Archived decisions


Audit Ref No	Recommendation	Priority 1=Low 2=Med 3=High	Post responsible	Service Management Team	Response	Action Date	Follow up Date	Date Closed
WORKSHOPS 2007/08
3.33	We recommend that the Fleet Management system should be substituted for a more robust and suitable system at the earliest opportunity.	3	Fleet Maintenance Centre Manager	Director of Strategic Projects and Specialist Response	New Fleet Management system currently being sourced.	September 2008 extended to 01/04/2009 Further extended to quarter 3 2009/10	12/08/2008 09/02/2008
FOLLOW-UP PROPERTY MANAGEMENT & CAPITAL CONTRACTS 2007/08
3.6	Consideration should be given to developing a computerised system with appropriate linkages to the individual details in the register to the overall summaries contained in the property strategy.	3	Property Services Manager in conjunction with Information Services Manager	Director of Corporate Services	Agreed, we identified this as something we wanted to do once we were happy that the format of the register is working well. Given the flow of information, we will consider whether the condition survey data could be sent to us as a set of linked spreadsheets by Property Business and Regulatory Services.	31/03/2009 extended to quarter 2 2009/10	31/12/2008 20/02/2009
3.6	In the longer term, consideration should be given to introducing an asset management system (linked to the Hampshire County Council computer system) in order to support the Property Strategy and Register.	1	Property Services Manager in conjunction with Information Services Manager	Director of Corporate Services	We have already looked at a property management application (EPIS) used by Hampshire County Council, but concluded that its current state of development would add little real value. We will continue to monitor application development as part of SAP exploitation. We could report back our views by 31 March 2009.	31/03/2009 extended to quarter 2 2009/10	31/12/2008 20/02/2009
3.7	The details contained in the property strategy should be compatible with the terrier of Hampshire Fire & Rescue Service properties maintained by Property Business and Regulatory Services (PBRS) in their IT system.	3	Property Services Manager in conjunction with Information Services Manager	Director of Corporate Services	Agreed and the solution is linked to comments made in 3.6 and 3.7 above.	31/03/2009 extended to quarter 2 2009/10	31/12/2008 20/02/2009
PAYROLL 2007/08
3.2	We recommend that all job descriptions should be reviewed annually to ensure documented responsibilities are current.	1	Human Resources Manager	Director of Human Resources	Project is already underway to bring all green book job descriptions up to date and present in a new, clearer, standard format.	June 2008 extended to 31/08/2008 further extended to 31/03/2009	06/06/2008 07/08/2008 03/02/2009
Performance Review Team Note: The project is well underway for the review of job descriptions
COMMUNITY FIRE RISK MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM (CFRMIS) 2007/08
3.2	A decision should be made as to how important logging of accessing individual records is to the Service. If the controls above are complied with then only authorised users and IT staff should have access to the data. These should only be people with a business requirement to see the data.	2	CFRMIS Development Officer	Assistant Chief Officer - Service Delivery (Community Safety)	The software supplier is currently developing an auditable security system which will enable more effective control and monitoring of authorised/unauthorised access.	April 2009	20/02/2009
Performance Review Team Note: In the interim period, until an update to the system is available, confirmation has been received that there is a robust procedure for the control of access to, and removal from the system
REPLACEMENT FLEET MANAGEMENT SYSTEM 2008/2009
3.8	We recommend that the project board identifies possible risks to the project, mitigates against them where possible and documents them.	2	Projects Assistant	Director of Corporate Services	Agree with recommendation. A risk log will be created.	Quarter 1 2009/10
Performance Review Team Note: A risk log will be introduced once the system has been identified and the project is underway
PROCUREMENT 2008/09
3.3	We recommend that to clarify the role of the Purchasing Department within the Authority, an overall organisational chart for the department should be compiled once current re-structuring has been finalised.	1	Procurement Manager	Head of Financial and Office Services	An organisational chart does exist for Supplies and Stores but was not supplied as the operational and workshop stores are to be combined. (See also 3.4) One will be provided to all employees when the new posts and restructuring is complete.	June 2009
3.4	All job descriptions that are not current should be reviewed and updated as soon as possible.	1	Procurement Manager with involvement from the Human Resources department	Head of Financial and Office Services	All job descriptions have an organisational chart within their format and again these are about to be reviewed with the job descriptions themselves after the "Hay" review. This review will involve Human Resources as well as the Procurement Manager. The Stores and Supplies teams will be involved in the merger with the workshop stores and this will involve a review and reconciliation of all job descriptions, the adding of new posts as well as the alignment of similar posts .	June 2009
