CIPFA Audit Benchmarking Club

2017
Welcome to the CIPFA Audit Benchmarking Club 2017

Please complete this form and return it by Friday 9th June 2017.
If you have any questions please contact Nedelina Ivanova on 020 7543 5826 or at
nedelina.ivanova@cipfa.org or another member of the benchmarking team on 020 7543 5600 or at
benchmarking@cipfa.org

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CONTACT DETAILS
Please email benchmarking@cipfa.org if incorrect:

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Name of Authority: 0
Named Contact: 0
Title/Department: 0

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Telephone Number: 0
Email Address:

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NOTES
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This workbook contains nine sheets:

- ContactDetails This sheet
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- Guidance Definition of terms given within the questionnaire

- Service Delivery & Costs First section of the questionnaire
- Audit Days Second section of the questionnaire
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- Financial Part & Staffing Third section of the questionnaire

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- IT & Corporate Governance Fourth section of the questionnaire

- Outputs & Assurance Levels Fifth section of the questionnaire
- Text Questions Sixth section of the questionnaire
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- Submission The validation and submission sheet

Please click on the tabs at the bottom of the window to negotiate between the sheets.
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TIMETABLE
• Questionnaire Deadline: Friday 9th June 2017

• Draft Reports Issued: Friday 14th July 2017

• Comparator Request Emailed: Friday 28th July 2017

• Comparator Request Deadline: Friday 4th August 2017

• Final Reports Issued: Friday 11th August 2017

• Additional Feedback Issued: Friday 8th Sptember 2017

• Review Meeting (London): To be confirmed

Audit Page 1 Copyright CIPFA 2016

 Audit Benchmarking Club
Guidance
IMPORTANT GENERAL GUIDANCE
Throughout this questionnaire, please do not leave blank any box that requires numeric data:
- if figures are unavailable, please replace ".." with "na"
- do not enter other symbols such as "-", as these are ambiguous
- if your answer is "0", please overwrite ".." with "0"
- only enter zero if this is the true figure or if the figure is too small to be material

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If you do not have figures for the exact categories on the questionnaire, you should make an attempt to estimate the
split, as we cannot use figures that are bracketed together and cut across two or more boxes. Never answer a question
by putting the answer to a similar, but different question.

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Our aim is to produce benchmarks that are reasonably accurate, but they cannot possibly be precise to the nearest
penny. Therefore, members should bear in mind that we are looking for their best estimates throughout the
questionnaire, and they should not spend unreasonable amounts of time and effort on obtaining absolutely precise

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figures.

General points on entering data into the questionnaire

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- In the questionnaire you are only able to enter data into the entry cells
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- Pressing tab will move you between the entry cells
- Some cells contain formulae, these can be overwritten if, for example, you don't have the breakdown for
a total
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- Please be careful that you are entering the figures in the right units
£ - Indicates the figure should be in pounds, e.g. 56 for £56
£'k - Indicates the figure should be in thousands, e.g. 56 for £56,000
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£'m - Indicates the figure should be in millions, e.g. 56 for £56,000,000

- Text questions: You may enter more text than can be displayed on screen
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Unavailable Data
We hope most of the data asked for is readily available. If some of the information we request is not easily accessible
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then please do not go to undue lengths to obtain it. We appreciate your time is valuable. Please enter "na" in cells that
you do not have the data available for.
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Audit Page 2 Copyright CIPFA 2016

 EXPLANATION OF SECTIONS 2 & 3
Types of Work
Work for other bodies/accounts
All work done by section Excluded work (e.g. non-audit work)
Work for LA
Mainline audit work (chargeable days
& non-chargeable days)

(i) WORK DONE BY SECTION - These are the costs/figures you enter into Table 2. This can include work done for other
bodies/accounts and non-audit work (such as "risk management" and "counter-fraud" work which we treat later as
excluded work).

(ii) WORK FOR OTHER BODIES/ACCOUNTS - e.g. Pension Fund or Police. The costs of these are included in the Total
Costs subtotal in Table 2. We then ask for the costs involved in doing this work/recharges made ("External Income")
and take it off to give the Net Cost. The 'days' of work spent on this are then removed in table 3(a).

(iii) WORK FOR LA - The work for the local authority provided by the section. As well as Audit work this can also
include risk management work, financial appraisals, controlled stationery and other non-audit work.

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(iv) EXCLUDED WORK - Please see guidance for Q3 for a detailed classification of excluded work. We collect the
number of days in table 3(a) and in our analysis of mainline audit exclude the cost on a pro-rata basis.

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(v) MAINLINE AUDIT WORK - These are the figures that we use in our benchmarks such as Cost/Million Turnover and
Days/Million Turnover.

(vi) CHARGEABLE/NON-CHARGEABLE DAYS - Please see guidance for Q3 for a detailed classification of chargeable and

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non-chargeable days.

How this work is provided (days)

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We examine this work by looking at "Audit days", which are provided by three sources:
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STAFF (ON PAYROLL) - Actual employees of the audit section. In table 3 we arrive at the number of chargeable days
produced by these staff as follows:
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(i) We take FTE number of staff (this is net of vacancies) and multiply it by the number of weekdays in the year.
(ii) We then remove the total number of days 'lost' to annual leave, special leave, sickness and training to give the
number of available days.
(iii) We then remove the non-chargeable days to leave the number of chargeable days provided.
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AGENCY STAFF - We ask for the cost in table 2 and number of days provided in table 3(a).
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BOUGHT-IN AUDIT/OUTSOURCED AUDIT - We ask for the cost in table 2 and number of days provided in table 3(a).
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AGENCY STAFF VS. BOUGHT-IN AUDIT/OUTSOURCED AUDIT : Bought-in Audit/outsourced Audit applies where you are
buying in a complete piece of work, where the service has been contracted out or is provided by a Shared Service
Arrangement (SSA). In the case of agency staff you are paying for an extra employee and therefore also have to pay
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associated overheads such as travel and accommodation. We group days from staff and agency staff together as 'In-
House'.

