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Appendix 1 – Internal Audit Progress Report

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Hertfordshire County Council Internal Audit Progress Report

1 July 2020

Agenda item No:

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Contents 1 Introduction and Background 1.1 Purpose 1.2 Background

2 Audit Plan Update 2.1 Delivery of Audit Plan and Key Findings 2.5 Schools’ Activity 2.10 Review of the 2020/21 Internal Audit Plan 2.13 Limited Assurance Audits 2.16 Critical and High Priority Recommendations 2.21 Medium Priority Recommendations 2.26 Performance Management

Appendices A Progress against the 2020/21 Audit Plan B Implementation Status of Critical and High Priority

Recommendations C Implementation Status of Medium Priority

Recommendations in excess of 12 months over target date

D Summary of Medium Priority Recommendations in

excess of 12 months over target date now implemented

E Definitions of Assurance and Recommendation

Priorities

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1. Introduction and Background

Purpose of Report

1.1 To provide Members of the Audit Committee with information on the position as at 15 June 2020, relating to:

a) Progress made by the Shared Internal Audit Service (SIAS) in

delivering the Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) Internal Audit Plan for 2020/21

b) Proposed amendments to the approved 2020/21 Audit Plan

c) ‘Limited Assurance’ audits issued since the last meeting of this Committee, of which there is one in this reporting period

d) Implementation status of previously agreed:

high priority audit recommendations and agreement to remove completed actions, and

medium priority recommendations

e) An update on performance management information. Background

1.2 The HCC Internal Audit Plan 2020/21 was due to be approved by the Audit Committee on 25 March 2020. Following the cancellation of this meeting, the plan was instead approved by the Director of Resources on 27 April 2020, under delegated officer powers. This was in line with the advice provided by the Chief Legal Officer, in relation to revised procedural measures that should be put in place to allow Council business to continue during the Coronavirus outbreak.

1.3 The Audit Committee receives periodic progress updates against the

Internal Audit Plan, and this is the first update report for the 2020/21 financial year.

1.4 The work of Internal Audit is required to be reported to a Member Body so

that the Council has an opportunity to review and monitor an essential component of corporate governance and gain assurance that its internal audit provision is fulfilling its statutory obligations. It is considered good practice that progress reports also include proposed amendments to the agreed annual audit plan.

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2. Audit Plan Update

Delivery of Audit Plan and Key Audit Findings 2.1 As at 15 June 2020, 12% of the 2020/21 Internal Audit Plan days had

been delivered (calculation excludes unused contingency days). Appendix A to the report provides a status update on each individual deliverable within the audit plan.

2.2 The following final reports have been issued and assignments undertaken in the period since 9 March 2020 which was the cut off period for the previous report that was due to be presented to the Committee in March 2020:

2019/20 Audits

Resources

Shared Managed Services Contract (Next Generation)

Satisfactory 4 Medium

Shared Anti-Fraud Service Good 3 Low

LEP Governance Arrangements

Not Assessed N/a

Creditors Satisfactory 3 Medium

3 Low

Payroll Satisfactory 1 Medium

1 Low

Treasury Management Satisfactory 3 Medium

2 Low

Environment and Infrastructure

Highways Resilience Arrangements

Satisfactory 3 Medium

1 Low

Adult Care Services

Contract Monitoring Satisfactory 4 Medium

5 Low

Workforce Planning Satisfactory 3 Medium

Aspects of Client Satisfactory 1 High

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Contribution Systems 6 Medium

1 Low

2.3 In addition to completed projects summarised in 2.2, the following draft reports have been issued to management for comment, response or approval to issue the final report (where a satisfactory management action plan has been received):

2019/20 Audits

Draft Reports

Resources HBS Strategic and Financial Planning

February 2020

Resources Property Customer Journey March 2020

ACS Home Improvement Agency (Follow Up Audit)

June 2020

CS 0-25 Together Budgets April 2020

CS Herts Music Service – Safe Recruitment

April 2020

E&I Communication and Public Interfaces (Highways)

March 2020

E&I Joint Working with Legal March 2020

E&I Development Management Performance

March 2020

Council Wide Information Sharing with External Partners

February 2020

Council Wide Local Authority Trading Companies

April 2020

Council Wide Safe Recruitment (Follow Up Audit)

April 2020

Council Wide PREVENT May 2020

Council Wide Lone Working (Follow Up Audit) June 2020

2.4 In respect of the remaining 2019/20 audit projects, one is at terms of

reference issued stage, three are in fieldwork (having been paused as a result of COVID-19) and the final audit is at quality review stage. The

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remaining 10 audits within the 2019/20 audit plan were deferred in February and March 2020 in consultation with management, with these to be discussed with Service Boards to determine if they should feature within the revised 2020/21 Internal Audit Plan. Schools’ Audit Activity

2.5 The schools’ audit plan for 2020/21 identified three streams of activity: a) Theme 1 – Schools Financial Value Standard (SFVS) -

assessment of the effectiveness of internal control in relation to the requirements of the SFVS (sample of 25 schools).

The commencement of this theme has now been deferred from May

2020 to November 2020, this decision acknowledging the significant pressures and workloads currently faced by schools in relation to the staged re-opening process to pupils.

b) Theme 2 – Medium Term Financial Planning (MTFP) – to provide

assurance over the effectiveness of the medium-term financial planning process within schools. The audit theme will also assess the robustness of governance arrangements to review, challenge and approve the MTFP and in-year monitoring of delivery (sample of 15 schools). The commencement date for audit visits to undertake the fieldwork for this theme has been re-scheduled to quarter four (January to March 2021).

c) Theme 3 – School Websites – Compliance with the School

Information (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2016– to provide assurance that school websites comply with the requirements of the school information regulations (sample of 14 schools).

The above theme replaces the original topic within the 2020/21 audit plan of ‘Application of Financial Controls in Schools’. This change allowed the schools audit programme to commence as planned as the audit could be undertaken remotely. The fieldwork is currently in progress. As part of the SIAS’s continued review of changes required to audits to ensure they reflect the changing risks faced by the Council as a result of COVID-19, an additional element has been added to the above review, this being an analysis of the information published for Parents by Schools on their websites in relation to COVID-19 (sample of 30 schools). This work has been completed and a summary report issued to Children’s Services.

2.6 In respect of the Schools Financial Value Standard, the Council is

ordinarily required to submit an Annual CFO Statement on the SFVS, this

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being submitted to the DfE at the end of May 2020. The above return is based on the individual SFVS returns provided to the Local Authority by each maintained school, with SIAS co-ordinating this exercise. In April 2020, as part of a managing information burdens for schools’ review, the DfE suspended the requirement for Local Authorities to submit an annual return for 2019/20. Decisions on whether to proceed with the collection of individual SFVS returns from schools was left to local determination by each individual Authority.