3.8	We recommend that future revisions of the contract, or similar agreements, should specify the monitoring of performance to ensure that all elements of the operation are monitored, as appropriate, and the resultant outcomes examined and actioned.	2	Procurement Manager and the Service Delivery Directorate who will be involved in future contract arrangements	Head of Financial and Office Services	Agreed, the current contract is mature, and has been running since 2003. The contract expires in September 2010 and will be up for renewal or re-tender, and any future contracts will be subject to a more robust contractual document than the one currently inherited and operating. This will also document agreed Key Performance Indictors (KPI's) for the period of the contract.	September 2010 (Start)
3.9	We recommend that the liaison meetings between the contractor and the Service are formalised, either through the taking of minutes or formal notes at all meetings, to ensure all actions are carried out.	1	Procurement Manager and the Service Delivery directorate who will be involved in future contract arrangements	Head of Financial and Office Services	Not agreed at this time, The contract is mature, and has been running since 2003, and expires in September 2010 and will be up for renewal or re-tender. Any future contracts will be subject to a more robust contractual document than the one currently inherited and operating, this will also document agreed KPI for the period of the contract. The current quarterly meetings are reviews based on forward looking requirements of HFRS and due to the maturity of this relationship very few actionable actions take place. Any future contracts will require a far more proactive management and this will be both actionable and documented.	September 2010
3.10	We recommend that the annual orders spreadsheet should be reviewed to ensure that official orders are placed annually, as appropriate. In addition, educational courses and franking machine replenishments should be supported by annual orders.	2	Procurement Manager and the new role of the Contracts Compliance Officer when in post	Head of Financial and Office Services	Agreed, the current annual order register was initiated to help assist with forward planning but has become unmanageable within the current climate and resource level. There are now provisions to employ a Contracts Compliance Officer and one of their many roles will involve the management and updating of this document for all annual orders and contracts starting from April 2009.	April 2009
3.11	We recommend that the monitoring of performance should be specified in the contract to ensure that all elements of the operation are monitored, as appropriate, and resultant outcomes examined and actioned.	2	Procurement Manager and the Service Delivery directorate who will be involved in future contract arrangements .	Head of Financial and Office Services	Any future contracts will require a far more proactive management review and this will be both actionable and documented in these contract review meetings as well as the review of any KPI required to manage the contract . A range of current KPI's have been developed to assist with this contract as it has developed some of which have not been quoted within this report, these include spend, garment status, condemned garments, number of garments processed by garment type etc.	January 2010
COMMUNITY FIRE SAFETY 2008/09
3.16	Inventories should be in place for all areas relating to the Community Safety Directorate and guidance should be sought from the Inventories Service Order relating to Authority procedures. The inventory should include: make, model, serial number, cost, date of purchase, disposal date and the location.	2	Group Managers Community Safety	Director of Service Delivery	All Community Safety items will be inventoried in accordance with HFRS Policy. This will be achieved in conjunction with the Senior Administration Manager. An electronic system of inventory records will be explored.	01/02/2009 extended to 30/04/2009	03/02/2009
3.17	Annual checks should be carried out and evidenced by an independent member of the team to ensure that all items can be accounted for.	2	All Community Safety Group Manager's	Director of Service Delivery	A system of independent checks and recording, will be instigated and managed by each Group Manager.	Commence April 2009	03/02/2009
3.18	In accordance with the Authority's Inventory Service Order, items should be visibly marked as a security measure.	2	Group Managers Community Safety	Director of Service Delivery	All identified community safety items will be security marked in accordance with HFRS policy.	01/02/2009 extended to 30/04/2009	03/02/2009
Fuel Issues 2008/09
3.9	We recommend that consideration is given to completing analysis of fuel usage on a quarterly basis with examination of unusual trends in usage being followed up where necessary.	2	Fleet Manager	Director of Strategic Projects and Specialist Response	Agreed - Fuel management system will provide a long term solution, until such time a more rigid system of manual monitoring, including random sampling, will be introduced.	01/02/2009 New software system will satisfy requirements Provisional target date quarter 3 2008/09	02/02/2009
Human Resources 2008/09
3.3	We recommend that the Service Order reference SO/1/1/1 (AB 04/05) should be updated and care taken to ensure that relevant Human Resources Service Orders remain current at all times.	1	Human Resources Manager (Workforce planning)	Director of Human Resources	The whole Recruitment Service Order is currently being reviewed, which will encompass the elements covered for firefighter selection in SO/1/1/1. This particular service order has been superceded by the national guidance documents including procedures for the national firefighter selection tests.	June 2009 for Completion
3.7	We recommend that consideration should be given to the market testing of suppliers providing an advertising role for vacant posts in the press in order to ensure continued value for money.	2	Human Resources Manager (Workforce planning)	Director of Human Resources	We will liaise with our HCC colleagues to check the tendering arrangements that are currently in place and check the date of review. We currently adopt the same supplier as HCC.	Explore options in September 2009
