Issue - meetings

Report of Assistant Director of Finance & Section 151 Officer

Purpose of report

The council’s Service Level Agreement with Oxfordshire County Council to provide internal audit and counter fraud Services came to an end on 30 April 2024.  The council has entered into a temporary contract with Veritau Limited from 1 May 2024 to provide internal audit and counter fraud services for a period of 6 months.  This report proposes an approach for the long-term provision of internal audit and counter fraud services by entering into a teckal company arrangement with Veritau Public Sector Limited.

Recommendations

The Executive resolves:

1.1         To agree for the council to pay a £20k fee to join Veritau Public Sector Limited and become a member in the company and delegate authority to the Assistant Director of Finance (S151 Officer) to sign the members’ agreement and service contract with Veritau Public Sector Limited and any subsequent paperwork required to become a member.

1.2         To appoint the Assistant Director of Finance (S151 Officer) to the board of Veritau Public Sector Limited as a director of the company.

Resolved

(1)          That it be agreed the council pay a £20k fee to join Veritau Public Sector Limited and become a member in the company and delegate authority to the Assistant Director of Finance (S151 Officer) to sign the members’ agreement and service contract with Veritau Public Sector Limited and any subsequent paperwork required to become a member.

(2)          That  the Assistant Director of Finance (S151 Officer) be appointed to the board of Veritau Public Sector Limited as a director of the company.

The Assistant Director of Finance & Section 151 Officer submitted a report on the council’s internal audit and counter fraud provision. The council’s Service Level Agreement with Oxfordshire County Council to provide internal audit and counter fraud Services came to an end on 30 April 2024.  The council has entered into a temporary contract with Veritau Limited from 1 May 2024 to provide internal audit and counter fraud services for a period of 6 months.  This report proposes an approach for the long-term provision of internal audit and counter fraud services by entering into a teckal company arrangement with Veritau Public Sector Limited.

Resolved

(1)          That it be agreed the council pay a £20k fee to join Veritau Public Sector Limited and become a member in the company and delegate authority to the Assistant Director of Finance (S151 Officer) to sign the members’ agreement and service contract with Veritau Public Sector Limited and any subsequent paperwork required to become a member.

(2)          That  the Assistant Director of Finance (S151 Officer) be appointed to the board of Veritau Public Sector Limited as a director of the company.

Reasons

There are very limited options available to a district council to provide a low-cost internal audit and counter fraud function. The option to join a LGWOC in the form of Veritau Public Sector Limited appears to be both the most cost effective, value for money approach whilst also providing significant levels of stability through having a significant level of skills and capacity across its workforce.

Alternative options

Option 1: In house

The in house option is not recommended for the following reasons:

·         Significant additional cost compared to budget

·         Significant difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff

·         Overall lack of resilience in the service

Option 2: Other Local Authority Provider

The current arrangement with OCC is via an SLA and this could be replicated with another local authority via a section 113 arrangement. A number of LAs were approached and the majority indicated they would not be able to provide a service to the council. Of the two authorities initial discussion was had with, neither authority would be able to provide a full Internal Audit and Counter Fraud service immediately and the charge for the service would exceed the current budget.

Option 3: Open Market Procurement 

An approach could be made to the open market but this is likely to cost significantly more than the current budget with no corresponding increase in service levels so is not anticipated to provide value for money and is also likely to cost significantly more than the proposed option.