

Purchasing 2


Activities 1

Income 0

Personnel & Payroll

1

Management of the Bank Account

1

Budgetary Control

1


Page 37 of 50

1

Final Internal Audit Report 2011/12 – Mistley Norman C of E (VC) Primary School (SCF238)


Department: Schools Audit Sponsor: Denise Murray, Senior Finance Business Partner Distribution List: Stephen Burnup, Headteacher; Craig Stock, Chair of Governors; Denise Murray; Margaret Lee, Executive Director for Finance; Terry Reynolds, Director of learning SCF; Frances Scott, Assistant Service Manager; Louise Wishart, Audit Commission. Final Report Issued: May 2012 Date of last review: March 1998



0 Critical

0 Major

0 Moderate

0 Best Practice


0 Critical

0 Major

5 Moderate

3 Best Practice


8 Made

0 Rejected


N/A Major Rejected


The overall objectives of the review were to ensure that an adequate control framework is in place to mitigate the school’s financial, fraud and governance risks. No limitations.





Critical and Major Findings and Recommendations There are no critical or major findings or recommendations.


Security 0

Purchasing 1


0 Income 1

Personnel & Payroll

1

Management and

Regulatory 4


Management 1


Page 38 of 50

Final Internal Audit Report 2011/12 – Brightlingsea Junior School (SCF233)


Department: Schools, Children and Families Audit Sponsor: Denise Murray, Senior Finance Business Partner Distribution List: Claire Claydon, Headteacher; Lesley Sycamore, Chair of Governors; Margaret Lee, Executive Director for Finance; Terry Reynolds, Director of learning SCF; Denise Murray; Senior Finance Business Partner, Frances Scott, Assistant Service Manager, Financial Support, Louise Wishart, Audit Commission. Date Issued: 17h May 2012 Date of last review: April 2003



0 Critical

0 Major

1 Moderate

0 Best Practice


0 Critical

0 Major

5 Moderate

0 Best Practice


6 Made

1 Rejected


N/A Major Rejected


The overall objectives of the audit were to ensure that an adequate control framework is in place to manage or mitigate the school’s financial, fraud and governance risks.





Critical and Major Findings and Recommendations No critical or major findings or recommendations were made.


Security 0

Purchasing 2


Activities 0

Income 0

Personnel & Payroll

1


Account 1


Management 0

Management and

Regulatory 2


Page 39 of 50

1

Final Internal Audit Report 2012/13 – Bulmer St Andrew's Church of England (Voluntary Controlled) Primary School (SCF309)


Department: Schools Audit Sponsor: Ellena Mortimer, Headteacher Distribution List: Ellena Mortimer, Headteacher; Miss Alison Burke, Chair of Governors; Tim Coulson, Director for Education and Learning SCF; Denise Murray, Senior Finance Business Partner; Margaret Lee, Executive Director for Finance; Louise Wishart, Audit Commission. Final Report Issued: 31 May 2012

Direction of Travel NA - the scope is not consistent with our prior audit.


0 Critical

0 Major

2 Moderate

0 Best Practice


0 Critical

0 Major

2 Moderate

1 Best Practice


5 Made

0 Rejected


N/A Major Rejected

Scope of the Review Limitations:

The overall objectives of the review were to ensure that an adequate control framework is in place to manage or mitigate the School’s financial, fraud and governance risks. There were no limitations to this review.








3

Petty Cash

0

Security 0

Purchasing 1

Catering 1

Income 0

Personnel & Payroll

0

Budgetary Control

0


Page 40 of 50

1

Final Internal Audit Report 2011/12 – John Ray Junior School (SCF239)


Department: Schools, Children and Families Audit Sponsor: Denise Murray, Senior Finance Business Partner Distribution List: Verity Boreham, Headteacher; Dorothy Griffin, Chair of Governors; Denise Murray, Senior Finance Business Partner; Terry Reynolds (Assistant Director – School Improvement and Early Years); Margaret Lee (Executive Director for Finance); Frances Scott (Assistant Service Manager); Louise Wishart, Audit Commission. Date of last review: October 1998



0 Critical

0 Major

2 Moderate

0 Best Practice


0 Critical

0 Major

7 Moderate

1 Best Practice


10 Made

tbc Rejected


N/A Major Rejected










1 Security

1 0

Personnel & Payroll

3

Income 1

Catering 0

Purchasing 2

Bank Reconciliation

1

Budgetary Control

1


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1

Final Internal Audit Report 2011/12 – Copford Church of England (Voluntary Controlled) Primary School (SCF216)


Department: Schools Audit Sponsor: Denise Murray, Senior Finance Business Partner Distribution List: Mr David Bome, Headteacher; Mr David De’Ath, Chair of Governors; Margaret Lee, Executive Director for Finance; Tim Coulson, Director for Education, SCF; Denise Murray, Senior Finance Business Partner; Tina French, Interim Senior Finance Business Partner; Cherie Ames - Tull, Financial Support Service - SCF Louise Wishart, Audit Commission. Date of last review: January 2001



0 Critical

0 Major

3 Moderate

1 Best Practice


0 Critical

0 Major

7 Moderate

1 Best Practice


12 Made

1 Rejected


N/A Major Rejected


The overall objectives of the audit were to ensure that an adequate control framework is in place to manage or mitigate the school’s financial, fraud and governance risks. Petty Cash was not reviewed in detail during the audit.





