Agenda item

The Committee heard from the Head of Internal Audit, who introduced the paper; he outlined the key messages and features in the report and confirmed that they were on track to deliver the planned programme of work.

In terms of the individual reports, he gave further detail on the Audit Outcome Overview regarding the Staff Appraisal Process. The Auditor expanded upon the ‘reasonable assurance’ audit opinion, explaining that all five management actions had been accepted and informed the Management Team’s action plan, which the Audit team was comfortable with. With regard to one of the ‘medium’ actions identified, the Auditor emphasised the critical importance of the appraisal procedure; it was highlighted that 20 employees had been sampled to assess whether they had experienced a satisfactory appraisal, and out of the sample group, no evidence had been found to suggest that five of those employees had received an appraisal. In addition, he explained that three out of the 20 employees’ appraisals had not been signed off by the appraiser or appraisee. In relation to the second ‘medium’ action, it was explained that there was an opportunity for the appraisal process to be recorded in a more formal manner, including producing holistic reports to Committee.

He briefly commented on the ‘low’ actions before taking questions from Members of the Committee.

In response to a question, the Auditor explained that the Human Resources (HR) team would be focused on monitoring and escalating all appraisal-related non-compliance to line managers. The S151 Officer added that HR performance information was discussed during Management Team meetings, but that the additional reporting would ensure the appraisals were monitored through to the end of the process. Concern was expressed by the Chair that the appraisal process was not as rigorous as it should be; therefore at the request of Members, to ensure further oversight, it was confirmed that the appraisal key performance indicators would be reported to Management Team meetings on a 6-monthly basis, and to the relevant Committee on an annual basis.

The Committee enquired about non-compliance procedures, to which the S151 Officer explained that the current procedure did involve following-up on missing appraisals, however, the opportunities for improvement were more related to monitoring the end-to-end process, notably appraisal documentation being signed off and filed with HR. In response to additional questions regarding appraisal completion, the Monitoring Officer explained that an experienced People Services Manager was currently in place who was examining the appraisal policies with a view to making improvements in accordance with the audit recommendations; she continued, emphasising that there was a raft of support in place for staff in addition to the appraisal process, but that the audit recommendations were welcomed.

An observation was made by Members regarding potential complacency in the relationship between the Council staff and the Internal Auditors; the Internal Auditor assured Members that there was no complacency, and that they were still becoming familiar with the Council and its people. He continued, disagreeing with the view that the Auditors were too close with Council Officers. In response to a comment regarding the report’s detail, the Auditor explained that the report was a condensed progress report designed to give a snapshot of the key messages, rather than a comprehensive report.

Note:   Councillor P. Key left the Chamber at 2.48pm and returned at 2.50pm

An outline of the key messages detailed in the Risk Management section of the report was given to the Committee; the Auditor highlighted the ‘reasonable’ assurance audit opinion, but commented that there were nine actions arising. He proceeded to give an overview of the three ‘medium’ and four ‘low’ actions, emphasising that the Management Team had planned to address many areas for improvement during a review of the risk management process. In response, the S151 Officer added that the Q2 Strategic Risk Report item encompassed some of the recommendations such as actions related to risk scoring and risk references; Members of the Committee commented that these changes would be positive in aiding the Committee to focus on key information and areas for improvement.

Having been proposed and seconded, the Chairman took the vote and it was

RESOLVED that the content of the report be considered, and any actions required be identified.