THE REVIEW of THE SYSTEM of INTERNAL AUDIT

3 pages

English

THE REVIEW of THE SYSTEM of INTERNAL AUDIT

Nuhok - Claude Richard

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THE REVIEW OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE SYSTEM OF INTERNAL AUDIT st1. Legislative changes from 1 April 2006 Regulation 4 of the Accounts and Audit Regulations (2003) (‘the Regulations’) was amended in 2006 (SI564/2006) with new reporting requirements, applicable to local authorities in England, on the effectiveness of the system of internal audit. The Regulations came into force on 1 April 2006 and applied for the 2006/07 reporting year. From 2007/08, the new reporting requirements have been included in the Annual Governance Statement (‘AGS’). 2. Existing related guidance on the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2003 The Department for Communities and Local Government (‘CLG’) issued guidance on the amended Regulations in August 2006. This Guidance covers the significant changes made to the 2003 Regulations. Apart from simplifying and streamlining the 2003 regulations, the changes were intended to strengthen governance and accountability through a new requirement to carry out and consider the findings of a review of the effectiveness of the system of internal audit in Regulations 6 (3) and 6 (4) of the amended 2003 Regulations. The Guidance on the new requirements relating to the review of the effectiveness of the system internal audit (Regulation 6) states: “Regulation 6 of the 2003 Regulations was amended in 2006 to require relevant bodies to conduct an annual review of the effectiveness of its system of internal audit and for a committee ...

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Publié par	Nuhok
Nombre de lectures	19
Langue	English

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THE REVIEW OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE SYSTEM OF

INTERNAL

AUDIT

1. Legislative changes from 1

April 2006

Regulation 4 of the Accounts and Audit Regulations (2003) (‘the Regulations’) was

amended in 2006 (SI564/2006) with new reporting requirements, applicable to

local authorities in England, on the effectiveness of the system of internal audit.

The Regulations came into force on 1 April 2006 and applied for the 2006/07

reporting year. From 2007/08, the new reporting requirements have been

included in the Annual Governance Statement (‘AGS’).

2. Existing related guidance on the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2003

The Department for Communities and Local Government (‘CLG’) issued guidance

on the amended Regulations in August 2006. This Guidance covers the significant

changes made to the 2003 Regulations. Apart from simplifying and streamlining

the 2003 regulations, the changes were intended to strengthen governance and

accountability through a new requirement to carry out and consider the findings

of a review of the effectiveness of the system of internal audit in Regulations 6

(3) and 6 (4) of the amended 2003 Regulations.

The Guidance on the new requirements relating to the review of the effectiveness

of the system internal audit (Regulation 6) states:

“

Regulation 6 of the 2003 Regulations was amended in 2006 to require relevant

bodies to conduct an annual review of the effectiveness of its system of internal

audit and for a committee of the body to consider the findings. This process is

also part of the wider annual review of the system of internal control. As with

Regulation 4 above, this does not require the establishment of an audit

committee, although such a committee would provide an appropriate means

through which to carry out the review of internal audit as it has a role in

monitoring internal audit but is independent from it

.”

The Guidance cites the CIPFA Code of Practice for Internal Audit in Local

Government in the United Kingdom (‘the Code’) as proper practice in relation to

internal audit in local authorities. For smaller relevant bodies, the reader is

directed to other publications.

The Guidance does not provide a definition of the system of internal audit nor

does it address how relevant bodies should undertake an annual review of its

effectiveness. The CIPFA Audit Panel has therefore produced this document to

assist local authorities in interpreting the Regulations. It would like to

acknowledge the comprehensive assistance of the Finance Advisory Network’s

Rough Guide working group.

3. The definition of the system of internal audit

The ‘system of internal audit’ is a new term introduced by CLG in 2006, and not a

term as yet with any commonly understood meaning. After lengthy consultation

amongst practitioners, the CIPFA Audit Panel has interpreted this term as follows:

The framework of assurance available to satisfy a local authority that the risks to

its objectives, and the risks inherent in undertaking its work, have been properly

identified and are being managed by controls that are adequately designed and

effective in operation.