2.7 Following consultation with Children’s Services, Hertfordshire Schools were still encouraged (but not mandated) to submit the return, but with an extended timescale for receipt of September 2020. This decision acknowledged that 84% of schools had already submitted their annual return, prior to the DfE announcement. In addition, the completion of the SFVS return is a valuable source of assurance for individual governing bodies over the robustness of their governance, financial management and control arrangements. At the time of this report 351 out of 387 schools had submitted their return (91%).

2.8 As part of the SIAS’s continued work with Herts for Learning to provide accessible Internal Audit advice, guidance and good practice to schools, a review of the existing “Schools GRID” website pages was undertaken during April and May 2020. Updated pages have now been uploaded, including guidance on the SFVS, and consolidated reports on completed school themes, with additional new content planned to be added during the remainder of 2020/21.

2.9 We continue to receive enquiries from schools regarding a range of financial matters and update the Frequently Asked Questions within the Internal Audit page on the Grid accordingly.

Review of the 2020/21 Internal Audit Plan

2.10 As highlighted in paragraph 1.2, the Council’s 2020/21 Internal Audit plan (included as Appendix A of this report) was submitted for approval by the Audit Committee in March 2020. The plan detailed the outcomes of horizon scanning undertaken with each Service Board during the period December 2019 to the end of January 2020. Whilst the plan adequately reflected the key priorities of each Service at the point of creation, it is evident that COVID-19 has significantly altered the risk environment, financial context, service delivery methods and ways of working.

2.11 Additional factors also highlight the need to review the existing audit plan, including: - a total of 10 audits from the 2019/20 audit plan being deferred during

February and March 2020 following consultation with individual services.

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- practical difficulties in undertaking some of the original audits proposed.

- a reduced number of planned audit days available for 2020/21 as a

result of the delivery of the audit plan being halted until July 2020 (to allow the officers to focus on the delivery of COVID-19 response plans and commencement of recovery planning for Services).

- agreement from SMB in May 2020 for SIAS to commence a

programme of COVID-19 consultancy-based assurance activities to support services in maintaining appropriate governance, internal control arrangements and audit trails for specific COVID-19 response projects, or transition to new ways of working.

- the need to maintain a dynamic audit plan for 2020/21 to allow the

SIAS to respond to emerging risks and practical challenges of delivering audits in a socially distanced and changing environment.

2.12 In light of the above, and in accordance with good practice from

professional bodies (such as CIPFA and the Chartered IIA), the SIAS are currently working with individual Services to produce a revised Internal Audit Plan for submission to the October 2020 Audit Committee. Limited Assurance Audits

2.13 Since the previous progress report to the Audit Committee, one new Limited Assurance opinion has been provided by SIAS, this relating to the review of Aspects of Client Contributions Systems within Adult Care Services.

2.14 The above audit reviewed specific elements of the Client Contribution systems used by the Service, focusing on the areas of Waivers, Third Party Top Up’s, Promptness of Invoicing and Direct Payment Contributions.

2.15 In arriving at our overall opinion, we concluded that whilst established systems were in place for the areas reviewed, and were generally effective, further work is required to improve audit trails (in particular for justification / authorisation processes), oversight processes and / or efficiency for several the areas reviewed. Whilst reaching these conclusions we acknowledged that areas such as Waivers and Third-Party Top Up’s were relevant to only a small proportion of the overall client contributions collected by the service. Critical and High Priority Recommendations

2.16 Audit Committee Members will be aware that a final audit report is issued when it has been agreed by management. This includes an agreement to implement the recommendations made. It is Internal Audit’s responsibility to advise members of the Committee on progress of the implementation

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of high priority recommendations; it is the responsibility of Officers to implement the recommendations by the agreed date.

2.17 A summary of management’s progress in implementing critical and high priority recommendations is summarised in the table below, with a detailed update on individual actions provided within Appendix B of this report:

HIGH PRIORITY RECOMMENDATIONS Not implemented by due date

Total number of outstanding recommendations at the start of this follow up period

Implemented Not yet due Partially implemented – revised date agreed

Partially Implemented – on track with previously advised revised target date

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1

3 0

% 64% 9% 27% 0%

2.18 High priority recommendations relating to schools are excluded from this

listing given both the volume of schools within the County and the relative risk of any single recommendation to the Authority as a whole.

2.19 No critical priority recommendations have been made within the period

since the last progress report.

2.20 One new high priority recommendation has been made since our previous Progress Update report to the Audit Committee, this relating to the review of Aspects of Client Contributions Systems within Adult Care Services. Details of this recommendation and the agreed management actions are provided in Appendix B of this progress report, with these actions not yet due for completion (final report issued in June 2020). Medium Priority Recommendations

2.21 The Committee’s role in respect of medium priority recommendations is to be satisfied that there is a monitoring process in place and that agreed recommendations are being implemented.

2.22 Given the significant pressures currently faced by officers in delivering the Council’s response plans and activities in relation to COVID-19, and the subsequent key work in recovery planning activities, the SIAS have limited the quarter one follow-up process to only outstanding high priority recommendations. The follow up of outstanding medium priority recommendations will be recommenced in September 2020, in advance of the next Committee progress report.

2.23 As the Committee did not receive updates in quarter four, due to the cancellation of the March 2020 Audit Committee, we have provided below the outcomes from the quarter four follow-up cycle that was undertaken in February 2020 for information.

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MEDIUM PRIORITY RECOMMENDATIONS

Not implemented by due date

Total number of recommendations followed up in this period

Implemented Partially implemented – revised date agreed

On track with previous revised target date

No update provided by action owner

45 (out of 66 outstanding

recommendations 28 16 1 0

%

62% 36% 2% 0%

2.24 We provide a summary of the individual audits below where management have indicated a revised implementation date for medium priority recommendations and we also detail the current elapsed time from the original target date. The latter is calculated from the original target date to the date of completing of the last follow-up cycle (February 2020). It does not include the future period from the date of this Progress report to the revised target date. A detailed update of the current position for outstanding recommendations over 12 months old (based on the original target date) is provided in Appendix C.

App C – Ref

Service Audit Final Report Issued

Total Number of Recs

Total Number of Recs O/s

Original Target Date of O/s recs

Revised Target Date

Period Overdue

1

Cross Service

(Resources and E&I)

Section 106 Payments

February 2015

8 1 01/10/2015 02/04/2020 53

months

Cross

Service (CS and ACS)

0-25 Integrated April 2018 3 1 31/03/2019 01/05/2020 11

months

ACS

ACS Care and Support Plan

(Direct Payments)

April 2019 4 1 31/07/2019 01/05/2020 7 months

CP Herts Home

Safety Service April 2019 8 1 31/12/2019 01/06/2020 2 months

ACS Herts Home Improvement

Agency July 2019 8 1 31/12/2019 01/07/2020 2 months

E&I Fly Tipping July 2019 1 1 30/06/2019 01/10/2020 8 months

Cross

Service Residential

Accommodation June 2019 5 1 31/10/2019 31/03/2020 4 months

Cross

Service Section 106 June 2019 6 5

31/12/2019 01/12/2020 2 months

TBC * 02/04/2020 N/A

TBC * 02/04/2020 N/A

TBC * 02/04/2020 N/A

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App C – Ref

Service Audit Final Report Issued

Total Number of Recs

Total Number of Recs O/s

Original Target Date of O/s recs

Revised Target Date

Period Overdue

31/07/2019 02/04/2020 7 months

* - implementation dates were dependent on the timescales for implementing the new DEF management information system, which were not known at the time of management responding to the final report. As these have now been clarified (stated in the revised target dates) these dates will now be used as the original target date, for these recommendations, within future progress reports.

