Issue - meetings

The Head of Audit Partnership submitted a report setting out the proposed annual Internal Audit and Assurance Plan for 2020/21.  The report detailed how the Plan had been devised, the resources available through the Audit Partnership and the specific audit activities and projects to be delivered over the course of the year.

The Head of Audit Partnership confirmed that he was satisfied that the Plan had been compiled independently and without undue influence from either Officers or Members.

It was noted that:

·  The Public Sector Internal Audit Standards require the Audit Partnership to produce and publish a risk based Plan, at least annually, to determine the priorities for the year.  In producing the Plan, consideration must be given to input from senior management and Members and the Plan must be aligned to the objectives and risks of the Council.  The risk assessment must consider internal and external risks, including global and sector risks.  The Internal Audit Team had also undertaken a risk assessment line by line of every service within the Audit Universe (a running record of all services at the Council that Internal Audit might examine).

·  To ensure that the Plan remained flexible and responsive to emerging and changing risks throughout the year, a priority rating had been allocated to each of the proposed audit projects.  It was the aim to deliver 100% of the high priority rated projects and more than 50% of the medium priority rated projects during the year.

·  Having identified the sorts of risks posed, consideration had been given to the quantity and quality of the resources available.  The planning estimate for 2020/21 showed 1,810 days across the Partnership for the year available for inclusion in audit plans.  The total number of days was then divided between the four Partnership authorities based on the proportions set out in the Collaboration Agreement.  Since Maidstone contributed 29%, this amounted to 520 audit days.  This was less than in previous years, but the Head of Audit Partnership remained satisfied that the level of resources was sufficient to deliver a robust Audit Plan.

·  The Plan also included details of the proposed assurance non-project work that it was proposed to undertake as part of the wider risk, governance and counter fraud support for the Council and of the proposed consultancy work including completing Housing Benefit workbooks and testing for the External Auditor.

·  The Public Sector Internal Audit Standards required Mid-Kent Audit to undergo an external quality assessment at least every five years.  The IIA undertook the last assessment in spring 2015 and found that Mid-Kent Audit was fully conforming to the Standards.  CIPFA had been commissioned to conduct the 2020 external quality assessment and the findings would be reported to the Committee in July together with the Internal Audit Service response.  However, the draft findings had concluded that Mid-Kent Audit was fully conforming to the Standards.

In response to questions, the Head of Audit Partnership explained that:

·  The intention of the project entitled S106 Agreements was to look at all  ...  view the full minutes text for item 94