Prior to the commencement of the meeting the Chair intimated that this meeting of the Committee would be recorded and that the recording would be available to watch on both the Council and HSCP websites.

 

There were no declarations of interest intimated prior to the commencement of the meeting.

 

The Minute of the meeting of the Integration Joint Board (IJB) Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Committee held on 13 November 2020 was submitted.

DECIDED: That the Minute be approved.

The rolling action log for the IJB Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Committee was submitted.

The Chair advised that three of the actions had now been completed as the report on the review of Renfrewshire IJB’s Risk Management Framework would be considered at today’s meeting and that this report also included information in relation on the IJB Strategic Risk Register. Also, that the summary document which captured the performance highlights and key messages from the audited accounts had been widely circulated. 

Alan McNiven thanked the Chief Finance Officer and her finance team for compiling and issuing the summary document to the third sector which gave a sense on how matters were being managed. 

DECIDED: That the updates to the rolling action log be noted.

The Chief Internal Auditor submitted a report providing an update on the progress of the revised internal audit plan 2020/21, a copy of which was appended to the report. 

The plan set out a resource requirement of 35 days, including assurance work, time for a review of the adequacy and compliance with the Local Code of Corporate Governance and for follow-up of previous recommendations, ad-hoc advice and planning and reporting.
 
The report intimated that the audit fieldwork for the assurance engagement to review supplier sustainability payments was nearing completion and that the draft report would be issued to management before the end of March 2021; the agreed annual review of the adequacy and compliance of the Local Code of Corporate Governance was planned to commence during March 2021; and time for planning and reporting had been used for annual reporting on the 2019/20 annual audit plan, developing the 2021/22 internal audit plan and reporting on audit engagements completed by partner organisations during 2020/21. 

 

The report highlighted that the three recommendations identified as part of the annual follow-up exercise had all been implemented.

The Chair advised that, following discussion with the Chief Internal Auditor, a progress report would be submitted to each meeting of the Committee.

DECIDED: 

(a) That the progress against the internal audit plan for 2020/21 be noted; and

(b) That it be noted that the Chief Internal Auditor would submit a progress report to each meeting of the Committee.

The Chief Internal Auditor submitted a report providing a summary of internal audit activity undertaken in partner organisations during 1 June to 31 December 2020.

The report intimated that the IJB directed both Renfrewshire Council and NHSGG&C to deliver services that enabled the IJB to deliver on its strategic plan. Both Renfrewshire Council and NHSGG&C had internal audit functions and conducted audits across each organisation, the findings of which were reported to the respective audit committees.  Members of the IJB had an interest in the outcomes of the audits at both Renfrewshire Council and NHSGG&C that impacted upon the IJB’s ability to deliver the strategic plan or support corporate functions.

In relation to internal audit activity within Renfrewshire Council, the report provided detail on reports relative to payroll and disclosure checks submitted to Renfrewshire Council which were relevant to the IJB.

In relation to internal audit activity within NHSGG&C, the report provided detail on the report relative to the Digital Strategy submitted to the NHSGG&C Audit and Risk Committee which was relevant to the IJB. The Chief Internal Auditor intimated that she would request information relative to the next audit steps around digital space from NHSGG&C and that, if received, this information would be included in the internal audit plan 2020/21 progress report which would be considered at the next meeting of the Committee to be held on 18 June 2021.

The Audit Director, Audit Scotland, intimated that he would provide a link to Audit Scotland’s report in relation to digital in the local authority arena to the Chief Finance Officer to be shared with members.

DECIDED: 

(a) That the report be noted; 

(b) That it be noted that the Chief Internal Auditor would request information relative to the next audit steps around digital space from NHSGG&C 2018 and that, if received, this information would be included in the internal audit plan 2020/21 progress report which would be considered at the next meeting of the Committee to be held on 18 June 2021; and

(c) That it be noted that the Audit Director, Audit Scotland would provide a link to Audit Scotland’s report in relation to digital in the local authority arena to the Chief Finance Officer to be shared with members.

The Chief Internal Auditor submitted a report relative to the annual internal audit plan 2021/22, a copy of which formed Appendix 1 to the report.

The report intimated that in line with the requirements of the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards, a risk based internal audit plan for 2021/22 had been developed.  The plan set out a resource requirement of 35 days, including assurance work, time for follow-up of previous recommendations, ad-hoc advice and planning and reporting.

The allocation of internal audit resources was sufficient to allow emerging priorities and provide adequate coverage of governance, risk management and internal control to inform the annual assurance statement. It was noted that the plan might be subject to amendment during the course of the year due to the emergence of issues of greater priority, or for unforeseen circumstances which would be reported to the committee.

It was noted that the audit universe had been reviewed during 2020/21 to reflect the maturity of the organisation and Appendix 2 to the report detailed the revised audit universe and the anticipated coverage over 2021/22 to 2025/26. It was intended that each engagement topic would be covered once the in five-year period.

The Chair advised that, following discussion with the Chief Internal Auditor, and  once the Committee had started building-up the experience of where work had been undertaken, the schedule would be kept live to better inform members of the Committee moving forward.

DECIDED: 

(a) That the internal audit plan 2021/22 be approved; 

(b) That it be noted that the internal audit plan would be shared with the local authority and health board; and

(c) That it be noted that, once the Committee had started building-up the experience of where work had been undertaken, the Chief Internal Auditor would keep the schedule live to better inform members of the Committee moving forward.

The Chief Finance Officer submitted a report relative to a letter received from Audit Scotland updating members on the progress of the 2020/21 audit, highlighting key audit matters and detailing the next steps on how the annual audit plan would be shared with members once available. A copy of the letter was appended to the report.

