Agenda item

To receive the report from the Audit Manager (Veritau), Counter Fraud Manager (Veritau); and Information Governance Manager (Veritau), which asks the Committee to note the update on progress made in delivering the internal audit, counter fraud and information governance work for 2020-21.

The Assistant Director, Audit Assurance, Veritau presented the quarterly report which provided the Committee with an update on the delivery of the internal audit work plan for 2020-21, along with an update on the counter fraud and information governance work undertaken to date in 2020-21.  It was noted that due to Covid-19, work on the annual audit plan had been delayed therefore the report also updated Members on the plans for completion of work over the remainder of 2020-21.

Members noted that nine 2020-21 audits were in progress and expected to be completed by the end of April 2021, with priority being given to the main financial system audits to minimise the impact on officers, who had additional demands due to the on-going Covid-19 pandemic.   

The Counter Fraud Manager, Veritau presented the section of the report related to the Council’s counter fraud activity 2020-21 which highlighted that savings of £8.1k had been achieved through fraud investigation.

The Committee heard that the counter fraud team had supported the Council with pre, and post payment Covid-19 grant assurance work.  Members were informed that 1,500 applications had been received for the first grant schemes put into operation, of these, a sample had been reviewed by the counter fraud team as part of the government’s post assurance requirements.  It was confirmed that all the grants had been paid in line with the government issued criteria, to legitimate companies; and no issues had been identified.

The Committee was informed that as part of Council’s annual billing process for Council Tax which took place in February 2021, a message to residents had been included to raise fraud awareness and publicise the Council’s “0800” fraud hotline telephone number.   

The Assistant Director, Audit Assurance, Veritau drew the Committee’s attention to appendix C of the report which provided an update on Information Governance matters, to include the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) action plan along with data breaches.  It was explained that Veritau had provided advice and support to officers in respect of data protection impact assessments and surveillance and law enforcement processing.

In response to a query regarding the progress of the payment card industry data security standard (PCI DSS) audit, it was confirmed that some delays had occurred due to Covid-19, however the system was now expected to be implemented by July 2021.

In relation to a query regarding whether the Council had any current investigations in progress under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA), and if so how many, the Assistant Director, Audit Assurance, Veritau was unable to provide an answer but stated that he would speak with the officers concerned and circulate the information to the Chair.

The Committee asked a number of questions in relation to the reduction in the target figures for counter fraud investigations completed in 2019-20 and 2020-21, whether this was related to Covid-19, and if there was sufficient capacity to complete the work still required.  It was confirmed that in 2020-21 time had been taken on the verification of the Covid-19 grant applications which did not result in criminal investigation outcomes and therefore this had affected the overall figures.  It was further confirmed that the resources were there, as Veritau had a large team of auditors. 

RESOLVED:

To note progress on the delivery of internal audit, counter fraud and information governance work, and the plans for work to be completed in 2020-21.