2.25 The table at Appendix D shows the medium priority recommendations

over 12 months overdue that would have been reported as implemented in

the March 2020 progress report. Performance Management

2.26 Annual performance indicators and associated targets are approved by the SIAS Board on an annual basis.

2.27 The actual performance for Hertfordshire County Council against the targets that can be monitored in year is set out in the table below.

Performance Indicator Performance Target for 31 March 2021

Profiled performance at 15 June 2020

Actual performance to 15 June 2020

1. Planned Days – percentage of actual billable days against planned chargeable days completed (excludes unused contingency)

95% N/a*** 12%

2. Planned Projects * –

percentage of actual completed projects to draft report stage against planned completed projects

95% N/a*** 10%

3. Client Satisfaction ** – percentage of client satisfaction questionnaires returned at ‘satisfactory’ level

100% 100% 100%

4. Number of High and Critical Priority Audit Recommendations agreed as %

95% 95% 100%

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* Based on Audit Plan ‘deliverables’ at draft, final and audit closed stage

including schools’ audits and items carried forward from 2019/20 that were not at

draft report stage by 31 March 2020 or included within the SIAS 2019/20 Annual

Assurance Statement and Internal Audit Annual Report.

** no completed customer satisfaction surveys have been received during

2020/21 to date from the five surveys issued.

*** As highlighted in paragraph’s 2.10 to 2.12, the delivery of the 2020/21 Internal

Audit Plan was largely halted from the period April 2020 to June 2020, therefore

profiled delivery targets have not been calculated for quarter one, with these

being reinstated in the next Audit Committee progress report.

2.28 In addition, the performance targets listed below are annual in nature. Members will be updated on the performance against these targets within the separate Head of Assurance’s Annual Report:

5. Annual Plan – prepared in time to present to the March meeting of

each Audit Committee. If there is no March meeting, then the plan should be prepared for the first meeting of the financial year.

6. Head of Assurance’s Annual Report – presented at the July meeting of the Audit Committee.

APPENDIX A PROGRESS AGAINST THE 2020/21 AUDIT PLAN AS AT 15 JUNE 2020

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Hertfordshire County Council Audit Plan 2020/21

Audit Plan Days

Auditor Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Billable

Days

Corporate Annual Governance Statement 2019/20

8 SIAS Complete 8

Annual Governance Statement 2020/21

5 SIAS

Head of Assurance Annual Opinion and Annual Report

5 SIAS Complete 5

Whistleblowing - named contact and quarterly review

10 SIAS 17

Resources

Employee Expenses 15 SIAS

Finance Service 15

Greater Brookfield Development 10

Herts Living Limited 15

Invoicing and Charging Systems (Legal)

15

Key Financial Systems 50 SIAS

LEP Governance / Financial Management Arrangements

15

Libraries for Life 10 SIAS

Property and Estate Management - Health and Safety Statutory Checks (follow up)

10 SIAS In Planning 1.5

Residential Accommodation (Follow Up)

10 SIAS

Rural Estates 15

Shared Managed Service Contract (Next Generation)

15 SIAS Embedded Assurance Conducted Throughout 2020/21 0.5

Registration Services Income 10 SIAS In Planning 0.5


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Audit Plan Days


Days Resources Queries < 3hrs Activities 5 SIAS 1

Council Wide Reviews

Academy Conversions 15 SIAS

Accessible information standard 20

Agency Staffing 15 SIAS

Apprenticeship Levy 20

Modern Slavery Act 2015 legislation (Suppliers)

15

Schools in Financial Difficulty 15 SIAS

Social Media Use 15 SIAS

Strategic and Financial Planning / Integrated Planning

25

Tree Management 15

Adult Care Services

Capital Programme – Nursing Home Development Programme

10 SIAS

Care Payments Team - Financial Assessments

15 SIAS

Care to Step Up (C2SU) 10 SIAS Embedded Assurance Conducted Throughout 2020/21

Client Finances 15 SIAS

Debt Management 10 SIAS Embedded Assurance Conducted Throughout 2020/21 2

In House Day Services Review 10 SIAS Embedded Assurance Conducted Throughout 2020/21 0.5

Provider Suspensions 15

Resilience – Information Systems 15

Safeguarding – Intake and Triage Systems

20


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Audit Plan Days


Days ACS Queries < 3hrs Activities 5 SIAS

Children's Services

Application of Continuum of Need Framework

25 SIAS

Contract Monitoring 20

Foster Carer Payments 15

Hertfordshire Music Service 20 SIAS

High Needs Block Budget / Forecasting

25

Unregulated Placements and Packages of Support

15

Workforce Strategy (Staff Retention) 20

CS Queries <3hrs Activities 5 SIAS 0.5

Community Protection

Command and Control - Business Continuity (Fire Service)

20 SIAS

Cyber Security 15

Emergency Service collaboration 15 SIAS

Herts Home Safety Service 10

HFRS Training 15

Public Health

Multi agency health protection arrangements

15

Environment and Infrastructure


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Audit Plan Days


Days Budgetary Control and Payment Processes (Service wide)

15

Dynamic Purchasing System and Integrated Transport Project

15

Enforcement - Use of Penalty Charges / Fines

15

Growth and Infrastructure Team 15

E&I Queries <3hrs activities 5 SIAS 0.5

Covid-19

COVID-19 – Assurance Activities 10 SIAS In Fieldwork 9

COVID-19 - Consultancy Advice 10 SIAS 1

Grant Claims

Bus Subsidy 2 SIAS

Disabled Facilities / Home Improvement Agency

5 SIAS

Hertfordshire Charity for Deprived Children

2 SIAS

In Planning 0.5

Hertfordshire Education Foundation 2 SIAS

Herts Chief Finance Officers Society 2 SIAS

Integrated Structural Maintenance Grant

2 SIAS

LEP – Capital Grant 3 SIAS

LEP – Local Growth Fund 3 SIAS In Fieldwork 3

SEND National Trial 5 SIAS In Fieldwork 2

Shared Learning

Shared Learning Newsletters and Summary Themed Reports

5 SIAS


20

Audit Plan Days


Days

Strategic Support

Assurance Services – Management Activities

20 SIAS

Audit Committee Matters & Attendance

25 SIAS

1

Audit Planning – 2021/22 20 SIAS

Client Liaison 20 SIAS 1

External Audit Liaison 2 SIAS

Monitoring 2020/21 Plan 20 SIAS 3.5

Performance Data 5 SIAS 0.5

Public Sector Internal Audit - Self Assessment 2020/21

5 SIAS

Complete 5

Recommendations Follow-Up - Q1 5 SIAS Complete 5

Recommendations Follow-Up - Q2 5 SIAS



Service Plan Activity 25 SIAS 7

SIAS Board Meetings and Preparation 12 SIAS 1.5

2019/20 Projects Requiring Completion

2019/20 Projects Requiring Completion

55 SIAS 42.5

Safe Recruitment (Follow Up) Draft Report Issued

Home Improvement Agency (Follow Up)