Critical and Major Findings and Recommendations No critical or major findings or recommendations were made.



1 Security

1

Purchasing 2


Activities 1

Income 2

Personnel & Payroll

3


Account 0


Management 2


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1

Final Internal Audit Report 2012/13 – The Edith Borthwick School (SCF324)


Department: S Schools, Children and Families Audit Sponsor: Denise Murray, Senior Finance Business Partner Distribution List: Ian Boatman, Headteacher; Linda Mead, Chair of Governors; Denise Murray, Senior Finance Business Partner; Tim Coulson (Director for Education & Learning); Margaret Lee (Executive Director for Finance); Cherie Ames-Tull (Assistant Service Manager); Louise Wishart, Audit Commission. Final Report Issued: June 2012 Date of last review: February 2002



0 Critical

0 Major

1 Moderate

0 Best Practice


0 Critical

0 Major

4 Moderate

3 Best Practice


8 Made

0 Rejected


N/A Major Rejected









Security 0

Purchasing 1

Catering 1 Personnel &

Payroll 3 Income

0

Budgetary Control

1


2


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1

FINAL Internal Audit Report 2012/13 – John Ray Infant School (SCF313)


Department: Schools Audit Sponsor: Denise Murray, Senior Finance Business Partner Distribution List: Sandra Way, Headteacher; Andrea Prout, Chair of Governors; Denise Murray, Senior Finance Business Partner, Margaret Lee, Executive Director for Finance; Tim Coulson, Director for Education and Learning; Cherie Ames-Tull, Assistant Service Manager, School Support; Louise Wishart, Audit Commission. Final Report Issued: 21 June 2012 Date of last review: November 2008



0 Critical

0 Major

2 Moderate

0 Best Practice


0 Critical

0 Major

5 Moderate

0 Best Practice


7 Made

0 Rejected


N/A Major Rejected


The overall objectives of the audit were to ensure that an adequate control framework is in place to manage or mitigate the school’s financial, fraud and governance risks. The accuracy of the inventory was not tested and a sample of items was not checked to verify physical existence.





Critical and Major Findings and Recommendations There were no critical or major recommendations made as a result of this review.


Petty Cash 1

Security

1

Personnel & Payroll

1

Income 1


Activities 0

Budgetary Control

0

Purchasing 1


2


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1

Final Internal Audit Report 2012/13 – Parsons Heath Church of England (Voluntary Controlled) Primary School (SCF302)


Department: Schools Audit Sponsor: Denise Murray, Senior Finance Business Partner Distribution List: Sheena Clover, Headteacher; Gary Sandford, Chair of Governors; Margaret Lee, Executive Director for Finance; Tim Coulson, Director for Education & Learning, SCF; Denise Murray, Senior Finance Business Partner; Cherie Ames-Tull – Assistant Service Manager, Financial Support; Louise Wishart, Audit Commission. Final Report Issued: July 2012 Date of last review: February 2002



0 Critical

0 Major

0 Moderate

0 Best Practice


0 Critical

0 Major

4 Moderate

4 Best Practice


8 Made

1 Rejected


N/A Major Rejected


The overall objectives of the audit were to ensure that an adequate control framework is in place to manage or mitigate the school’s financial, fraud and governance risks. Limitation of scope: An existence check of inventory items was not completed.







Security 1

Purchasing 2


Activities 0

Income 2

Personnel & Payroll

1


Account 0


Management 1

Management and

Regulatory 1


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1

Final Internal Audit Report 2012/13 – Hamilton Primary School (SCF301)


Department: Schools Audit Sponsor: Denise Murray, Senior Finance Business Partner Distribution List: Clive Reynolds, Headteacher; Miranda Terry, Chair of Finance & Premises Committee; Margaret Lee, Executive Director for Finance; Tim Coulson, Director for Education and Learning; Cherie Ames-Tull, Assistant Service Manager - Finance Support; Louise Wishart, Audit Commission. Final Report Issued: July 2012 Date of last review: September 2000



0 Critical

0 Major

0 Moderate

0 Best Practice


0 Critical

0 Major

2 Moderate

3 Best Practice


5 Made

0 Rejected


N/A Major Rejected


There were no limitations of scope.





Critical and Major Findings and Recommendations There were no critical or major findings identified during the review.