General Points
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Please use your discretion on treatment of one-off non-recurring costs so as to represent fair "going concern" cost.

Show full costs of delivering audit days as detailed in Tables 3 & 4, including overhead costs of devolved auditors.

Table 2 is meant to be filled in to show your audit section 'as is' - and we exclude the days and cost of non-mainline
audit work from days shown in table 3(a). However sometimes it may be easier to exclude some of these figures from
the start. For example:

If you have a distinct investigations unit or the like, most or all of whose time would be classed as Excluded Work in
Table 3(a), then you might prefer to simply exclude from Table 2 onwards. However, you must add back the pro rata
cost and time if any of their work is mainline audit and also remember to include any audit work on such processes.

Similarly you may choose to exclude the costs of "Risk Management" work from table 2 onwards, however remember
to include work done on the audit of the Risk Management process.

Audit Page 3 Copyright CIPFA 2016

1. SERVICE DELIVERY

Please allocate the delivery of your Internal Audit function between the three possible service delivery methods:
(a) In-House
(b) Outsourced to a Shared Services Arrangement (SSA)
- with other LA's and/or with other public sector organisations
(c) Outsourced to an External Contractor
- including legal entities partly/wholly owned by your organisation
Please note that the sum of the 3 percentages must equal 100%.

2. COSTS
(a) Cost Of Running Service

STAFF: Direct council staff costs only (pay (including salary sacrificed), NI, normal pension contributions (excluding
back-funding), value of taxable benefits). Show indirect costs such as training and recruiting as 'other running costs'.
Include (here and in FTE staff count) pro-rata share of cost of section head or other managers.
Show actual/estimated staff costs net of vacancies. If staff are seconded out of their normal work for a considerable

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period e.g. to join a Best Value team, the best treatment is to exclude their time and cost. See note on IT. Include full
cost and FTE of your trainees (even if you do not pay this cost or only pay it as part of a central charge).

AGENCY STAFF: The cost of agency staff, to be treated in the same way as staff above.

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BOUGHT-IN AUDIT: Please include here the cost of buying in a complete piece of work.

MATERNITY LEAVE: Where a member of staff takes maternity leave please exclude the period of leave from both the
staff cost and FTE count.

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TRANSPORT AND TRAVEL: costs of travel, subsistence and leased cars or their cash equivalent.

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OTHER RUNNING COSTS: Everything else; net of any miscellaneous income.

ACCOMMODATION: Charge for accommodation, include storage space. Exclude cost of ancillary services such as
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telephones, mail-room etc. and show as 'other running costs'.

IT: Local IT costs + IT costs charged by providers to Audit. If your section includes staff whose main work would
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usually be undertaken within IT (e.g. Systems Development), treat this as IT cost and exclude the staff from FTE count.

OTHER CENTRAL CHARGES: Other costs charged by central departments, including charges from other parts of
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Finance (e.g. Payroll, share of common services, senior management), in line with CIPFA "Total Cost" principles.

CONTRACTED OUT AUDIT: If the audit service is outsourced in whole or in part to a SSA or contractor, please include
here the contractors and SSA recharges for their services. Also include here the share of central charges, IT,
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accommodation etc provided by the authority to the contractor/SSA in order for them to deliver the service. NB the
contract management costs of the authority should not be included here, but be shown under the relevant cost
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headings e.g. staff etc.

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INCOME: WORK FOR OTHER BODIES: Include share of cost not chargeable to LA's revenue budget, i.e. charges to
other bodies, e.g. Fire, Police, shared services recharges, work bought-in by ALMO's, Joint Boards (Scotland).

NB. Cost of audit work chargeable to the LA's pension fund (administration and investments) should be shown here.
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Exclude income from SFVS.

(b) Staffing Levels

FTE STAFF: The 'Full Time Equivalent' number of staff whose cost is shown under the Staff Cost heading.

FTE Agency staff: The 'Full Time Equivalent' number of agency staff whose cost is shown under the Agency Staff Cost
heading. To calculate Agency FTE = No. of days worked by agency staff/total working days pa* (* = Total working
days for year less bank holidays less 25 days "annual leave" using data for 2016/17 and 2017/18 as per question
3(a)).

Audit Page 4 Copyright CIPFA 2016

3. MAINLINE AUDIT DAYS
(a) Use of Auditor's Time

WEEKDAYS IN THE YEAR Total number of weekdays in the financial year.

TOTAL DAYS PA (STAFF ON PAYROLL) = FTE staff as Table 1 x weekdays in year.

BANK HOLIDAYS BANK HOLIDAYS: 10 in 2016/17, 6 in 2017/18. New Year

(1), Easter (2), May Day (1), Spring Bank Holiday (1),
Summer Bank Holiday (1), Christmas (2). There are 8 in each
calendar year, but the two for Easter can fall either side of
the financial year end.

SPECIAL LEAVE e.g. paternity leave, election duty.

AVAILABLE DAYS (STAFF ON PAYROLL) = Total days - Bank holidays - Annual leave - Special leave -
Sickness - Training.

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NON-CHARGEABLE DAYS (STAFF ON PAYROLL) See classification of chargeable/non-chargeable days.

CHARGEABLE DAYS (STAFF ON PAYROLL) = Available days - Non chargeable.

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DAYS FROM AGENCY STAFF Actual days worked by Agency staff

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NON-CHARGEABLE DAYS (AGENCY STAFF) See classification of chargeable/non-chargeable days.