The framework of assurance will comprise a variety of sources and not only the

authority’s internal audit service. However, the Head of Internal Audit holds a

unique role within a local authority as the only independent source of assurance

on all internal controls. The Head of Internal Audit is therefore central to this

framework of assurance and should acquire an understanding not only of the

authority’s risks and its overall whole control environment but also all sources of

assurance. In this way, the Head of Internal Audit will be able to indicate whether

key controls are adequately designed and effectively operated, regardless of the

sources of that assurance. This role will include responsibility both for assessing

the assurance available to the authority from other sources, whether internal or

external, and for implementing a plan of internal audit work to obtain the

required assurance.

For any body to which the regulations apply, a key input to the system should be

the mapping of the framework of controls assurance deriving from the

organisation’s risk management system. There can be no prescriptive definition of

what is included in the system of internal audit in every local authority; the key

principle is that the system will include more elements than just the internal audit

function acting alone.

For example, in most local authorities there is likely to be a set of risks relating to

health and safety. The authority may have an in-house team of health and safety

advisors with responsibility for checking compliance with both legal and internal

requirements and

will also periodically be subject to inspection by the Health and

Safety Executive.

In these circumstances, the Head of Internal Audit needs to

understand and assess the assurance provided by these teams that any health

and safety risks are being adequately and effectively controlled. This would

include a review of this assurance but, unless it is found to be inadequate, no

further audit work is to be expected.

Examples of other sources of assurance may include external agencies, such as

the Commission for Social Care Inspection, as well as in-house compliance teams

independent of the internal audit service, for example a contracts audit team

which may not be integral to the internal audit team; or staff responsible for

assessing the integrity of the authority’s performance information.

The Head of Internal Audit is accountable to the audit committee or equivalent

body, which is responsible for assessing the quality of the assurance available to

the authority and concerns itself with the adequacy and effectiveness of the

authority’s internal control environment as assessed.

The internal audit plan will be risk-based and reflect the audit committee or

equivalent’s requirement for assurance (as well as current audit knowledge and

the requirement to follow up earlier work). The internal audit plan will include

work undertaken directly by the internal audit service, but will also recognise

assurance work undertaken by other parts of the organisation or by external

organisations, the adequacy of which will be assessed by the internal audit team

on a risk basis.

The output of the system of internal audit will be the annual report by the Head of

Internal Audit to the authority which will, as required by the Code, include an

opinion on the overall adequacy and effectiveness of the organisation’s control

environment. This will now clearly include reference to the assurance made

available to the authority by other providers as well as directly by the internal

audit service.

4. Review of the effectiveness of the system of internal audit

The audit committee, or whosoever is charged with carrying out the review of the

effectiveness of the system, should examine its key elements, which may include,

but

are not limited to:



The process by which the control environment and key controls have been

identified - the organisation’s risk management system;



The process by which assurance has been gained over controls – its

coverage of the key controls and key assurance providers;



The adequacy and effectiveness of the remedial action taken where there

are deficits in controls, which will be led by the audit committee or its

equivalent and implemented by management; and



The operation of the audit committee and the internal audit function to

current codes and standards.

The mechanism by which this review is undertaken will vary with the needs of

each organisation and may encompass procedures ranging from considering

reports from, or carrying out interviews with the Head of Internal Audit and their

team, to detailed evidence gathering of the documentation supporting each stage

of the assessments.

Any areas for improvement should be identified, together with an action plan,

within the report produced by the review.

5. Who should undertake the review

The Regulations require the following: ‘the findings of the review… shall be

considered by a committee of the relevant body, or by the members of the

relevant body meeting as a whole’. The CLG Guidance suggests that an audit

committee is the appropriate group to receive and consider the results of the

review as this committee already has an oversight of internal audit.

There are a number of options available to authorities, for carrying out the review

which include:



The Head of Internal Audit



A sub-group of the audit committee



A review group of officers



Peer review



External assessment, or



A group of members and officers.

Whoever carries out the review, it is vital that all participants are appropriately

skilled and have relevant technical support available to them.

6. The timing of the review

Just as the preparation for the AGS needs to start early in the year to which the

signed statement relates, the review of the effectiveness of the system of internal

audit should not be left to the year end. The review feeds into the AGS and

should, therefore, be completed first. This guidance is therefore applicable from

the 2008/09 financial year.

Version 5.1 FINAL

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