Security 1

Purchasing 1


Activities 0

Income 0

Personnel & Payroll

2


Account 0


Management 0

Management and

Regulatory 1


Page 46 of 50

1

Internal Audit Report 2012/13 – Leigh Beck Junior School (SCF321)


Department: Schools, Children & Families Audit Sponsor: Denise Murray, Senior Finance Business Partner Distribution List: Jo Mathews, Acting Headteacher; Joan Logan, Chair of Governors; Denise Murray, Senior Finance Business Partner; Tim Coulson (Director for Education & Learning); Margaret Lee (Executive Director for Finance); Cherie Ames-Tull (Assistant Service Manager); Louise Wishart, Audit Commission. Final Report Issued: July 2012 Date of last review: January 1999



0 Critical

2 Major

1 Moderate

0 Best Practice


0 Critical

0 Major

5 Moderate

3 Best Practice


11 Made

0 Rejected


0 Major Rejected







Critical and Major Findings Weaknesses were identified within the income collection and recording procedures for dinner monies and music tuition, with no clear audit trail being maintained to identify the source of income collected. The school has a dinner money module within its operating system, although this is presently not being fully utilised. Additionally, lack of duty separation was noted within the administration of the payroll function, with no compensating controls, such as independent management checks, in place. This increases the risk that erroneous transactions are processed without detection and also places key staff members in a vulnerable position.


Security 0

Purchasing 2

Catering 1

Income 1

Personnel & Payroll

2

Budgetary Control

0


5


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1

Final Internal Audit Report 2012/13 – St Peter's Church of England (Voluntary Controlled) Primary School, Sible Hedingham (SCF315)



Department: Schools Audit Sponsor: Denise Murray, Senior Finance Business Partner Distribution List: John Smith, Headteacher; Rosie Jenkin, Chair of Governors; Denise Murray, Senior Finance Business Partner, Margaret Lee, Executive Director for Finance; Tim Coulson, Director for Education and Learning; Cherie Ames-Tull – Assistant Service Manager, School Financial Support; Louise Wishart, Audit Commission. Date of last review: December 1998



0 Critical

0 Major

3 Moderate

0 Best Practice

Number of Control Operating in Practi ce Issues Identified

0 Critical

0 Major

6 Moderate

4 Best Practice


13 Made

2 Rejected


N/A Major Rejected


The overall objectives of the audit were to ensure that an adequate control framework is in place to manage or mitigate the school’s financial, fraud and governance risks. The accuracy of the inventory was not tested.






identified



identified



identified


There were no critical or major recommendations made as a result of this review.



identified

Budgetary Control

0

Personnel & Payroll

1

Income 3

Catering 1

Purchasing 1

Security 3

Management &

Regulatory 4

Petty Cash 0


Page 48 of 50

1

Final Internal Audit Report 2012/13 – Schools Year-end Balances (SCF3)

1. Executive Summary Department: Schools, Children & Families Audit Sponsor: Yannick Stupples-Whyley, Finance Business Partner Distribution List: Yannick Stupples-Whyley; Margaret Lee, Executive Director for Finance; Nigel Mullender, Assistant Accountant; Louise Wishart, Audit Commission. Final Report Issued: August 2012 Date of last review: December 2011

Overall Opinion



0 Critical

0 Major

3 Moderate

0 Best Practice


0 Critical

0 Major

4 Moderate

0 Best Practice


7 Made

0 Rejected


N/A Major Rejected



This review included an analytical review of schools' balance sheets, VAT returns and CFR data for 2011/12. Any issue or discrepancy identified was further investigated in the specific school’s return. A sample of bank reconciliations was reviewed to determine accuracy of bank balances. No specific limitations to the scope of the review were identified.

Critical and Major Findings and Recommendations No major or critical recommendations were identified during the review. Improvements to some common issues raised in previous years' reports were noted in this year's audit. In particular, there was a notable decrease in capital items recorded as revenue identified by the analysis. It is thought that improvements in the guidance and balance sheet format have been a significant factor in this improvement. A number of miscellaneous issues were identified which were specific issues for the school in question and for which no thematic recommendation was required. Discussions have been had with the individual schools as appropriate and the details of these errors have been included in section 4 for completeness.








Adherence to Accounting

Practices and Guidelines

3

VAT returns 1

Accuracy of data within Statement

of Accounts 3


Page 49 of 50

1

FINAL Internal Audit Report 2012/13 – Woodlands School, Basildon (SCF307)

1. Executive Summary Department: Schools Audit Sponsor: Denise Murray, Senior Finance Business Manager Distribution List: Andy White, Headteacher; Ms Kate Burke, Chair of Governors; Tim Coulson, Director for Education and Learning SCF; Denise Murray, Senior Finance Business Partner; Margaret Lee, Executive Director for Finance; Cherie Ames-Tull – Assistant Service Manager, Financial Support, SCF; Louise Wishart, Audit Commission. Final Report Issued: September 2012 Date of last review: September 2007

Overall Opinion



0 Critical

0 Major

1 Moderate

1 Best Practice


0 Critical

0 Major

2 Moderate

3 Best Practice


7 Made

1 Rejected


N/A Major Rejected



The overall objectives of the audit were to ensure that an adequate control framework is in place to manage or mitigate the school’s financial, fraud and governance risks. Due to the limited use, no reconciliation was carried out of the petty cash account. A sample check of the inventory was not completed.










Management 1


Account 0 Personnel &

Payroll 2

Income 1


Activities 1

Purchasing 0

Security 0

Management and

Regulatory 1


Page 50 of 50

Appendix 2 - Executive Summaries of Final Reports Issued ...

Documents

Transcript of Appendix 2 - Executive Summaries of Final Reports Issued ...