CHARGEABLE DAYS (IN-HOUSE)

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= Chargeable days (staff on payroll) + Days from agency
staff - Non chargeable days (agency staff).
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BOUGHT-IN DAYS (Effective) Number of days of Bought-in audit work.
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NON-CHARGEABLE DAYS (BOUGHT-IN) See classification of chargeable/non-chargeable days.

CONTRACTED OUT DAYS Number of chargeable audit days delivered for LA by an

external contractor or a SSA.
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TOTAL CHARGEABLE AUDIT DAYS = Chargeable days (in-house) + Bought in days - Non-
chargeable days (bought-in) + Contracted out days.
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AUDIT DAYS FOR OTHER BODIES/ACCOUNTS Corresponding to client analysis as in Table 4(d).
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NB. include all audit days provided irrespective of whether or

not recharged to client.
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TOTAL CHARGEABLE AUDIT DAYS FOR LA = Total Chargeable Audit days - Audit Days for Other
Bodies/Accounts.
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EXCLUDED WORK See classification of excluded days.

TOTAL MAINLINE AUDIT DAYS FOR LA = Total Chargeable audit days for LA - Excluded work.

Classification of Chargeable/Non-Chargeable/Excluded Work

There has been a lot of discussion about what work is regarded as chargeable, non-chargeable and excluded. We take
the approach that first you should consider is it audit work or is it excluded and if there is an identifiable client.

For consistency we ask you to classify days as follows:

Audit Page 5 Copyright CIPFA 2016

 CHARGEABLE NON-CHARGEABLE
• TECHNICAL
Audit plan • TECHNICAL
Grant claims audits Audit partnership project

• ADMIN. • ADMIN.
Admin. - with identifiable client Accommodation changes/relocation
Admin. - no identifiable client
• MEETINGS Audit manual update
Audit committee attendance
Audit committee reporting • MEETINGS
External audit liaison External group/forums
Audit team meetings
• MANAGEMENT
Audit management - specific audit • IT RELATED
Audit planning Audit software implementation

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Review of audit risk rankings Audit software development
Review of effectiveness of the Audit software maintenance
system of internal audit Time management software
Audit annual governance

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statement • MANAGEMENT
External quality assessment
• MISC. preparation time
Advice and information Preparing annual governance

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Fraud and corruption plan statement
Counter-fraud - audit of General performance management of
Risk management - audit of
NFI work
Schools Financial Value Standard
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Development of internal audit
product
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(SFVS) Marketing
Travel from base to audit jobs Budget setting/monitoring related
Specific audit background reading
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and research • STAFFING

Health and safety
Job evaluation
Personnel related issues
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EXCLUDED Pay and grading issues

Recruitment
• TECHNICAL Staff appraisal
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Mayor's charity account Strike action

Financial appraisals
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Work on objections to the accounts • MISC.

Benchmarking
Charter Mark/IIP/ISO
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• MEETINGS
Non-audit corporate duties Non-specific background reading and
research
• STAFFING Fire drill
Maternity Risk assessment - within internal
audit section
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Non-audit secondment
Trade union duties

• MISC.
Non-audit performance
management
Insurance - non-audit duties
Counter-fraud - non-audit duties
Risk management - non-audit OWN JUDGEMENT
duties
School governor duties • MISC.
Unpaid audit of voluntary bodies Risk assessment - other
Controlled stationery
Investigation individual housing • MEETINGS
benefit claimants Departmental/corporate meetings

Audit Page 6 Copyright CIPFA 2016

4. ANALYSIS OF AUDIT DAYS

(a) Summary Analysis of Total Mainline Audit Days for LA

FUNDAMENTAL FINANCIAL SYSTEMS: Systems treated as 'Fundamental' Systems by external audit. All work on these
systems whether at centre or elsewhere.

STRATEGIC RISKS: Audits undertaken on areas included in the strategic risk register or major audits that are
specifically linked to the organisation’s strategic objectives (unless covered by one of the specific rows in the table).

OPERATIONAL RISKS: Audits undertaken on areas included in operational risk registers or linked to the delivery of
individual service or departmental objectives.

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE: Audit of the council's corporate governance processes, e.g. constitutional issues or codes of
conduct or ethical governance. Include 'Performance Management' audit, audit on Risk Management processes, audit of
counter fraud arrangements and audit of the Annual Governance Statement or Local Code of Governance.

CORE IT: Work where the client is the head of IT or specialist IT audit work for other internal clients.

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COMMISSIONING WHICH INCLUDES CONTRACTS AND PROCUREMENT: Audit work on each stage of the commissioning,
procurement and contract management lifecycle.

TRANSFORMATION AND MAJOR PROJECTS: Audit of major projects such as a transformation programme.

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CONSULTANCY AND AUDIT RELATED ADVISORY SERVICES: Work that is defined as ‘consultancy’ under PSIAS as
opposed to ‘assurance’. Includes ad hoc advice as well as longer engagements.