Draft Report Issued

PREVENT Draft Report Issued

Shared Anti-Fraud Service Draft Report Issued


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Audit Plan Days


Days Creditors

Final Report Issued – Satisfactory –

3 Medium, 3 Low Recs

Local Authority Trading Companies Draft Report Issued

Lone Working (Follow Up) Draft Report Issued

Supported Living In Fieldwork

Early Years Payment Run Systems In Fieldwork

Section 17 In Quality Review

Herts Music Service – Safe Recruitment

Draft Report Issued

School Nursing and Health Visiting Contracts

In Fieldwork

HCC Contingency 5

Schools Advice, queries and guidance for schools

15 SIAS

9

Liaison, awareness raising and training

15 SIAS

0.5

Theme 1 – Schools Financial Value Standard (SFVS) (25)

115 SIAS

Theme 2 – Medium Term Financial Planning (15)

75 SIAS

Theme 3 – Compliance with School Websites Regulations (15)

55 SIAS In Fieldwork 41

SFVS returns process 30 SIAS In Progress 5.5


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Audit Plan Days


Days Follow up of high priority recommendations and schools with moderate assurance

10 SIAS

Finalisation of 2019-20 Draft Reports 5 SIAS 1.5

Contingency – Schools Causing Concern Referrals

5

Schools’ contingency 20

Total Plan and Billable Days 1463 177

Total Recommendations*** Critical High Medium Low

HCC (Excluding Schools) 0 0 3 3

Total Projects *** Final Report Draft Report Quality Review Fieldwork TOR Planning or Allocated

HCC 77 3 7 1 6 0 60

Schools 60 0 4 6 4 0 46

Total 137 3 11 7 10 0 106

Notes: *** - Total Recommendations and Projects include 2019/20 projects requiring completion but exclude 2019/20 projects requiring finalisation (where a draft report had been issued prior to 31 March 2020). Key C = Critical Priority, H = High Priority, M = Medium Priority, L = Low Priority RECS = Recommendation BDO = SIAS Audit Partner N/a = not applicable

APPENDIX B IMPLEMENTATION STATUS OF CRITICAL AND HIGH PRIORITY RECOMMENDATIONS

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The following appendix provides Audit Committee Members with a summary of the most recent update provided by management in respect of outstanding high priority recommendations.

No. Report Title / Date of Issue

Recommendation / Original Management Response

Responsible Officer / Original Due Date

Management update as at June 2020 (or previous commentary where appropriate)

Status of Progress

1.

Residential Accommodation (Final Report Issued June 2019)

Recommendations A formal eligibility criterion and policy should be created for assessing whether a job role within the Council requires the offering of residential occupancy to allow better performance of duties. In order to demonstrate the completion of the above assessment, and document that all other relevant checks and processes have been performed (e.g. consultation with Legal, Property etc), consideration should be given to creating a checklist for completion as part of the application process. The Council should also ensure that consideration of policies and eligibility criterion is also given to properties let under Assured Shorthold tenancies, given that demand for such properties is in excess of availability. Agreed Management Actions

It is agreed that existing processes do not provide a clear criteria or audit trail to evidence decisions on the eligibility and allocation of properties for either Service Occupancy Agreements or Assured Shorthold Tenancies. A review of existing approaches will be undertaken with the intention of arriving at formal eligibility criteria, assessment and authorisation process that covers Council Services, HFRS and Schools. In order to ensure and evidence that all relevant checks,

Responsible Officer: Sally Hopper - Assistant Director (HR) Target Date for Completion – October 2019

August 2019 update: First follow up due to be undertaken by SIAS in quarter three (November 2019). November 2019 update: Following a review by the residential review group it was agreed that there was no need for a separate criteria policy. Instead the plan is to incorporate the criteria within the above residential policy, and this has happened. March 2020 update: Covered in the above policy i.e. the residential review group agreed to combine the two.

Implemented


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Status of Progress

consultations and approvals have been obtained, prior to formally agreeing a Service Occupancy Agreement or and Assured Shorthold Tenancy, a formal checklist will be implemented to support the allocation and approval process.

2.

Property and Estate Management (Health and Safety Compliance Checks) (Final Report Issued July 2019)

Recommendations a) The capability of Technology Forge should be updated to include drop down options detailing the Council’s responsibility for individual properties, including at a high level (such as landlord) and for individual assessments. Once completed, all information and documentation relating to statutory health and safety assessments and any actions raised as a result of remedial works being required should be migrated onto the system to enable effective oversight and reporting as per recommendation 1. This should include the Council’s responsibility for individual health and safety assessments and whether a property has asbestos. b) A review of the managed property portfolio should be undertaken to risk assess the properties and determine those which the Council need additional assurance that statutory health and safety assessments have been completed, including any remedial works identified. This risk rating, the methodology used, and what this means in terms of the Council’s requirement for reviewing risk assessments, should be documented. Agreed Management Actions

Responsible Officer: Sass Pledger – Assistant Director (Property) Target Date for Completion – 31 March 2020

March 2020 update: I am content that the progress being made will ensure that we are on track for 100% compliancy by the target date. June 2020 update: All compliancy is up to date with the exception of a small number of fire risk assessments (FRA). With regard to FRAs, the completion dates for our main offices and Corporately Managed Sites has been met. However, owing to COVID-19 our contractor is experiencing delays where they were not able to gain access to operational sites during lockdown and so the scheduled has had to be pushed back. Four assessments have been completed on site which had been submitted to Riskbase just prior to the lockdown. We anticipate with the easing of restrictions we should be in a position to get these FRA’s approved and sent to us within the next 2 weeks. The consultants have risk assessed the remaining properties and are proposing to start work on the properties with a higher risk rating and then move onto the properties with a moderate risk

Partially Implemented (previous date was 31/03/2020 now 31/07/2020)


