2025_26_InternalAudit_SchoolResidentialTrips_ReportFinal
Argyll and Bute Council · 16 December 2025
Back to Audit and Scrutiny Committee — 16 December 2025 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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Argyll and Bute Council Internal Audit Report November 2025 FINAL High Medium Low VFM Number of Findings 4 2 0 0 Process for School Residential Trips Audit Opinion: Limited
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2 Argyll and Bute Council – Internal Audit Report –Process for School Residential Trips November 2025 Contents 1. Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................ 3 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 3 Background ............................................................................................................................................. 3 Scope ....................................................................................................................................................... 3 Key Dates ................................................................................................................................................ 4 Risks ........................................................................................................................................................ 4 Audit Opinion ......................................................................................................................................... 4 Recommendations ................................................................................................................................. 4 2. Objectives and Summary Assessment ........................................................................................... 5 3. Detailed Findings ............................................................................................................................ 8 Appendix 1 – Action Plan ..................................................................................................................... 15 Appendix 2 – Audit Opinion ................................................................................................................. 18 Contact Details Internal Auditor: Annemarie McLean Telephone: 01700 501354 e-mail: annemarie.mclean@argyll-bute.gov.uk www.argyll-bute.gov.uk
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3 Argyll and Bute Council – Internal Audit Report –Process for School Residential Trips November 2025 1. Executive Summary Introduction 1. As part of the 2025/26 internal audit plan, approved by the Audit & Scrutiny Committee in March 2025, we have undertaken an audit of Argyll and Bute Council’s (the Council) system of internal control and governance in relation to the process for school residential visits. 2. The audit was conducted in accordance with the Global Internal Audit Standards (GIAS) with our conclusions based on discussions with council officers and the information available at the time the fieldwork was performed. The findings outlined in this report are only those which have come to our attention during the course of our normal audit work and are not necessarily all the issues which may exist. Appendix 1 to this report includes agreed actions to strengthen internal control however it is the responsibility of management to determine the extent of the internal control system appropriate to the Council. 3. The contents of this report have been agreed with the appropriate council officers to confirm factual accuracy, and appreciation is due for the cooperation and assistance received from all officers over the course of the audit. Background 4. Scotland’s outdoor environment offers motivating, exciting, varied, relevant and easily accessible activities from pre-school years through to college and beyond. Through Curriculum for Excellence, and Learning for Sustainability, the Scottish Government endorses the value of children and young people enjoying positive learning and play experiences in a wide variety of settings from galleries and museums to woodlands, parks and wild natural spaces, as well as planned adventure and residential experiences. 5. An enjoyable, creative, challenging learning journey helps children and young people learn by experience and grow as confident and responsible citizens who value and appreciate their local area and the wider environment of Scotland, which includes spectacular landscapes, rich natural heritage and a diverse built environment including landmarks of international significance, as well as further afield. 6. Excursions and educational visits are an important and valuable part of our educational system. Getting more children and young people out of the traditional classroom and into the real world, by giving access to cultural experiences and outdoor learning and play opportunities provides invaluable life experiences. 7. A residential experience can be an extremely valuable learning opportunity and may be part of the progressive outdoor learning or cultural experiences provided for young people. Residential visits include any form of overnight stay regardless of the type of accommodation. Scope 8. The scope of the audit was to determine if the current processes are embedded prior to the expansion of residential trips which will be available to all children, as outlined in the Terms of Reference agreed with the Head of Education: Performance and Improvement on 03 July 2025. 9. It was agreed that the purpose of the audit was to identify areas for process improvement, its applicability to be applied consistently across the Council’s school estate rather than highlighting
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4 Argyll and Bute Council – Internal Audit Report –Process for School Residential Trips November 2025 specific issues at an individual school level. A detailed list of issues arising will be provide to the Service and the recommendations for improvement contained within it, reflects this agreed focus on aiding the Council’s preparations for the expansion of residential trips. 10. The Legislation regarding this expansion is still being considered and the timescales agreed for completing the recommendations takes cognisance of this. Key Dates 11. The Terms of Reference provided provisional timescales for the review to take place, the actual dates are noted below. Exhibit 1 – Key Dates Stage Actual Date Terms of Reference agreed 03 July 2025 Fieldwork Commencement 12 August 2025 Draft Report issued 10 November 2025 Management Comments received 18 November 2025 Final Report issued 18 November 2025 Audit and Scrutiny Committee 16 December 2025 Risks 12. The risks considered throughout the audit were: • Audit Risk 1: Processes and procedures for school residential trips are not effective. • Audit Risk 2: Monitoring arrangements do not provide sufficient oversight of school residential trips. • Audit Risk 3: Staff have not been provided with appropriate information, instruction and training regarding their responsibilities related to school residential trips. Audit Opinion 13. We provide an overall audit opinion for all the audits we conduct. This is based on our judgement on the level of assurance which we can take over the established internal controls, governance and management of risk as evidenced by our audit work. Full details of the five possible categories of audit opinion is provided in Appendix 2 to this report. 14. Our overall audit opinion for this audit is that we can take a limited level of assurance. This means that internal control, governance and the management of risk are displaying a general trend of unacceptable residual risk and placing system objectives are at risk. Weakness must be addressed with a reasonable timescale with management allocating appropriate resources to the issues raised. Recommendations 15. We have highlighted four high priority recommendations and two medium priority recommendations where we believe there is scope to strengthen the control and governance environment. These are summarised below:
