Issue - meetings

To note the Annual Internal Audit report for 2023/24 and the annual audit opinion on the Council’s internal control environment, risk management and governance arrangements.

The Committee considered the Annual Internal Audit Report and Opinion for 2023/24 which was presented by Terry Collier, Deputy Chief Executive on behalf of Punita Talwar, Internal Audit Manager, Southern Internal Audit Partnership.

The Deputy Chief Executive highlighted a point of clarification related to the footnote under Spelthorne’s quantified Counter Fraud Returns for 2023/24. Notably, the additional council tax revenue mentioned as in excess of £296k was the total Council tax revenue, and Spelthorne’s share was ten percent, equating to around £29k in additional savings. This was still a good return considering Surrey County Council had coordinated and paid for the Single Person Discount (SPD) data matching exercise.

The Committee queried the position of Corporate procurement which was not clear within the report. The Interim Monitoring Officer advised that there had been ongoing recruitment difficulties within Procurement, however an interim Procurement Manager was now in post and a permanent post was also being advertised. The Committee would receive a procurement progress report at its September 2024 committee meeting for a full update. The Interim Monitoring Officer also confirmed she will liaise with the Chair to organise procurement training, specifically in preparation for the implementation of the Procurement Act 2023.

The Committee expressed their keen interest to participate in Procurement training, and also thanked the Internal Audit Manager for her work on this report.

The Committee resolved to:

1.    Note the Annual Internal Audit Report for 2023/24

2.    Note the annual audit opinion on the Council’s internal control environment, risk management and governance arrangements.