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5. FINANCIAL SIZE OF THE AUTHORITY - GROSS TURNOVER
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Gross Turnover is used as the denominator for comparing the cost and provision of audit. We estimate gross turnover,
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where possible, from external sources. The reason we do this is to simplify filling in the questionnaire for members and
because a significant minority of members have had problems returning this data in previous years.
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We have used the most recent external sources available to us and these will be updated where possible before final
reports are issued. Where external figures are not available (where possible) we have used last year's benchmarking
figures.
The white cells have been pre-populated with the latest figures from the forms listed below, these cells containing
Q

cannot be over-written but where data is missing or you do not think it is accurate, boxes (the right two columns) have
been provided for you to complete.
For English & Welsh Authorities:
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Expenditure figures from 2016/17 RA forms

Service Income from 2015/16 RO forms
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HRA Income from 2016/17 RA forms (England);

Please note that as Wales no longer collects HRA data, this figure should be provided by the Authority.
For Scottish Authorities:
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All figures are taken from last year's benchmarking returns if the authority was a member of the club - Otherwise
please complete the tables

(a) English & Welsh Authorities

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EXPENDITURE: RA 2016/17: England - line 849 LESS lines 841 and 842; Wales - line 142. This is equal to budget
requirement + special grants + interest income +/- adjustments and appropriation to/from reserves.
SERVICE INCOME: RO 2015/16 - England - column 6 in all cases: Sum of: RSX line 699, TSR line 698 LESS RO6 Lines
491, 492, 494 (internal recharges); Wales - RS line 60 column 2
HRA INCOME: RA 2016/17 - England - HRA gross rents for dwellings and other properties; Wales - RO 2015/16 RO8
income from sales, fees & charges and other income

(b) Scottish Authorities

NET COST OF SERVICES: as defined in the Code (Code of Practice on Local Authority Accounting)
TOTAL GROSS INCOME: for general fund services
HRA INCOME: as per statement of accounts
GROSS TURNOVER: as defined in terms of the authority's Consolidated Revenue Account

Audit Page 7 Copyright CIPFA 2016

6. STAFFING
(a) Pay-band
Salary as at 31/03/2017 + PRP + cost to employer of leased car and other benefits. Exclude overtime, NI and
superannuation. LAs should include regional weightings where appropriate (e.g. London weighting).
Assign part-timers to corresponding full time salary band but count them as a fraction of an FTE. Assign
temporary/agency staff to the salary of the post they are filling rather than what they actually cost.

(b) Qualification Level

Qualified: full CCAB member or equivalent
Part-Qualified: part qualified CCAB, AAT or equivalent
Trainee: Actively training for qualifications incl post-qualifications eg diplomas etc.
OTHER SPECIALISTS: e.g. QICA, IT specialists, quantity surveyors i.e. where they have a qualification that is directly
applicable to their work.

7. AUDIT CONTEXT
(c) External Auditors
As defined on Audit Commission website:

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http://www.psaa.co.uk/audit-and-certification-fees/

10. OUTPUTS & 11. ASSURANCE LEVELS

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Introductory notes:
As part of this year’s benchmarking club we are extending the comparative data to include audit outputs as well as
audit inputs.

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• As well as measuring the audit days on different categories of audits we are also collecting data on the number of
audit reports produced. This will allow analysis between audit days and audit reports. It will also allow further analysis
of total audit activity and output.
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• We are also collecting data on assurances provided, starting with the annual opinion issued in accordance with PSIAS.
The intention here is to inform the internal auditor’s understanding of the risks and challenges affecting their client
organisation and how internal control is being impacted. It is not intended to be used as a benchmark of how good an
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authority is. The information should help internal auditors to provide context when reporting or planning future work.

We will be keen to receive feedback from users on these two additions and how the club can best support you.
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10. OUTPUTS
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Please identify the number of audit reports issued as a result of audit work undertaken during 2016/17.
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For advisory and consultancy work please include any formal reports for substantial pieces of work, e.g. 3 days’
work or more. Exclude more minor pieces of advice or recommendations.
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11. ASSURANCE LEVELS

For audit work completed during 2017/18 please include your overall annual opinion on governance, risk and
control as required by PSIAS.
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Further analysis is then possible to show the annual opinion on each element of the overall opinion, and also to
drill down to individual assurance levels. The list of audit areas is not intended to be comprehensive but should
represent areas commonly included in audit plans.

CIPFA has defined 5 levels of assurance and we would ask you to map your own assurance opinions to these to try
and ensure as much consistency as possible in the data.

12. TEXT QUESTIONS

These questions use standard entry cells. Entry cells can display and print up to 1024 characters but longer responses
will be saved into our database. Where possible please try to stay within this limit. To add a line break press Alt+Enter
when within the cell. If you have entered text in a cell and wish to amend it, please click on the cell and press F2. This
will allow you to add/remove text without starting from scratch.

Audit Page 8 Copyright CIPFA 2016

 Audit Benchmarking Club 2017
IMPORTANT
Authority:
GENERAL GUIDANCE
Guidance Name:
and definitions for this questionnaire can be found on the "Guidance" sheet. Please read this before completing the
Title/Dept:
questionnaire.
Telephone No:
Email Address:
Throughout the questionnaire, you can link to the associated definitions and guidance by clicking on the white 'Go to Guidance' in
the top right corner of each section. To return to the questionnaire please click on the 'Questionnaire' tab at the bottom of the
window of the Submission sheet.

In order to try and reduce the problem we have of identifying zeros from missing data, this year we have entered ‘..’ in most data
entry cells and you will notice that formulae e.g. totals and carry-forwards all show ‘..’ before any data are entered. Only by
overwriting all of the ‘..’ in a table will the total be generated, so please do not leave any cells as they are. If the genuine figure is

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zero then please replace ‘..’ with 0. If the figure is not known/not available, please replace the ‘..’ with na.

Please do not enter any comments or data outside the cells provided or within the return email, as these are processed
automatically and your comment will not be seen. If you wish to make any comments, please enter these in the boxes below.

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Change of contact details should be emailed separately to benchmarking@cipfa.org.

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COMMENTS

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Please include here thoughts regarding difficulties completing the questionnaire or other general points about
your service that you feel would be of interest to other members. Please do not use these cells to update
contact information. Email any such amendments to us at benchmarking@cipfa.org.
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Q

1. SERVICE DELIVERY
Service Structure Go to Guidance -->
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Please read the guidance notes on this section.