3.13	We recommend that checks should be made to ensure that the information retained on personal files is sufficient to complete the audit information trail.	2	Human Resources Officer (Workforce planning)	Director of Human Resources	This procedure is to be amended shortly, which will provide additional electronic information and evidence for the audit trail.	Review June 2009
3.19	We recommend that sufficient and prompt evidence should be held in the Workforce Planning Section of staff terminating their employment in order that newly vacant posts may be known and the recruitment process not delayed.	2	Human Resources Manager (Workforce planning and Support)	Director of Human Resources	Workforce Support action all leavers and notify workforce planning of leavers. It is the responsibility of the line manager to instigate arrangements for a replacement and the new procedures will assist in this process.	Review June 2009
3.22	We recommend that Station Administration staff should be afforded `read only' access to the Human Resources `Access' database to ensure sound security of the recruitment / appointment data.	2	Human Resources Manager (Workforce planning)	Director of Human Resources	This aspect is being processed with the IT helpdesk team.	Review June 2009
3.23	We recommend that the record of personal files removed from the filing room should be reinstated in order to provide an audit trail of file movements out of the filing room and subsequently returned or archived.	2	All Human Resources Managers	Director of Human Resources	Arrangements to be made to reintroduce this procedure.	Review June 2009
3.24	We recommend that the retention and disposal of documents scheduling policy should include reference to the retention of electronic records and be issued as a Service Order following finalisation of the current draft version.	2	Human Resources Manager (Workforce planning)	Director of Human Resources	Agreed	Ongoing	03/02/2009
IT Strategy and Management 2008/09
3.9	We recommend that it is formally minuted by the e-Focus Group that they have agreed the annual ICT Business Plan.	2	Information Services Manager	Director of Corporate Services	Agreed	May 2009
3.12	We recommend that staff are made aware that the ICT Business Plan is published on the intranet and when it is updated, through current communication channels.	1	Information Services Manager	Director of Corporate Services	Although the publication of the plan is communicated to the e-Focus Group which has representation from all functions, this appears to be inadequate. Further publication of the plan will be accompanied by message and an entry in routine notice.	May 2009
3.13	We recommend that departmental plans include a clear section where there is an ICT requirement to achieve the improvement outlined in the Plan.	2	Director of Corporate Services	Director of Corporate Services	We improved the format of our `briefing sheet' for describing proposed corporate objectives in September 2008. This includes a section on `resource implications' and the owner of the proposed objective is expected to identify: human, physical, ICT and financial implications associated with the proposed objective. We will re-emphasis at Service Management Team level the importance of considering the ICT (and other resource implications) and also recommend that the use of the enhanced briefing sheets is used in medium-term/departmental/business planning processes.	March 2009	03/02/2009
St Mary's Wholetime Fire Station 2008/09
3.12	We recommend that a signatory list is created, to be able to easily verify who has authorised claims or, the authoriser initials and states their service number.	1	Station Administrator	Director of Service Delivery	Station Administrator to create and maintain a list of signatories of personnel who can authorise claims	30/04/2009
3.18	All copies of completed FGA1 claim forms should be retained to complete the audit information trail.	1	Retained Duty System Watch Manager / Station Administrator	Director of Service Delivery	Retained Duty System Watch Manager and Station Administrator to introduce a procedure which will ensure all copies of FGA1s are retained.	30/04/2009
3.23	We recommend that access to the inventory records is restricted to designated staff and that the track changes facility is enabled.	2	Station Manager and Administrator	Director of Service Delivery	Station Administrator to enable track change facility. Station Manager and Administrator to review access rights to the inventory.	30/04/2009
3.24	Full details should be recorded for all inventory items e.g. full description of asset, serial numbers, date of receipt and disposal.	2	Station Administrator	Director of Service Delivery	Station Administrator to review and update inventory where details are available.	30/04/2009
Procurement - Corporate procurement cards 2008/09
3.11	We recommend that there is a need to ensure that the individual's files are fully completed at all times and VAT invoices obtained to support expenditure, as appropriate. There is a need to rule-off receipts, once authorised.	2	Financial Services Officer	Head of Financial and Office Services	An e-mail will be sent to all cardholders/authorisers reminding them to obtain VAT receipts, and have their files fully completed, and also encouraging them to rule-off receipts once authorised.	April 2009
3.20	We recommend that the bank should be requested to provide written confirmation that should second cards be issued, then original cards/accounts will be closed promptly.	2	Financial Services Officer	Head of Financial and Office Services	An e-mail will be sent to the bank to confirm that if second cards are issued, the originals will be closed.	April 2009

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