John Cornett, Audit Director, Audit Scotland, advised that COVID-19 had significantly impact the way Audit Scotland’s audits had been carried out in 2019/20. Extensions to statutory deadlines had resulted in audit work being completed later than usual, with elements of 2019/20 audits not being fully completed until early 2021. This, together with the tighter COVID-19 suppression measures announced earlier in the year, had impacted on the planning work on the 2020/21 audits and Audit Scotland was not in a position to present their annual audit plan to the March meeting of this Committee. 

The Audit Director then presented his letter to members with particular reference to the finalised annual audit plan and the audit timetable. He requested that the Committee consider whether this letter could be taken as the annual audit plan, if no further risks were identified, or would the Committee expect that the full annual audit plan to be finalised and submitted to a future meeting for consideration; and  that the Committee agree to the annual audit report, due to be submitted prior to 31 October 2021, being submitted to the meeting of the Committee scheduled to be held on 12 November 2021, noting that reference to this being outwith the statutory deadline date of 31 October 2021, would be recorded as an Audit Scotland issue.

It was proposed that the update from Audit Scotland, as appended to the report, be noted; that, if following completion of planning work, the annual audit plan remained broadly similar to the contents of the letter, the full annual audit plan be circulated to members of the Committee; and that it be agreed that the annual audit report be submitted to the meeting of the Committee scheduled to be held on 12 November 2021, noting that reference to this being outwith the statutory deadline date of 31 October 2021 would be recorded as an Audit Scotland issue.

DECIDED: 

(a) That the update from Audit Scotland, as appended to the report, be noted; 

(b) That, if following completion of planning work, the annual audit plan remained broadly similar to the contents of the letter, the full annual audit plan be circulated to members of the Committee; and

(c) That it be agreed that the annual audit report would be submitted to the meeting of the Committee scheduled to be held on 12 November 2021, noting that reference to this being outwith the statutory deadline date of 31 October 2021 would be recorded as an Audit Scotland issue.

Under reference to item 4 of the Minute of the meeting of this Committee held on 11 September 2020, the Interim Chief Officer submitted a report providing an update on the completion of the review of the IJB’s Risk Management Framework which had been last approved in November 2017.

The report intimated that the review had considered the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the IJB’s risk management arrangements and ability to tolerate and effectively manage a higher degree of risk over a prolonged period of time; and the risk management approaches adopted by IJBs across Scotland to inform the further development of Renfrewshire IJB’s Risk Management Framework.

The report detailed the key changes to the Risk Management Framework; the updates to the IJB Risk Register; and implementation of the updated framework.

The Chair, on behalf of the Committee, thanked staff for the work undertaken in reviewing the IJB’s Risk Management Framework.

DECIDED:

(a) That the updates made to the IJB’s Risk Management Framework, as detailed in section 4 of the report, be noted;

(b) That the identified actions which would support dissemination and applications of the Risk Management Framework across IJB activities, as detailed in section 5 of the report, be noted; and

(c) That the updated version of the Risk Management Framework, as appended to the report, be approved.

The Interim Chief Officer submitted a report summarising the findings of the Key Question 7 Inspection conducted by the Care Inspectorate at Hunterhill Care Home.

The report intimated that The Coronavirus (Scotland) (No.2) Act, and subsequent guidance, placed a duty on the Care Inspectorate to robustly assess care home arrangements and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. From June 2020, these inspections, known as Key Question 7 Inspections, had centred on infection prevention and control, personal protective equipment and staffing in care settings.

The report summarised the findings of the Key Question 7 Inspection conducted at Hunterhill Care Home on 10 December 2020 and the subsequent follow-up visits on 21 January and 24 February 2021. The Action Plan: December 2020 to February 2021 was appended to the report. 

The Chair, members of the Committee and the Interim Chief Officer thanked all staff and the team in the care home for the excellent work undertaken in responding to this inspection and for all the work completed to turn matters around in such a short time.

DECIDED:

(a) That the content of the report be noted; and

(b) That the content of the Action Plan: December 2020 to February 2021, as appended to the report, which detailed the requirements, actions and timescales that were necessary to comply with the findings of the inspection, be noted.

The Interim Chief Officer submitted a report relative to the Audit Scotland publication ‘NHS in Scotland 2020: Lessons to be learned from pandemic response’, a copy of which was appended to the report.

The report intimated that Audit Scotland published an annual report on how the NHS in Scotland was performing and that the focus for the NHS in Scotland report 2020 was the lessons to be learned from pandemic response. The Audit Scotland report considered the Scottish Government and NHS response to the significant and unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and highlighted the impact on health; pandemic preparedness; NHS remobilisation and NHS finances and performance. The key messages, recommendations specifically for the Scottish Government, and recommendations for both the Scottish Government and NHS boards from the Audit Scotland report were detailed in the Interim Chief Officer’s report. 

 

The report recognised that staff across the NHS and Scottish Government took early action during the first wave in 2020 and highlighted service innovation. Also, that the backlog would be hard for NHS boards to deal with alongside the financial and operational challenges already faced.

DECIDED: That the content of the Audit Scotland report, as appended to the report, be noted.

The Clerk submitted a report relative to proposed dates of meetings of the Committee in 2021/22.

DECIDED:

(a) That it be noted that a meeting of the Committee would be held at 10.00 am on 18 June 2021;

 

(b) That a meeting of the Committee be held at 10.00 am on either 3 or 10 September 2021 and that the Clerk establish which date best suited members;

(c) That meetings of the Committee be held at 10.00 am on 12 November 2021; and 18 March and 17 June 2022; and

(d) That members be advised of the venue for future meetings.

DECIDED: That it be noted that the next meeting of this Committee would be held at 10.00 am on 18 June 2021.