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To what extent is your Internal Audit function outsourced during the period being benchmarked and what percentage of the
function was delivered by each method?
% Delivered
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(a) IN-HOUSE delivery -- select -- ..

% Delivered

(b) OUTSOURCED to a Shared Service Arrangement (SSA) -- select -- ..

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(with other LA's and/or with other public sector organisations)

Name(s) of SSA partner(s)?

1
2
3
4
5

Audit Page 9 Copyright CIPFA 2016

 % Delivered
(c) OUTSOURCED to an External Contractor -- select -- ..
(inc. legal entities partly/wholly owned by your organisation)

Name(s) of External Contractor(s)?

1
2
3
% Delivered
Total % Delivered should equal 100% ..

(d) Comments regarding your service delivery

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2. COSTS
(a) Cost of Running Service Go to Guidance -->

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If you were a Member last year and supplied figures, these will be automatically prepopulated in the white cells below. In
any other case, please overwrite with the appropriate historical data. Data for Staff, Bought-in and Contracted out Services
are collected in order to capture any budgetary fluctuations.

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2015/16 2016/17 2017/18
Historical Cost Actual Cost Plan Cost

Staff (on payroll) io £'k

..
£'k
..
£'k
..
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Agency staff .. ..
Bought-in audit .. .. ..
.. ..
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Transport and travel

Other running costs .. ..
Total Direct Costs .. ..
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Accommodation .. ..
IT .. ..
Other central charges .. ..
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Total Indirect Costs .. ..

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Contracted out audit .. .. ..

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Total Cost .. ..

Income: work for other bodies .. ..

Net Cost .. ..
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Please specify any one-off costs you have excluded from your figures so as to represent a fair "going concern cost":

(b) Staffing Levels Go to Guidance -->

2016/17 2017/18
Actual Staff Plan Staff
FTE FTE
FTE Staff (on Payroll) .. ..
FTE Agency Staff .. ..

Audit Page 10 Copyright CIPFA 2016

3. MAINLINE AUDIT DAYS
Use of Auditor's Time Go to Guidance -->
Please read the guidance notes for definitions of what is to be included and where.
Do not enter any figures as a negative value in the cells below. 2016/17 2017/18
Actual Days Plan Days
Weekdays in the year 261 260

Total days pa (staff on payroll) .. ..

LESS
Bank holidays (6 in 2016/17, 9 in 2017/18) .. ..
Annual leave (including extra statutory days) .. ..
Special leave (excluding maternity leave) .. ..
Sickness .. ..
Training .. ..

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Available days (staff on payroll) .. ..

LESS Non-chargeable days (staff on payroll) .. ..

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Chargeable days (staff on payroll) .. ..

+ Days from agency staff .. ..

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LESS Non-chargeable days (agency staff) .. ..

Chargeable days (in-house)

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+ Bought-in days .. ..
LESS Non-chargeable days (bought-in) .. ..
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+ Contracted out days .. ..

Total chargeable audit days .. ..

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LESS Audit days for other bodies .. ..

Total audit days for LA .. ..
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LESS Excluded work .. ..

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Total mainline audit days for LA .. ..

Please specify excluded work:

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4. ANALYSIS OF AUDIT DAYS
(a) Summary Analysis of Total Mainline Audit Days for LA Go to Guidance -->
2016/17 2017/18
Actual Days Plan Days
Fundamental Financial Systems .. ..
Fundamental Non-Financial Systems .. ..
Strategic and Corporate Risks .. ..
Operational and Departmental Risks .. ..
Corporate Governance .. ..
Core IT .. ..
Commissioning which includes contracts and procurement .. ..
Establishments – non-schools (planned and reactive audits) .. ..
LA schools (planned and reactive audits) .. ..

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Transformation and major projects .. ..
Consultancy and audit related advisory services .. ..
Other (please specify below) .. ..
Contingency ..

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Total Mainline Audit Days for LA as sum of above .. ..

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CROSS CHECK: Mainline Audit Days for LA as given in 3 .. ..

Please specify for other:

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(b) Work for Other Bodies
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Please enter the number of days for the specified audits below.

2016/17 2017/18
Actual Recharge 2016/17 Plan Recharge 2017/18
Other Body £'k Actual Days £'k Plan Days
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Police Bodies .. .. .. ..
Fire and Rescue Authorities .. .. .. ..
Pension Funds .. .. .. ..
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Academies/Free Schools .. .. .. ..
Other Local Authorities .. .. .. ..
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Grants for Other Bodies .. .. .. ..

Leisure Trusts .. .. .. ..
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Section 95 Companies .. .. .. ..
Parish Councils .. .. .. ..
ALMOs .. .. .. ..
Other
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Total as sum of above .. .. .. ..

CROSS CHECK: Total as in 2(a) and 3 .. .. .. ..

If other please specify:

(c) Summary Analysis of Bought-in Mainline Audit Days for LA / /
Actual Days Plan Days

Total bought-in chargeable days as given in 3(a) .. ..

LESS Work for other bodies .. ..

Total bought-in days for LA .. ..

LESS Excluded work .. ..

Total mainline bought-in audit days for LA .. ..

Please specify excluded work:

2016/17 2017/18
Actual Days Plan Days
Fundamental Financial Systems .. ..

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Fundamental Non-Financial Systems .. ..
Strategic and Corporate Risks .. ..
Operational and Departmental Risks .. ..

na
Corporate Governance .. ..
Core IT .. ..
Commissioning which includes contracts and procurement .. ..
Establishments – non-schools (planned and reactive audits) .. ..

n
LA schools (planned and reactive audits) .. ..
.. ..
Transformation and major projects
Consultancy and audit related advisory services
Other (please specify below)
io ..
..
..
..
st
Contingency ..
ue

Total Mainline Bought-in Audit Days for LA as sum of above .. ..

