Local Government Ombudsman

2 outstanding recommendations; awaiting action by DCLG.

Business and IT Continuity (24 October 2011)

1 outstanding recommendation; will complete in May 2012

NAO Management Letter on the 2009-10 Financial Statement Audit (August 2010)

Recommendations arising from the NAO’s audit of the accounts to 31 March 2010

2 outstanding recommendations; one awaiting action by DCLG, the other will complete in May 2012.

Rec. 9 Agreement of grant memorandum

At the time of our review Grant Memorandum had yet to be agreed with CLG. The main areas of dispute are the ability of CLG to alter the terms of the agreement unilaterally; and the discretion allowed to LGO to set pay. This should be resolved with CLG as soon as possible .

H

Agreed

Not possible to set a date

DCEx [1]

The GM is being replaced with a Framework Document

Previous : Latest draft is with DCLG for comment since November 2011. It is unlikely to be ready in time for the March Commission meeting, so will need to wait until the following meeting in May

Current : No change . Next Commission meeting is in July

May 2012

July 2012

Rec. 10 Commissioners’ Code of Conduct document

A governance statement incorporating the Code of Conduct for commissioners has been drafted but its implementation has been delayed due to concerns over the statutory basis for the delegation of authority. Since production of the governance statement is likely to be delayed, LGO should consider issuing a separate update to the existing Code of Conduct for Commissioners.

M

Agreed

The Cssn will be asked if it wishes to update the Code of Conduct.

March 11

DCEx

The Commission decided not to take any action on the code until a decision on Governance has been made by the Government.

Previous : A decision on governance is expected from DCLG shortly. It will then take several months to consider if any amendment to the code is required.

Current : Decision taken on Chair and V/Chair in April . Governance review commenced , (to include Code) . Will report in July 2012.

June 2012

July 2012

Rec. 1 Update BIA

The Business Impact Assessment for each LGO site has not been revised since the plans were restructured, by an external consultant, in 2008.

Although LGO do not expect this to have greatly varied, the business impact analysis may be inconsistent with current business operations which may translate into incorrect continuity requirements being addressed in the BCPs

L

Accepted.

We will put a review of the business impact assessment in hand, to be completed by the end of this financial year.

April 2012

DCEx

None.

Previous: work not yet commenced.

Current: BIAs drafted; awaiting confirmation so the plan can be updated

April 2012

May 2012

External Audit Recommendation

Priority [1]

Management Response

Original

Due Date

Lead Officer

Any revision to management response

Progress

Projected Completion Date

NAO Management Letter on the 2009-10 Financial Statement Audit (August 2010)

Recommendations arising from the NAO’s audit of the accounts to 31 March 2010

3 Grant Memorandum
Although the Commission has actively tried to agree a Grant Memorandum to supersede the one agreed in 1999 , we suggest that the Commission now escalate its concerns to the most senior levels in the Department in order to try and resolve this issue .

M

A letter has been sent from the Chairman of the Commission to the Deputy Director, CLG on 24 June 2010, reminding him that a response has been awaited from the De partment since our letter of 15  April 2010.

2010/11 commentary

DCLG submitted a revised Grant Memorandum to the Commission in April 2011. However the Commission has not been able to agree to its terms. DCLG has agreed that the Memorandum will be replaced by a Framework Agreement. A timetable for the creation of this document has been agreed with DCLG. A draft agreement will be presented to the Commission meeting in July 2011.

Unable to set a date

Acting Chair

New framework agreement being drafted.

Previous: DCLG Permanent Secretary has requested a new Framework Document is agreed as soon as possible to repl ace the Grant Memorandum . Draft to be considered by the Commission in November 2011. Draf t will now be considered at July 2012 Commission meeting

Current : , No change . Further letter sent to DCLG enquiring about progress.

Further letter sent 4 th May 2012

July 201 2

July 2012

6 IT Service Level Agreements

We recommend that revised Service Level Agreements are introduced between the IT department and the rest of the organisation.

L

We agree it is no longer appropriate for there to be SLAs for individual offices. From 2010/11 onwards IT services are charged per capita, with a standard service across off three offices. A single SLA will be agreed with the Deputies Group on behalf of the whole organisation.

2010/11 commentary

The IT department is configuring their Helpdesk to capture performance statistics to support an SLA. The SLA will be put in hand when resources can be directed, primarily from the COIN project; we anticipate this will be put in place by October 2011.

Jun-11

DCE&S [1]

Previous: SLA drafted and awaiting approval

Current: SLA will be finalised in discussion with Deputy Ombudsman

M arch 2012

May 2012