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Status of Progress

The Task Force has created a live data base that is running concurrently with Tech Forge, the Council’s Property Information database. Efforts have been focused on data cleansing to ensure the data is correct. This live database has currently identified each individual property as well as the appropriate responsible agent in relation to its compliance. The remedial work required is also being documented against each individual property, as either actioned or yet to be actioned. A project group has been established to progress the development of the live database and use this to develop the functionality of Technology Forge so that it can be tailored to effectively support the comprehensive management of compliancy going forward. It is the intention for the database to be able to identify high-risk sites so that safeguards can be implemented, and assurances be met. HCC will ensure its Duty of Care while implementing a practical and workable process to ensure future compliancy. Facilities Management are working alongside Strategic Assets Management and Estates in Property to understand how they will manage compliancy in relation to their managed portfolio. A system is being developed to ensure that the Property Department in its entirety maintains an appropriate level of current compliancy. An asbestos project manager is working alongside Tech Forge to ensure updated records are being logged while focusing on the inclusion of the remaining sites and non-

rating. Subject to arranging access we anticipate completion of all outstanding assessment in 5 weeks from restarting. We restarted on 1st June. Carter Jonas have either inspected and seen sight of health and safety information or, due to COVID19 limiting access to sites, have emailed a request for confirmation that any applicable health and safety checks have been undertaken across the corporate estate. We are happy with the adequacy of the fire risk assessments we previously undertook 2018 and can defer to these until the final batch has been completed. Fire compartmentalisation works identified during the previous assessments have been completed and this should be reflected in the new assessments.


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Status of Progress

documented sites. Tech Forge is being developed to incorporate the ability to identify the responsible party for its compliancy. Alongside this the system is being designed with the purpose of understanding and monitoring the management of compliancy from each party under their individual remits.

3.

Herts Home Improvement Agency (Final Report Issued July 2019)

Recommendations The HHIA should review the current business continuity and succession planning arrangements in place to ensure that the service can continue to function in the absence of key officers. Given the existing recruitment difficulties, the Board should critically review whether the existing pay grading structure is sufficient, or indeed whether recruitment difficulties relate to underlying issues in respect of the structure, job roles and responsibilities within the Agency. Agreed Management Actions (a) New Senior Management structure in place:

Head of Service – Michelle Abraham reporting to Sarah Evans, Head of Hertfordshire Equipment Service. Longer term continuity to be reviewed as part of the review project.

(b) Put in place staffing to support the service whilst

review is undertaken: -MA overseeing Operations team but not undertaking operations tasks -Operations Manager replaced by Senior

Responsible Officers: Michelle Abraham – Head of Herts Home Improvement Agency Sarah Evans - Head of Hertfordshire Equipment Service Target Date for Completion – (a) Complete, (b) Complete and (c) 30/11/2019, (d) 30/11/2019, (e) In progress

March 2020 update: Standard Operating Procedures are now in place for all key roles within the service, New positions to the team as follows: Business Analyst in Post 1 Oct 19 New Caseworker in Post 1 Nov 19 Technical Officer starting 19 Dec 19 Senior Technical on 6 Jan 2020 There is a new draft structure model going to board on 19 Dec. This is to provide HHIA with a stable staff structure to progress forward. Sarah Evans and Michelle Abraham are working with the ACS next generation head Fiona Day to ensure that the HHIA are aware of all changes happening in HCC and ACS going forward. Next CLNG will be a focus for the HHIA over the next 2 years June 2020 update: The HHIA have reviewed the structure for the organisation, identifying the key

Implemented


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Status of Progress

Technical Officer (Agency) with sole focus on progressing projects - SE acts as cover/support for MA - Business Development Manager resigned – to be replaced by Business Analyst (fixed term 1 year)

(c) Work with HR colleagues to review current structure,

with particular focus on technical roles, although there needs to be an acceptance that there will be short-term reliance on agency staff in technical roles until these can be reviewed.

(d) Undertake Financial Analysis to understand potential

to grow staffing with revenue (e) Review of processes to improve productivity and

stop blockages. To be incorporated in recovery plan.

roles that require permanent employees and have run recruitment processes to fill these posts. While there are some key posts that remain filled by fixed-term contracts and agency workers, contingency plans have been put into place which would allow business continuity in the short term. The Standard Operating Procedures are effective at outlining the roles and responsibilities for each key role within the HHIA.

4.


Recommendations - Further training should be provided to HHIA staff to ensure that the case management system is completed and updated in line with expectations. - Regular data quality checks should be performed on the case management system to obtain assurance that records are updated in an accurate and timely manner. A mapping exercise should be performed to identify the key fields within the case management system that support key monitoring and KPI routines, with data quality checks focusing in particular on these areas. We also recommend that HCC Finance is provided with access to a reporting suite within the case management

Responsible Officers: Michelle Abraham – Head of Herts Home Improvement Agency Sarah Evans - Head of Hertfordshire Equipment Service Target Dates for Completion – (a) 31/08/2019, (b) 31/08/2019, (c) 30/10/2019, (d) 31/12/2019

November 2019 update: A full review of the CMS system has now been completed. Report is available -with recommendations now being incorporated into the audit tracker for monitoring. All current HIA staff will undertake "Ferret Training” in January 2019 to ensure all staff are "up skilled" and we are resilient as a team. The new Business Analyst will be the Super user of the team, followed by Senior Business Support after training

Implemented


28





Status of Progress

system, sufficient to support the production of financial monitoring / Board reports Agreed Management Actions (a) Sarah Copeland undertaking review of CMS

system (b) Process mapping exercise completed to

understand how staff currently use the system and where changes need to be made

(c) Identification of training needs for staff and

resource to undertake these. Training to include inputting and quality of data.

(d) Super-user/ system manager to be identified to

oversee data checks, develop the system e.g. for mobile working, and work with Finance to develop reporting suite.

(e) Review access to CMS/ other reporting suites for

Finance to allow for improved financial reporting or define how this will be achieved e.g. Business Analyst to report on non-SAP data.

(e) 31/12/2019 The Business Analyst has begun working with finance to align CMS and SAP reporting. The Business analyst starting from November to undertake random monthly "spot check" audits. March 2020 update: A full review of the CMS system has taken place, with a report and associated recommendations being completed. Staff have now undertaken "Ferret Training". There is a skills matrix in place to identify training requirements of the service. The Business Analyst is in place and data quality is now a standing item at team meetings. 1-2-1 meetings and issues quarterly data with CMS. Monthly spot checks are undertaken. Finance and the BIM project manager have worked closely now to ensure that everyone has an understanding of CMS and SAP data. This will be an on-going project to ensure that finance and CMS are aligning together more and more.


