Agenda item

As required by the Global Internal Audit Standards in UK Public Sector this report presents the Internal Audit Progress Report (August) 2025-26. The report provides the Audit and Scrutiny Committee with an overview of internal audit activity and assurance work completed in accordance with the approved audit plan and provides an overview of key updates relevant to the discharge of the committee’s role in relation to internal audit.

As required by the Global Internal Audit Standards in UK Public Sector this report presents the Internal Audit Progress Report (August) 2025-26. The Committee received a report providing an overview of internal audit activity and assurance work completed in accordance with the approved audit plan and provides an overview of key updates relevant to the discharge of the committee’s role in relation to internal audit.

The following matters were considered:

Councillor Lawrence made a verbal statement to the Committee.

a)            Staff Turnover. The Internal Auditor explained that due to a higher level of staff turnover, there may be a slight delay with the delivering of some audit reviews, during the onboarding process for new staff. The Internal Auditor reassured Members that they remained confident that the audit plan will be sufficiently delivered by the end of the year, in time for the annual conclusion to be presented to the Committee.

b)            Food Safety Standards. A Member of the Committee asked what happens if the Council does not complete the outstanding food safety inspections. The Member expressed concern about the impact on residents and the Council and feelings of security over the restaurants and establishments where they are purchasing food in the borough. The Corporate Governance and Strategy Manager explained that the consequences of failure to adhere to the Food Law Code of Practice could be ministerial direction, however, there is an escalation procedure established prior to this in which the Food Standards Agency engage with the authority in question at a lower level with a view to assist in the resolution of resourcing or operational difficulty causing the loss of alignment with the code.

c)            Playground Maintenance. The Chair asked for the management actions on playground maintenance to be shared with the Committee as soon as possible. The Internal Auditor explained that the list of management actions are not reported in detail unless they are high priority actions that become overdue, and then they will be included in appendix 1. The Internal Auditor explained that they are broadly satisfied that appropriate management actions have been identified to be implemented, which will manage any risks identified through their reviews. Management actions are then followed up through the action tracking within section 11. The Chair asked for clarification as to when the management actions are scheduled to be completed. The Internal Auditor explained that specific dates aren’t put against individual management actions in the summary, but playground maintenance management actions will be internally tracked as to whether they are completed in accordance with target dates and then any actions that become overdue will feature in future progress reports in the overdue column, and any high priority management actions that become overdue will then be listed appropriately in appendix 1, until such time as the actions have been implemented.

d)            Playground inspections. The Vice Chair raised that for two of the 19 sites internal auditors could find no evidence of the annual independent inspection. The Vice Chair asked if these will be followed up on through the management actions. The Internal Auditor agreed to look into the query and provide a response following the meeting.

e)            Report Correction. A Member of the Committee raised that there is a spelling mistake in the report summary. The Chair noted the comment.

Following consideration, the Committee resolved (5 for and the Chair not voting) to:

(1)      Note the internal audit progress report (August) 2025-26 from Southern Internal Audit Partnership (SIAP) attached at Appendix 1.