CROSS CHECK: Mainline Bought-in Audit Days for LA as given above .. ..

Q

Please specify for other:

e
pl
am
Ex
(d) Summary Analysis of Contracted Out Mainline Audit Days for LA / /
Actual Days Plan Days

Total contracted out chargeable days as given in 3(a) .. ..

LESS Work for other bodies .. ..

Total contracted out days for LA .. ..

LESS Excluded work .. ..

Total mainline contracted out audit days for LA .. ..

Please specify excluded work:

2016/17 2017/18
Actual Days Plan Days
Fundamental Financial Systems .. ..

ire
Non-Fundamental Financial Systems .. ..
Strategic Risks .. ..
Operational Risks .. ..

na
Corporate Governance .. ..
Core IT .. ..
Commissioning which includes contracts and procurement .. ..
Establishments – non-schools (planned and reactive audits) .. ..

n
LA schools (planned and reactive audits) .. ..
.. ..
Transformation and major projects
Consultancy and audit related advisory services
Other (please specify below)
io ..
..
..
..
st
Contingency ..
ue

Total Mainline Contracted Out Audit Days for LA as sum of above .. ..

CROSS CHECK: Mainline Contracted Out Audit Days for LA as given above .. ..
Q

Please specify for other:

e
pl
am
Ex
5. FINANCIAL SIZE OF THE AUTHORITY - GROSS TURNOVER
(a) English & Welsh Authorities Go to Guidance -->
The white cells below have been pre-populated with the latest figures available, these cells cannot be
overwritten. Please complete the purple boxes in the second and third columns with your estimates. For a
full explanation of this section, please refer to the guidance.

2016/17 Overwrite below if you disagree

(estimated from with the estimate:
Please enter all figures as positive latest figures 2016/17 2017/18
available) Actual Plan
£'m £'m £'m
Expenditure .. .. ..
+ Service income .. .. ..
+ External Trading Accounts Income 0 .. ..
+ HRA income .. .. ..

ire
= Gross Turnover .. .. ..

(b) Scottish Authorities Go to Guidance -->

na
Due to data issues the estimate for Scotland was not calculated, please complete the purple boxes in the
second and third columns. For a full explanation of this section, please refer to the guidance.

n
Please enter all figures as positive 2016/17 2017/18
Actual Plan

-
Net Cost of Services
Total requisitions by Joint Boards
io £'m
..
..
£'m
..
..
st
+ Total gross income .. ..
+ HRA income .. ..
ue

= Gross Turnover .. ..
Q
e
pl
am
Ex
6. STAFFING
(a) Pay-band Go to Guidance -->
Full time Part time Total
Audit staff as at 31/03/2017 Staff Staff Staff
FTE FTE FTE
< £20,000 .. .. ..
£20,000 - £30,000 .. .. ..
£30,000 - £40,000 .. .. ..
£40,000 - £50,000 .. .. ..
£50,000 - £60,000 .. .. ..
> £60,000 .. .. ..
Total Staff .. .. ..

(b) Qualification Level Go to Guidance -->

ire
Audit staff as at 31/03/2017
Total Audit Staff
FTE
Qualified ..
Part-Qualified ..

na
Non-Qualified ..
Total Staff as per 6(a) ..

n
Trainees (actively training) ..

If other specialists please specify:

io
st
(c) Staff Level Changes
ue

What were the changes in number of permanent audit staff during the last 12 months? FTE
Number of FTE Staff at 31st March 2016 ..
Number leaving the organisation 2016-17 ..
Number joining the organisation 2016-17 ..
Q

Number of FTE Staff at 31st March 2017 as per 6(a) ..

CROSS CHECK: Total as in 6(a) ..

e
pl
am
Ex
7. AUDIT CONTEXT
(a) Audit Function

What is the role of your Head of Internal Audit? --- please select ---

What is the management reporting line of your Head of Internal Audit? --- please select ---

Is your Head of Internal Audit also responsible for:

Risk Management --- select ---
Counter-Fraud --- select ---
Health and Safety --- select ---
Insurance --- select ---
Other --- select ---

ire
If other please specify:

na
Is your Head of Internal Audit the notifiable officer for:
Whistleblowing/Hotline (PIDA) --- select ---
Anti-Money Laundering --- select ---
Anti-Bribery --- select ---

n
RIPA --- select ---

Where does the Audit function fit into your structure?

io --- please select ---
st
In the annual report for 2016/17 will the head of internal audit report that the internal audit --- select ---
function complies with PSIAS?
ue

If no, is your non-compliance significant enough to go in the Annual Governance Statement? --- select ---

What is the basis for the head of internal audit's --- please select ---
Q

statement in the annual report?

In which year have you had your external quality assessment? ..

e
pl

Or when do you plan to have your external quality assessment? ..

Who undertook / will undertake your extenal quality assessment?

am

Did your external quality assessment include compliance with the Local Government --- select ---
Application Note as well as PSIAS?
Ex

(b) External Auditors Go to Guidance -->

Who are your external auditors? --- please select ---

What is the cost of your external auditors?

£'k
2016/17 Planned Audit Fee ..
2016/17 Estimated Grant Certification Fees ..
2016/17 Total Fees ..
8. IT

Software Version
What is your organisation's core financial system? --- please select --- ..

What Audit management software do you use? --- please select --- ..

What Audit interrogation software do you use? --- please select --- ..

What Audit training software do you use? --- please select --- ..

What Fraud Management Information System software do you use? --- please enter --- ..

ire
What Risk Management software do you use? --- please select --- ..