29





Status of Progress

5. Herts Home Improvement Agency (Final Report Issued July 2019)

Recommendations A formal review of the current format, approach and underlying information to support reporting of financial position of the HHIA should be undertaken. This should include: - Review of the structure of financial performance reports, in particular ensuring that financial projections are clearly linked to performance and other key information (such as staff capacity, job over-runs etc). - Where assumptions are being included, in particular significant increases in activity, appropriate identification of key risks to their achievement should be included. - Clearer evidence should be provided of existing performance of the HHIA against anticipated performance profiles (financial and non-financial), with clear statements provided of corrective actions being taken where targets are not being met. - A mapping process should be considered between the financial information required to populate Board Reports and the sources where this could be derived from, with an assessment also made on the reliability of that information. - Finally, further clarity should be provided on the respective roles and responsibilities of HCC Finance and HHIA management in relation to creating financial / performance reports for the HHIA Board. Agreed Management Actions (a) Review Finance reporting with the Finance team.

Utilise Finance Graduate capacity to put in place

Responsible Officers: Michelle Abraham – Head of Herts Home Improvement Agency Sarah Evans - Head of Hertfordshire Equipment Service Benjamin Jay – Head of Accountancy Services Target Dates for Completion – (a) 30/09/2019 (b) 30/09/2019 (c) 30/11/2019 (d) 30/09/2019 (e) 31/12/2019

November 2019 update: A current review is taking place to build a more cost-effective structure. A business case is being developed and will be presented early 2020. The new Business Analyst is now in post and beginning to provide strategic and operational statistical analysis and case monitoring infrastructure. A new caseworker has been recruited and started on the 4 Nov 2019. A Technical Officer has been appointed and due to start in Dec 19. The Business Analyst has developed a set of Key Performance Indicators and will present to HHIA Board in November 2019. The financial reporting review has now been completed. Improvements which were introduced have resulted in the HHIA finance reporting now being delegated to an accountancy officer. March 2020 update: Financial reporting has been dramatically improved following the review. Finance have access to CMS and reporting data. They have Q1 and Q2 of 2019/20 Quarterly finance report to Board will

Implemented


30





Status of Progress

systems to capture staff capacity (b) Review 2018/19 data to identify activity trends and

predict for 2019/20. Identify current risks and report on those to Board

(c) Develop KPI projections and report to Board where

action is being taken to address issues or meet/exceed projections

(d) Finance Graduate to work with CMS Project

Manager to look at financial reporting within both CMS and SAP to improve accuracy and reliability of reporting

(e) Review of above actions when complete to agree

on future reporting protocol. Consider potential options such as preparation of reports by Business Analyst or Finance having access to CMS/ financial spreadsheets

look at current projections. Finance do high-level spend projection, Sabrina Kelly to look at activity trends. Log created, including case examples, of current issues with CMS/data entry that are impacting on the reliability of reporting. Suggestions have also been added to the CMS change log. Finance have been shown how to download reports from CMS themselves which will help with monitoring and reporting, particularly SAP recs. Data reviewed. To develop financial projections alongside MA/SE. There is now an agreed strategic and operational level HHIA KPIs

6.


Recommendations We recommend that the HHIA seeks further clarification (in writing) from the relevant government department in relation to the restrictions on recovering overheads from the DFG. The HHIA introduce more formal systems to evidence and monitor the chargeable activities performed by staff. Agreed Management Actions (a) Meet with Foundations to seek relevant advice and

understand where written assurances can be sought in relation to staff costs and fees.

Responsible Officers: Michelle Abraham – Head of Herts Home Improvement Agency Sarah Evans - Head of Hertfordshire Equipment Service Target Date for Completion – (a) 31/07/2019 (b) 30/11/2019

June 2020 update: All management actions have been completed, except for "Review viability of revenue model after the above actions have been taken and analysis made. Also consider potential revenue in light of review of discretionary policy/ resources needed." This has been delayed due to Covid-19

Partially Implemented (previous date 31/03/2020 now 31/07/2020)


31





Status of Progress

(b) Use information obtained to inform project plan e.g.

develop policy concerning warranties (c) Project support to work with SE/MA and Business

Intelligence to develop timesheet tracker system for staff activities, similar to those in use by SIAS and HCC HR. These will more accurately track how resources are utilised.

(d) Review charges for works that are aborted –

currently no costs are recovered so charging scheme to be put in place (if deemed permissible)

Review viability of revenue model after the above actions have been taken and analysis made. Also consider potential revenue in light of review of discretionary policy/ resources needed.

(c) 30/10/2019 (d) 30/10/2019 (e) 31/03/2020

7.


Recommendations We recommend that the service create more formal guidelines on the extent of monitoring visits required, based on the complexity and length of works. As part of this it should be a minimum requirement that pre-start site meetings and completion / sign off meetings are held for all projects, irrelevant of length / complexity, with these involving the client, HHIA and the Contractor. More stringent monitoring is undertaken by management to ensure that such standards are maintained. Agreed Management Actions (a) Develop agreed process for pre- and post-works

site meetings and sign off with expectations for interim site visits for longer works

Responsible Officer: Michelle Abraham – Head of Herts Home Improvement Agency Target Dates for Completion – 31/01/2020

November 2019 update: There is now a technical Officer who conducts all pre-starts and Practical Completions Sign off independent of the Trusted Assessor and other technical officers. Regular spot check audits are taking place now by the Business Analyst to ensure that all documents are uploaded. The Business Analyst has now started, and performance reporting has now begun.

Implemented


32





Status of Progress

(b) Ensure meetings are recorded and captured on

CMS system so information can be reported on (c) Monitoring undertaken by Business Analyst

(subject to recruitment) as part of reporting process

March 2020 update: All work has must have a sigh off with a completed check list-which is now documented on CMS and quarterly audits are completed to ensure this is happening. The Business Analyst now undertakes spot checks as part of staff CMS monthly case review meetings. This includes, documentation, recording and all sections analysed. Approvals now will not get completed unless all evidence is listed, and funding section completed. CMS review meetings (for each member of staff) and Business Analyst undertakes spot check audit site visits as part of ongoing business process. A snagging sheet is now used to record any work defects. Client’s complaints and compliments are now monitored, and lessons learnt are feedback at monthly CMS review and team meetings.

8.

Care Payments and commitment systems (Final Report Issued 17/12/2019)

Recommendations We recommend that all Care Payments Team spreadsheets use downloads from ContrOCC as a basis for identifying and updating care package commitments and the subsequent information to verify invoices against. Information should be routinely refreshed on a weekly, but as a minimum monthly basis, to ensure that the spreadsheet can fully reflect new packages or

Responsible Officer: Dawn Neads. No target date advised

March 2020 update: Care Payments are now running reports on a monthly basis to identify and add any Service User commissioned on ACSIS / Controcc, but not included on Community Support/Supported Living spreadsheets.

