Agenda item

To consider a progress report on the recommendations made in the internal audit report of Client Finances issued on 6 February 2020.

Ms Louise Jones, Head of Revenues, Benefits and Customer Services presented a progress report on the recommendations made in the internal audit report of Client Finances which had been issued in February 2020.

Ms Jones provided the Committee with an overview of the work undertaken by the Client Finances team and highlighted that demand had increased substantially since the service had transferred to the Resources Directorate in 2016. Ms Jones reported that the original internal audit of Client Finances undertaken in 2016 had found the systems within the team to be inadequate and had resulted in 14 recommendations for improvement. The audit from February 2020 had reported adequate assurance of the system controls and made six recommendations for improvement, none of which were priority one.

The Committee received updates in relation to the recommendations which had not been completed.

With regards to R2 ‘A record of the checks undertaken as part of the monthly audit visits by the Client Finances Specialist should be documented on the client’s file,’ Ms Jones advised that the monthly audit visits to Blackpool Football Stadium had been put on hold due to the pandemic and as a result the recommendation had not yet been implemented in full. The intention was for the visits to be reinstated once restrictions permitted.

Ms Jones advised that in relation to R4 ‘As part of the reconciliation process consideration should be given to selecting a sample of clients each month and checks made to ensure that the balance of the client’s account on CASPAR agrees to the balance as per their bank statement,’ the target date had not been met due to the pandemic and the resulting increase in online transactions and purchases the team had been called upon to deal with for clients. She informed the Committee that although the recommendation had called for a sample of clients to be checked, all clients’ accounts would be reconciled on a monthly basis moving forward.

The Committee sought further details of the computerised reconciliation process and questioned whether a software upgrade would allow for the process to be undertaken automatically. Ms Jones clarified that all predictable and recurring client payments were automated but that any unanticipated transactions, such as refunds or one-off payments, could not be and instead needed to be reconciled manually by the team. She assured the Committee that all client bank statements remained correct and that the transaction adjustments were carried out via the internal IT system to ensure reconciliation.

With regards to the fraudulent activity discovered within the service in 2018, Ms Jones provided assurance that a thorough review of processes had occurred and was satisfied that the recent audit had confirmed adequate processes to now be in place. In response to a question regarding how the team was coping with the increased workload pressures, Ms Jones advised that additional resources could be called upon should the workload require more staff.

The Committee expressed thanks to Ms Jones and the Client Finance team for their continued efforts in supporting residents throughout the pandemic.