Is the Risk Management software integrated with your audit management software? --- select ---

n na
io
st
ue
Q
e
pl
am
Ex
9. CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

(please base answers on the 2015 Accounts and Audit Regulations)

(a) The Council

What is the outcome of risk maturity assessment? --- please select ---

The Council's Annual Governance Statement

Does Internal Audit take the lead in preparing the Annual Governance Statement? --- select ---
Do you audit the Annual Governance Statement? --- select ---

Does Internal Audit take the lead in the risk management framework? --- select ---

ire
Do you audit the risk management framework? --- select ---

What was the Head of Internal Audit overall annual audit opinion? --- please select ---
What was the Head of Internal Audit annual audit opinion

na
for other than Non-LA Schools? --- please select ---
What was the Head of Internal Audit annual audit opinion for LA Schools? --- please select ---

n
(b) Progress of agreed actions/recommendations

io
In relation to follow up work you have undertaken over the past 12 months, what proportion
st
of previously agreed actions/recommendations have been implemented by management?
ue

In Progress/partly
Fully Implemented Not applicable/no
implemented No action (%) Total
(%) longer relevant (%)
(%)
Q

High risk/priority
actions or .. .. .. .. ..
recommendation
e

Medium risk /
priority action or .. .. .. .. ..
pl

recommendation
am

(c) Reporting to members

As Head of Internal Audit, who do you report to? ---- please select ----

How many times did the Audit Committee meet in 2016/17? ---- please select ----
Ex

How many members and non-members are on the Audit Committee? ..

Of which, how many are independent? ..

Audit Plan
What is the timeframe of your formally approved audit plan? ---- please select ----
10. OUTPUTS
Go to Guidance-->
Following the Audit Days Analysis (Section 4), please provide below the number of audit reports for each
category. In the blank cell at the bottom you may enter any other category which requires attention in your
particular Authority.

number of
reports
Fundamental Financial Systems ..
Non-Fundamental Financial Systems ..
Strategic Risks ..
Operational Risks ..
Corporate Governance ..
Core IT ..
Commissioning which includes contracts and procurement ..

ire
Establishments – non-schools (planned and reactive audits) ..
LA schools (planned and reactive audits) ..
Transformation and major projects ..

na
Consultancy and audit related advisory services ..
Other (please overwrite) ..

n
Total Number of Reports issued in the year ..

11. ASSURANCE LEVELS io

st
Go to Guidance -->
ue

If the areas below are mainly unknown or difficult to estimate, please fill out at least the Head of Internal Audit's
Annual Opinion.
Q

Please note that it does not matter if has not done a single audit on the areas listed below. The assurance rating
could be a combination of two different audits or extracts from one or more audits.
e

It is not assumed that every organisation will have undertaken audits in each of these areas each year.
pl

Please use the following scale Inadequate Limited Adequate Good Excellent
am

Audit Area 1 2 3 4 5

Head of internal audit's annual

opinion
Ex

Governance
Assessment against the
governance framework
Ethical arrangements

Counter Fraud arrangements

Partnership arrangements

Managing conflicts of interest

Effectiveness of audit committee

Risk Management
Risk Management policy and
arrangements
Operational risk

Controls
Strategic financial planning and
resilience
Budget management

Income generation strategy

Income collection arrangements

ire
Council Tax

Business Rates

na
Housing Benefit

Bank Reconciliation

n
Payroll

Treasury Management

Creditors io
st
Debtors
ue

Excellent The control system is effective ensuring service delivery is robust and resilient and client
(positive) objectives are consistently achieved.
Q

There is a sound system of internal control designed to achieve the client’s objectives and manage
Good key risks.
(positive)
e

The key controls are being consistently applied.

The system of internal control is basically sound but some key risks do not have adequate
pl

controls, which puts the client’s objectives at risk.

Adequate
(positive)
There is some evidence of non-compliance with control processes which may put some of the
am

client’s objectives at risk.

There are significant weaknesses in the system of internal controls in relation to key risks which
Limited puts some of the client’s objectives at risk in one or more key area.
(negative)
The level of non-compliance puts the client’s objectives at risk in one or more key area.
Ex

Control processes are generally weak leaving the system open to significant error or abuse and
Inadequate non achievement of the client’s objectives.
(negative)
Significant non-compliance with basic control processes expose the client to error or abuse.
12. TEXT QUESTIONS
(a) Recession Go to Guidance -->
What impact has this had on your workload and resources? How did it impact on your 2016/17 audit plan and how
will it impact on your 2017/18 audit plan?

(b) Changed Responsibilities Go to Guidance -->

What changes in structure and responsibility has your internal audit function experienced in the last 12 months?

ire
(c) Collaborative Working Across Public Authorities Go to Guidance -->
Please describe issues arising where the Audit function is delivered using collaborative working, including buying-in
and on-selling of services.

n na
(d) Assurance Mapping Go to Guidance -->
(i) When formulating the audit plan, what sources of assurance would you be seeking to use?

io
st
(ii) How do you demonstrate assurance mapping to audit committee and external auditors?
ue

(e) Information Governance Go to Guidance -->

Q

How has information governance impacted on your audit workplans and what issues do you forsee? e.g. data
compliance, data commissioning, data sharing agreements, data protection agreements, PSN etc.
e
pl

(f) PSIAS Go to Guidance -->

am

(i) What issues did you have and how did you deal with them to ensure compliance with PSIAS in 2016-17?

(ii) What issues do you have and how are you intending to deal with them to ensure compliance with PSIAS in
Ex

2017-18?
(g) Emerging Risks Go to Guidance -->
What do you consider to be emerging risks in 2017/18 (e.g. Care Act, Better Care Fund etc.)?

(h) New Initiatives Go to Guidance -->

Please describe any examples of new practice or innovative methods that your audit section has adopted in 2017
eg. CRSA, Data Mining, Counter-Fraud etc.