Implemented


33





Status of Progress

changes to existing packages (in particular when they have ended). Agreed Management Actions On an interim basis, I&CP and Finance Business Partner to ensure CPLI reports for all care purchasing packages are produced each month to provide up to date commitments. All can be run on a monthly basis and newly commissioned packages added to the spreadsheet. This will be completed only when a package is commissioned and not at the Contract set up stage. Regular monitoring of spreadsheets will identify if invoices are not being received and referred to Care Management Team with request to end package – this is already in place. Once the Provider Portal goes live, the spreadsheets become redundant. Reporting will be possible directly from ContrOCC on a more regular basis. The response to the previous recommendations sets out the timelines for go live, for homecare providers it is planned for quarters 3 and 4 for the 2019/20 financial year but may extend to 2020/21 for spot providers.

9.


Recommendations

Clear guidance is provided on the roles, responsibilities and notification requirements for instances where provider payment methods require changing (e.g. from scheduled to invoiced).

The existence tolerance levels for investigation of discrepancies between commitments and invoices

Responsible Officers: a) Business Improvement Manager

March 2020 update: Management Actions (a) and (b) - Care Payments supply a report to CMT which shows hours and amounts provided for Homecare in a four-weekly period, significantly under commissioned packages will now also be notified to BP.

Implemented


34





Status of Progress

should be reviewed to ensure they meet the requirements for maintaining robust forecasting information, and also appropriate levels of internal control. In addition, a tolerance level should be set upon which invoices sufficiently under committed values will be investigated. A formal review should be undertaken on the effectiveness of the existing error / issue resolution processes, ensuring that clear roles and responsibilities are defined (or teams reminded of their existing responsibilities) for commissioning teams, contract monitoring teams, Care Payments Team and frontline staff. In addition, monitoring should be considered to ensure that each relevant team complies with their respective elements of the process in a timely manner.

Further clarity is provided on escalation processes where a provider continually fails to submit timely (or no) invoices, in particular where these issues have been progressed to Commissioning Teams but can still not be resolved.

Agreed Management Actions (a) A process note to be provided to identify roles and responsibilities where payment methods require changing. Use of the Visits module and scheduled payments enables automated exceptions reporting to be generated for cases where actuals are a threshold percentage above and below commissioned levels. Providers can pre-empt queries by submitting variance reasons within their Visits files. Actions and conversations will be used to prompt CPLI reviews and updates as required by care management teams. (b) Tolerance levels are 10% either above or below the

b) Tim Parlow/Kulbir Lalli/Lynn Quick/Dawn Neads/Matthew Buckland c) Fiona Day / Gareth Hillier Target date: 30/04/2020

Management Action (c) not yet due


35





Status of Progress

commissioned value and for Lead Providers there is an opportunity to flex this (for example during winter months) to support timely discharge from hospital. For homecare and support at home both over and under data is provided to teams. For other funding streams I&CP will put in place a mechanism to report to operational, commissioning teams and the Finance Business Partner when invoices consistently are under commissioned value. Impact on resource in commissioning and operational teams will need to be measured once this process is in place.

(c) Successful implementation of actions and conversations functionality as part of the Provider Portal will address issues with current query processes from a consistency and monitoring point of view. Project management and stakeholder engagement will be required.

10.


Recommendations We recommend the required updates of ContrOCC to allow automated processing of invoiced payments are completed as a priority. This will both further enhance the effectiveness of the control environment, as invoices can be checked against live commitment data, and by using ContrOCC directly there will be improved confidence and reporting capability to allow identification of commitments and overdue invoices. Agreed Management Actions Development work is already underway to enable Support at Home data to be imported into ContrOCC to

Responsible Officers: Andrew Willis Target date: 30/04/2020

March 2020 update: Continuing to work towards April 2020 implementation. Slight delay due to internal data issues. Additional providers will go live post April. June 2020 update: The April 2020 implementation date has slipped due to charging variations identified in testing due to non-system issues. A solution has been developed and implemented. Proposed live run with Care By US has been postponed

Partially Implemented (Previous date was 30/04/2020 now 30/11/2020)


36





Status of Progress

provide a checking mechanism and payment generation. Reporting will be developed to extract discrepancies between commissioned and actual values and data extracted for submission to operational teams/commissioning teams for resolution. This report will include any CPLIs without a corresponding charge. Development will then focus on other funding streams to enable all actuals data to be held in ContrOCC. There will be some impact on resources during the development/testing and implementation process in I&CP. BIM have employed an additional member of staff to work on the project.

for an undetermined period due to COVID related resource issues preventing Care By Us in reconciling final test payment figures. Other lead providers are in the system development stage which has been delayed for COVID related reasons. As of 1st June BIM are contacting providers to develop ongoing plan of provider re-engagement. Provisional lead provider implementation Nov 2020, however new lead provider tender is not yet finalised which will impact provider engagement and provider system development. This makes estimation of updated target date difficult. Initial live run with Care By Us is ready but requires input from provider.

11.

ACS - Aspects of Client Contributions Systems (Final Report Issued 17/6/2020)

Recommendation We recommended that as part of the continuing work by ACS to review debt management and charging systems and processes, a review of the current systems for promoting the completion of the Financial Screening (ACS8b) form should be undertaken (this being required to progress financial assessments). Agreed Management Actions This will be picked up in income business process reviews. A target date of March 2021 is proposed; however, this work is currently paused because of Covid 19 and so this timeline may need revisiting in light of other recovery priorities.

Responsible Officers: Fiona Day Target date: 31/03/2021

N/a – Recommendation not subject to follow up in this progress report as the final report was issued in June 2020.

N/a

APPENDIX C IMPLEMENTATION STATUS OF MEDIUM PRIORITY RECOMMENDATIONS OVER 12 MONTHS

37

The following appendix provides Audit Committee Members with a summary of the most recent update (February 2020) provided by management in respect of outstanding medium priority recommendations that are 12 months (or more) overdue from the original target date.

Para 2.24 x-ref

Service Audit Title Responsible

Officer Original Management

Response

Latest Management Update on Progress

Original Target Date

Revised Target Date

1.

Cross Service (Resources and E&I)

Section 106 Payments

Sarah McLaughlin - Head of

Growth ＆

Infrastructure Patsy Dell - AD Strategic Planning, Infrastructure and Economy

Recommendations As part of the implementation of any new system to record / monitor S106 or CIL contributions we recommend that: - The new system should be capable of interfacing with other HCC systems, such as SAP. - The use of existing manual systems should be eliminated Appropriate discussions should be held with all user groups to ensure that the revised product has sufficient functionality to meet both Corporate and Service needs. Agreed Management Action We understand and agree that the issues encountered in both the data capture and subsequent MI must be overcome in the development / procurement of any new system such that subsidiary systems are no longer necessary. There is now a Project Board in place

November 2019 Update: Since the last update to the Committee, the project manager and lead officers have been working intensively with the supplier and SERCO for a definitive programme and resource commitment to secure completion. Additional resources in our service area have been deployed on this, and the AD Strategic Planning, Infrastructure and Economy has personally escalated this to the AD technology in the last month to seek assistance in securing prioritisation of this work from SERCO. We now have the roll out timetable demonstrating how the final project milestones will be delivered. The table below demonstrates that implementation of the live system is planned for 12 December 2019, with roll out to all service users starting in the last week of January. This is as close to the 1 December 2019 deadline reported to Audit Committee as is possible to deliver this project under the circumstances. The AD Strategic Planning, Infrastructure and Economy and her team will continue to monitor and support this to ensure the implementation is completed as per this programme.

