I would like to be sent
– The number of schools that haven’t been audited since January 1, 2019
There are two schools, Langtree Community School in North Devon and Pathfield Special School in Barnstaple
– Of these schools, the name of the school(s) with the longest wait since its last internal audit. I would like you to also state the year in which the school(s) was last audited
Langtree Community School was last audited in April 2018 and Pathfield Special School in November 2018.
– Does the council publish the findings from its audit reports in the public domain? If so, it would be appreciated if you could state whether the council names schools, how they are published and provide me with any relevant links
The Council does not publish the findings from its individual school audit reports in the public domain. A summary of audit work carried out may be included in the Internal Audit Annual Report that is presented to Audit Committee each year but does not identify the schools that have been audited.
– The number of council investigations launched on the back of local authority-maintained school internal audit reports, along with information on what the investigation centred on, the year(s) the probe took place and a copy of the investigation report
None
– Council guidance outlining how often, when and why internal audits are carried out
The Council’s audit regime for Schools is set out in their Schools Finance Manual. Section 19 of the Manual entitled “Audit” states:
“As required by law the County Treasurer will ensure an effective internal audit of the Council’s financial dealings and may not withstanding any other election by governors institute any enquiries which they deem necessary to discharge his statutory functions Both the governing body and the County Treasurer will wish to be reassured that the internal systems of the school are operated to the highest standards of probity and public accountability. Funding has been delegated to schools for this purpose.
Governing Bodies are responsible for ensuring that internal auditors are appointed each year and that the financial and management systems of their school are subject to full audit review at least once in every three years. No contract shall be longer than three years. Appointments may be achieved either by continuing to use the Authority’s internal audit service or by appointing internal auditors of their own choice who satisfy the minimum requirements. The Governing Body must ensure that the internal auditors appointed are independent and do not have any personal or business connection with any member of the governing body or school staff and have not for example advised on areas of financial practice which are to be reviewed. If the Governing body fail to discharge this responsibility then the Authority may intervene.
The internal audit of schools takes place within an audit regime determined by the Authority, This is part of an over-arching audit framework. Schools are audited on the basis of risk assessment on a three year rolling programme of systems based, regularity and control risk self-assessment audits. A checklist identifies the controls that audit expect to be in place and the tests undertaken to ensure that these controls are consistently applied.
The Headteacher should consider and respond promptly to recommendations in audit reports and report to the Governing Body the results of audits and any action to be taken by the school.
Whilst there is no specific Council guidance outlining Internal Audit for schools, schools are informed each year of the service(s) provided by Internal Audit, “