(i) External Audit

Please provide the value for money conclusion from your external audit opinion for 2015-16.

ire
Comments/Feedback

na
With each exercise we seek to improve the quality of guidance and definitions supplied in the questionnaire. Please
detail any questions where you felt the guidance was unclear or could be improved.

n
io
If you have any comments either about the content or ways we can improve the exercise please enter here.
st
Next year we will hope to further improve the content included in this year's exercise. If there are any questions or
ue

areas of audit that you feel we should add to the exercise please specify below.
Q
e
pl
am
Ex
 VALIDATION & SUBMISSION
Self-Validation & Validation Status
Self-Validation:
Members are advised to look over their figures before submitting. The responsibility for providing
consistent data lies with the authority completing the submission. Identifying problems and fixing
them early will reduce the need for unnecessary work at a later point.

Current Validation Status: Please check validation overview.

There appear to be a few problems with your data.

ire
Submission & Contact Details

n na
io
If you have any queries at any stage of the process, please do not hesitate to contact us:
st
Nedelina Ivanova
Data Analyst Information Services Team
T: 020 7543 5826 T: 020 7543 5600
ue

E: nedelina.ivanova@cipfa.org E: benchmarking@cipfa.org

Validation Overview
Q

• Have key fields been completed? No

• Are matching figures the same? No
e

• Are implied figures sensible?  Yes

pl
am
Ex

Audit Page 24 Copyright CIPFA 2016

 VALIDATION & SUBMISSION
Validation Checks
Have key fields been completed?

• Question 1: 2016/17 Service Delivery 100% No

• Question 2a: 2016/17 Total Cost No
• Question 2a: 2017/18 Total Cost No
• Question 2a: 2016/17 Cost Breakdown* No
• Question 2a: 2017/18 Cost Breakdown* No
• Question 2b: 2016/17 FTE Staff No
• Question 2b: 2017/18 FTE Staff No

ire
• Question 3: 2016/17 Non-Chargeable Days No
• Question 3: 2017/18 Non-Chargeable Days No
• Question 3: 2016/17 Total Mainline Audit Days for LA No

na
• Question 3: 2017/18 Total Mainline Audit Days for LA No
• Question 5a: Financial Size of the Authority - Gross Turnover. English No
and Welsh Authorities. External Trading Accounts Income 2015/16 Actual.

n
• Question 5a: Financial Size of the Authority - Gross Turnover. English No

• Question 7a: Audit Function Contextual Information

io
and Welsh Authorities. External Trading Accounts Income 2016/17 Plan.
No
st
* This check will be passed only if there are figures in all the following fields:
Transport and travel; Other running costs; Accommodation; IT; Other central charges.
ue

If, for example, the split of 'IT' and 'Other central charges' is not known, we ask members to estimate
the split.

Authorities with high bought-in days (or days provided by other body in a shared service) may need to
Q

leave some of these fields empty, if so please make a brief note in the text box at the end of this section.

Are matching figures the same?

e

For each of these checks a 1% tolerance is given, so figures do not have to match exactly.
pl

2016/17
• Question 3 and 4(a): Total Mainline Audit Days for LA No
am

• Question 2(a) and 4(b): Recharge of Work for Other Bodies No

• Question 3 and 4(b): Days spent on Work for Other Bodies No
• Question 4(c): Total Mainline Bought-in Audit Days No
Ex

• Question 4(d): Total Mainline Contracted Out Audit Days No

• Question 6(a), 6(b) and 6(c): Total FTE Audit Staff No

2017/18
• Question 3 and 4(a): Mainline Audit Days for LA No
• Question 2(a) and 4(b): Recharge of Work for Other Bodies No
• Question 3 and 4(b): Days spent on Work for Other Bodies No
• Question 4(c): Total Mainline Bought-in Audit Days No
• Question 4(d): Total Mainline Contracted Out Audit Days No

Audit Page 25 Copyright CIPFA 2016

 VALIDATION & SUBMISSION

Are implied figures sensible?

Staff Cost
In Question 2, we collect the number of staff (FTE) and the staff cost. From this we can
calculate cost per FTE, which will be similar to the average salary.
Figures under £20,000 per year, or over £70,000 will fail the check.
Are the implied average salary costs sensible for:

• Staff on Payroll (2016/17)  Yes

ire
• Staff on Payroll (2017/18)  Yes
• Agency Staff (2016/17)  Yes
• Agency Staff (2017/18)  Yes

na
Days per FTE agency staff

In Question 2, we collect the number of agency staff (FTE) and in question 3(a) we

n
collect the number of days provided.

io
Here we have a minimum limit of 180 days per member of agency staff and a maximum
limit of 240 days. Should your figures fall outside the range please adjust the FTE figure
st
accordingly.
ue

• Days/FTE agency staff is more than 180 and less than 240 (2016/17)  Yes
• Days/FTE agency staff is more than 180 and less than 240 (2017/18)  Yes
Q

Bank Holidays per In-House FTE

There are 6 bank holidays in 2016/17 and 9 in 2017/18 (8 & 11 in Scotland). All other
e

days such as privilege days or local holidays should be counted as holiday.

pl

Where all staff were in place throughout the year this will therefore be exactly 8 days
am

per FTE, however where staff have left or joined the section it can be slightly higher
or lower.

• Bank Holidays/FTE is more than 5 and less than 7.5 (2016/17)  Yes
Ex

• Bank Holidays/FTE is more than 8 and less than 10.5 (2017/18)  Yes

Comments:

If there are validation checks that you cannot pass for a valid reason please explain
in the box below. For example, if you have your audit days provided by another body
in a shared service then many of the costs fields may not be applicable.

Audit Page 26 Copyright CIPFA 2016