Issue - meetings

To receive the Devon Assurance Partnership (DAP) Progress Report for the year to date.

The Committee had before it, and NOTED, a report * from the Devon Assurance Partnership (DAP) providing a summary of internal audit activity since the last meeting.

The following was highlighted within the report:

·       The internal auditor had no significant concerns in any of the areas that had been audited since the last meeting.

·       There were no high outstanding audit recommendations, however, there were 28 medium recommendations with 10 of those being overdue. These were only recently overdue however with a date of either October or November 2024.

·       Through the Customer Satisfaction survey DAP generally received between a 96% and 98% satisfaction rate.

Consideration was given to:

·       The working relationship between the internal and external auditors and whether views were challenged on either side. It was confirmed that DAP had a positive functional relationship with Bishop Fleming and even shared training opportunities. However, ultimately each was responsible for their own reports.

·       It was suggested that perhaps management needed to be a bit more realistic with their timescales regarding audit recommendations. Sometimes they were too optimistic.

·       Customer Satisfaction surveys were sent out to any individuals who had had key involvement with the audit.

·       It was confirmed that the Contract Register was updated post award and was available on the Council’s website.

·       Cyber Security was the biggest risk faced by most local authorities.

Note: * Report previously circulated.