Agenda item

The Committee considered a report from the Corporate Director of Resources which provided members with the opportunity to comment on the Annual Review of the System of Internal Audit (for copy see file of minutes).

The Chief Internal Auditor and Corporate Fraud Manager provided a summary of the report which set out the outcome of the annual review of effectiveness of the internal audit service.

It was highlighted that an external quality assessment of the Internal Audit Service’s conformance to the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards was required every 5 years and this had been completed in February 2022. The opinion delivered by CIPFA’s external assessment was that ‘Durham County Council’s Internal Audit Service’s self-assessment was accurate and as such conclude that they FULLY CONFORM to the requirements of the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards and the CIPFA Local Government Application Note’. 

Councillor McGaun congratulated the Audit Team on the excellent outcome of the external assessment.

Mr I Rudd noted the teams experience and queried whether a succession planning exercise had been carried out within the service. The Chief Internal Auditor and Corporate Fraud Manager advised that the Council had in place a workforce development plan and that this acknowledges the current structure and experience of the service and that succession planning was part of this. The Corporate Director of Resources added that an aging workforce provides challenges which was an issue the Council was aware of. He added that services were currently in the process of producing individual workforce development plans and succession plans.

Resolved:

That the findings and conclusions of the 2021/22 review of the effectiveness of the system of Internal Audit contained within the report be noted.