The Governance & Audit Committee of Bracknell Forest Council met on 19 June 2024 to discuss several key issues, including the Internal Audit Annual Assurance Report for 2023-24 and follow-up actions from the previous meeting. The committee reviewed the partial assurance opinion for the year and discussed the implementation of major recommendations from internal audits.

Internal Audit Annual Assurance Report 2023-24

Sally Hendrick, Head of Audit and Risk Management, presented the Head of Internal Audit’s Opinion for 2023/24. The report provided a partial assurance opinion based on the work conducted throughout the year. This opinion was influenced by the number of major recommendations raised and the recurrence of issues not addressed in follow-up audits.

Key points included:

• Major recommendations were raised in several audits, including council-wide procurement, business continuity, and school audits.
• The report highlighted areas where recommendations from previous years had not been implemented, such as business change support costs and commercial property.
• The team faced challenges with resource constraints, impacting the timely delivery of audits.
• The report also included updates on fraud and irregularity, noting a successful prosecution for a fraudulent blue badge application.

In response to questions, it was noted that:

• Two audits received a good assurance opinion: discretionary hardship fund and follow-up on council data indicator arrangements.
• There were currently two vacant posts in the audit team, and senior managers were considering increasing the market premium for these roles.
• Local managers were responsible for addressing major recommendations, and senior leaders were developing an improvement plan to tackle these issues.

Andrew Cardoza, Director for the External Audit 2023/24 at KPMG, confirmed that while they do not rely on internal reports, the Head of Internal Audit’s Opinion would inform their audit plan. Stuart McKellar, Executive Director: Resources, committed to bringing an action plan to address audit response timeliness to the September committee meeting.

Follow-up Actions from Previous Meeting

The committee followed up on actions from the previous meeting held on 13 March 2024:

• Stuart McKellar confirmed that there was no scope to recapture costs against the pension fund.
• Sally Hendrick informed members that senior officers had conducted a deep dive into the Risk Register, and an amended version would be added to the agenda for the September meeting.
• A list of repeated assurances with adverse opinions was included in the current meeting's report.

Further to discussion, the committee resolved to note the Head of Internal Audit’s Opinion for 2023/24 and thanked Sally Hendrick and her team for their work amidst ongoing resource constraints.