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Last year, CIPFA carried out a strategic review of its role in internal audit. We concluded that the organisation should reaffirm its support for a strong internal audit across public services. In difficult times, internal audit's objective assurances over internal control should give welcome comfort to audit committees, chief executives, and directors of finance. Also last year, CIPFA issued a publication on ‘perceptions of audit quality'. A survey of more than 1,000 staff found that many did not understand the role of internal audit, but most thought that internal audit should be involved at a high level, commenting at an early stage on the development of major projects, policies and programmes. We have decided to issue a statement setting out the role of the head of internal audit, and a draft is out for consultation until 10 September: Log on to http://www.cipfa.org.uk/roleoftheHIA This follows the format of the recent chief financial officer statement. Our aim is that this move will stimulate debate with audit committees and management teams, and will clarify the head of internal audit role and raise the profile. Some of the issues raised in the statement include who the head of internal audit should report to, whether he or she should have no operational responsibilities, and whether organisations should be asked to ‘comply or explain'. The statement is generic, covering all public services. We may issue a specific statement for local government at a later stage. The statement should be seen as best practice, and we look forward to responses so that we can help organisations ensure that heads of internal audit are looking at the right areas, and giving an appropriate level of assurance. Clive Darracott is technical manager at CIPFA

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FINANCE

Money Matters

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