The Audit and Standards Committee of Uttlesford Council met on Thursday, 27 June 2024. Key topics included updates on the Counter Fraud Strategy, the presentation of the Internal Audit Charter, Strategy and Plan for 2024/25, and discussions on constitutional amendments to planning codes and protocols.

Counter Fraud Strategy Update

The Internal Audit Manager provided an update on the Counter Fraud Strategy for March 2024. There are currently 24 open investigations. In response to a request from Councillor Susan Barker, additional information will be included in the next report on progress made against the National Fraud Initiative (NFI) matches. The Internal Audit Manager confirmed that the 2022/23 NFI matches are nearly complete, with no fraud or savings identified to date.

The Counter Fraud Working Group has been reformed, consisting of staff from various departments, including Revenue and Benefits, Payments, HR, and Community Safety.

Internal Audit Charter, Strategy and Plan 2024/25

The Internal Audit Manager presented the proposed Internal Audit Charter, Strategy and Plan for 2024/25. The plan has been mapped against existing resources and is deemed achievable, subject to staff availability and controlled audit scopes. The team consists of 1.5 members of staff and a manager.

Deferred audits have been reassessed, with some merged into other audits and others deprioritised based on risk assessments. Notably, an audit on financial risk and contracts management of Leisure PFIs is in the reserve plan. There is also a planned audit into contract management arrangements to protect the Council’s data stored on the Idox system, including a review of carbon usage on hosted servers.

Councillor Claire Fiddy raised concerns about the omission of an audit into Planning Conditions, citing recent Ombudsman decisions where the Council was found at fault. Officers acknowledged the risk assessment but noted that adding this audit would require removing another.

Members requested regular updates on key risks and audits. Councillor Barker suggested adopting a practice from Essex County Council, where completed audit reports are reviewed by the relevant Cabinet Member and audits with limited or no assurance are brought to the Audit Committee's attention.

Constitutional Amendments to Planning Codes and Protocols - Withdrawn

Councillor Barker noted that the report on constitutional amendments to planning codes and protocols had been withdrawn at Full Council. The Monitoring Officer explained that the proposal had not been sufficiently discussed and recommended restarting the process with further engagement from the Planning Committee Working Group (PCWG).