Council / Councillors’ concern over backlog of audit recommendations
CONCERN has been raised again over the number of internal audit recommendations on the council’s to-do list – with around 80 still outstanding.
It comes after an annual report was presented to members of the council’s audit committee today (Tuesday).
It highlights there are a number of ongoing pieces of work in a range of areas including health and safety arrangements and the use of consultants.
Meanwhile the council’s internal auditor only issued a “limited assurance” on the SIC’s governance for 2022/23.
Shetland Central councillor Moraig Lyall said at Tuesday’s meeting it was disappointing and concerning to have a limited assurance.
She urged officers involved to deal with outstanding audit issues in a timely manner.
This is mainly due to the number of audit recommendations from prior year audits which have not yet been implemented, and the unsatisfactory or limited audit opinion of six audit reports from 2022/23.
Audit Glasgow is commissioned by Shetland Islands Council to perform checks on a number of internal areas within the local authority and flag up any governance practices it thinks should change.
Last year some recommendations were suggested by auditors around issues such as cash handling and procurement.
But the report to councillors today showed that there are still many historical recommendations from auditors, including some from a few years back, not yet fully resolved.
As of 31 May 2023 80 recommendations remained outstanding, which is slightly less than the number featured in the last update to councillors.
More than half of these sat with the SIC’s corporate services department.
Audit Glasgow’s chief internal auditor Duncan Black said it is “not the case that nothing is being done” – with many recommendations partially complete.
He said management should remain committed to dealing with these “as quickly as possible”.
Audit committee vice-chair Catherine Hughson noted that as recommendations are resolved then new ones come on board.
Chairing the meeting, the Shetland Central councillor called on recommendations from previous years to met by the end of this financial year.
“We do need to improve and move these recommendations on,” he said.
Lerwick South councillor Cecil Smith, however, moved to remind members about the staffing constraints on the SIC.
“We are trying to run a council with ever reducing number of staff. The resources are getting together every day,” he said.
Smith also questioned how the committee could help council officers.
“It’s inevitable it’s going to increase because of the lack of resources and staffing,” the councillor said.
“I think the staff are doing a good job as it is at the moment, but we need to be there to help them to try and resolve the problem.”
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