| He was speaking at a meeting of the audit and risk management sub-committee during consideration of internal audit reports on devolved school management and the administration of school funds.
Members of the sub-committee, which reports to the full finance committee, were digesting routine appraisals of the two issues.
The chief internal auditor explained there was a sound system of control over devolved school management but there were some areas where improvements can be made.
These were mainly technical matters, including record-keeping on spreadsheets, back-up computing facilities, not involving enough teachers in the process and the use of codes to provide an accurate audit trail of expenditure.
On studying the details of the chief internal auditor’s report, Councillor Don asked, “Are we sure that DSM, in terms of the use of staff time, is a good thing? Are we also ensuring our support staff are sufficiently well trained to handle all of this work?”
Administration leader Jill Shimi, chairing the meeting in the absence of Councillor George Regan, said Councillor Don’s points were valid but they were matters for the best value sub-committee of the education committee and would be reported to that body.
In the administration of school funds, the chief internal auditor said there were weaknesses in the system which needed to be addressed. These involved staff adhering to education department guidelines, the importance of school fund committees holding regular minuted meetings, the keeping of accurate records of income and expenditure and more training on VAT issues. |