01/10/2015

Revised target date for completion - 2 April 2020


38

Para 2.24 x-ref

Service Audit Title Responsible

Officer Original Management

Response

Latest Management Update on Progress


Revised Target Date

which is overseeing the development of the project identification documents (PID) which will seek to encompass the recommendations of this report. The project will complete within 2015/16. Agreed – the project scope will be revised to include the needs of all groups involved in the acquisition and expenditure of all such funds in order that all needs can be met. Agree that management information needs to improve and reduce the need for manual process. Highways will work with property to develop and implement a new system as above.

March 2020 update: The install is progressing well and the changeover from PROMS to DEF has a target go live date for all users of 2 April 2020. Right now, the final historical data is still being uploaded into the system in parallel with HCC users testing and optimising the system. There have been some recent modifications to join up Highways & G&IU in the back office with a view to be working more closely together in the future. The changeover plan below has been prepared with input from the team, Serco & DEF. It is with DEF & Serco now for final sign off. The go live date is approximately 5 weeks later than the original target, mainly due to the delays and complexities with extracting the existing records out of PROMS and into DEF before Christmas. (see table below (page 39) for delivery plan)


39

The table below represents the programmed delivery scheduled for the S106 recommendation (pages 37 and 38) in Appendix C above. It has been included for information and positioned separately due to formatting considerations in the table above.

Date Action Description

11 March (confirmed)

Highways Business Support team have an in-house training session on Application Response

As they will do the majority of inputting

16 March (TBC) All user to have access to DEF & be able to log in

100-ish users. Will be asked not to use site until trained up

18 March (TBC) All super users trained on site with DEF (1 day)

This will allow the team to be confident on the system ahead of full launch day & give the opportunity for any system optimisation & trouble shooting

COP Fri 27 March Last day for staff to use PROMS Serco sends to DEF

30 March – 1 April

BLACK OUT PERIOD FOR INPUTTING DATA ON TO EITHER SYSTEM

As nothing will be pulled from DEF from this date, and the live DEF site will not yet have all the data in & not be fully ready to use

30 March Serco final cut of data from PROMS 1 day allowance

31 March DEF upload data into new system 1 day expected and 1 day contingency

1-2 April Training for all DEF to host a couple days of training for all 100-ish HCC users

31 March Catch all Traffic Light Report run by Patrick Wray GIS

Denise will manage the creation of a report to come out of DEF on the last day PROMS is available in the format of the Traffic Light Report which will be a catch all back up of the financial information on the last day we’ll definitely have access to PROMS. This will pick up anything which mistakenly goes on between 23-31 March

2 April 2020 All users inputting via DEF only. Official switch over

APPENDIX D SUMMARY OF OVERDUE MEDIUM PRIORITY RECOMMENDATIONS NOW IMPLEMENTED

40

The following appendix provides Audit Committee Members with a summary of the overdue medium priority recommendations that were classed as implemented during the February 2020 follow up process.

Service Audit Title Final

Report Issued


Responsible Officer

Outline of Original Recommendation (Now Implemented)

Resources LEP Local Assurance Framework

March 2018 30/04/2018 Vickie Holland We recommend that the conflict of interest policy provides guidance to HCC elected members on disclosure of interests related to official roles (i.e. cabinet member and representatives of commercial companies established by the Council).

Resources Deputyships and Appointeeships

January 2018

01/04/2018 Helen Maneuf

We recommend that the HCS913 document should be reviewed for accuracy and updated where necessary. We also recommend that the Care Management Teams procedure ‘Deputyship & Appointeeship Guidance for Care Management Staff’ is updated to provide clearer guidance on the systems that should be implemented and followed to record and recover Service User expenditure during the period of Deputyship applications.

Resources Deputyships and Appointeeships

January 2018

01/04/2018 Helen Maneuf

We recommend that further work is undertaken to review the current workflow and resource availability in relation to the progression of Appointeeship and Deputyship referrals and ongoing management of approved orders. This could consist of:- • Establishment of a working group consisting of Care Teams, Provider Services and the Client Finance Team to review workflows and roles and responsibilities. • A review of the current support structure for Care Management Teams to potentially allow re-allocation of elements of the process that do not require specialist care manager knowledge.

Cross Service (Resources and E&I)

Home to School Transport 17-18

November 2018

30/04/2019 Trudie German

We recommend that management should investigate if HAPS is being used in the most efficient and effective manner to administer the home to school travel service end to end, i.e. from when entitlement is agreed through to receipt of the service, and to provide the client with accurate, complete and reliable financial information on travel related expenditure. If the results of management’s investigation conclude it is either not possible or it would not be cost effective to further develop HAPS as a sustainable core business system for passenger travel (i.e. to provide a single system for both parties and to streamline the CS monitor operation), we recommend management should carry out a feasibility study into alternative software solution better suited to the key needs and requirements of the parties.

APPENDIX E DEFINITIONS OF ASSURANCE AND RECOMMENDATION PRIORITIES

41

Definitions of Assurance Levels and Recommendation Priorities

Assurance Level Definition

Good The design and operation of the internal control framework is effective, thereby ensuring that the key risks in scope are being well managed and core objectives will likely be achieved. There are minor reportable audit findings.

Satisfactory The internal control framework is largely working well in managing the key risks in scope, with some audit findings related to the current arrangements.

Limited The system of internal control is only partially effective, with important audit findings in key areas. Improvement in the design and/or operation of the control environment is necessary to gain assurance risks are being managed to an acceptable level, and core objectives will be achieved.

No The system of internal control has serious gaps, and controls are not effective in managing the key risks in scope. It is highly unlikely that core objectives will be met without urgent management intervention.

Priority Level Definition

Co

rpo

rate

Critical Audit findings which, in the present state, represent a serious risk to the organisation as a whole, i.e. reputation, financial resources and / or compliance with regulations. Management action to implement the appropriate controls is required immediately.

Serv

ice

High Audit findings indicate a serious weakness or breakdown in control environment, which, if untreated by management intervention, is highly likely to put achievement of core service objectives at risk. Remedial action is required urgently.

Medium Audit findings which, if not treated by appropriate management action, are likely to put achievement of some of the core service objectives at risk. Remedial action is required in a timely manner.

Low / Advisory Audit findings indicate opportunities to implement good or best practice, which, if adopted, will enhance the control environment. The appropriate solution should be implemented as soon as is practically possible.

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