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5 Argyll and Bute Council – Internal Audit Report –Process for School Residential Trips November 2025 • Education Management Circular 3.25 and its appendices, should be reviewed, clarified and updated to contain a flow chart and checklist section on key tasks which can be used to document and evidence compliance with relevant legislation. • Education Management Circular 3.14 and its appendix should be reviewed and updated with the assistance of Legal Services. • Education Management Circular 1.26 and its appendices, should be reviewed, clarified and updated to ensure it takes cognizance of best practice contained in the “Going Out There” Framework. • Appropriate corporate monitoring arrangements should be established and implemented. • Consideration should be given to the Procurement and Commercial Contract Management Team (PCCMT) being consulted prior to making bookings/ entering into an agreement with external providers for school residential trips. • A training needs analysis should be undertaken, and suitable training provided, for Head Teachers and staff, including clerical, involved in the processes of planning and undertaking of school residential trips. 16. Full details of the audit findings, recommendations and management responses can be found in Section 3 of this report and in the action plan at Appendix 1. 2. Objectives and Summary Assessment 17. Exhibit 1 sets out the control objectives identified during the planning phase of the audit and our assessment against each objective. Exhibit 1 – Summary Assessment of Control Objectives Control Objective Link to Risk Assessment Summary Conclusion 1 Procedures for school residential trips are in place, up to date and take cognisance of best practice. Audit Risk 1 Reasonable • The Council has procedures in place for school residential trips. These are not all up to date and the Council has not yet adopted the Scottish Government best practice “Going Out There” framework. • There are five Education Management Circulars (EMCs) that provide guidance and instruction relating to the procedures for planning and undertaking of school residential trips. • The Service is aware that the EMCs require updating and has established a working group to facilitate the Council’s adoption of the “Going Out There” best practice framework. • Three of the EMCs need updating to reflect current working practices and identified gaps in the
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6 Argyll and Bute Council – Internal Audit Report –Process for School Residential Trips November 2025 procedures. The roles and responsibilities of all staff involved in the process are not stated and linkages between the circulars could be clearer. • There are no record retention periods stated for key documents which has led to inconsistent record keeping. • When enquiring with schools about the trips that they have undertaken, some have used external companies to help with the provision and planning of the trips. Consideration should be given to PCCMT being consulted prior to making bookings and/or entering into an agreement with external providers for school residential trips. • Procedures are not easily accessible to staff as the end-to- end process for planning school residential trips are not contained in one document. When updating the circulars there would be benefit to considering including a flow chart providing a visual overview and a checklist as these could help streamline and standardise the processes, whilst aiding better overall understanding and improving consistency of approach. 2 There are appropriate oversight and monitoring arrangements in place for schools undertaking residential trips. Audit Risk 2 Limited • The EMCs provide information and instruction to schools to assist staff in planning and approval processes for school residential trips, there is no mention of monitoring arrangements in contained in these documents. Testing and overview have established that out with schools, there is insufficient or limited monitoring arrangements in place for schools undertaking residential trips. • In schools, Head Teachers, or their nominated deputies, as Head of the establishment, are responsible for checking and approving arrangements for school residential
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7 Argyll and Bute Council – Internal Audit Report –Process for School Residential Trips November 2025 trips and are expected to ensure staff are supported in organising school trips. • Clerical staff in School Support Teams, record details of trips and carry out limited checks, so that the information is available on request, but nothing else is done with this information. We would expect that, for example, this is used to inform, monitoring, feedback and training. 3 Staff involved in school residential trips have been provided with appropriate information, instruction and training regarding their responsibilities. Audit Risk 3 Limited • The EMCs provide information and instruction but as noted above, these require updating. • The Council’s Corporate Health and Safety policy states that a training needs analysis should be undertaken, and suitable training be provided. This has not been undertaken for school residential trip processes; No corporate practical training is made available to staff regarding their responsibilities and staff are not directed to the LEON Risk Assessment module. • Other basic training suggested is First Aid training. Testing identified a first aid trained member of staff was not present on some school residential trips. In some instances, this is covered by the facility being visited, however, this should not be relied upon. 4 Adults participating in school trips have received the required child protection information/basic training and evidence of this is retained. Audit Risk 2 Reasonable • The Council has well established processes and arrangements in place to ensure that all school staff receive the required child protection information and training with records kept to evidence this. • Legislation regarding the Disclosure Checks - Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme changed in April 2025. • The Council carried out an organisation wide check of regulated roles and took steps to ensure that the individuals in those roles undertook the required level
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8 Argyll and Bute Council – Internal Audit Report –Process for School Residential Trips November 2025 of Disclosure Checks and appropriate evidence retained. • Testing identified that during home stay trips PVG checks were not undertaken in line with Council procedures. • The revised PVG scheme requirements should be considered both, when updating the EMCs and when developing monitoring arrangements. 18. Further details of our conclusions against each control objective can be found in Section 3 of this report. 3. Detailed Findings Procedures for school residential trips are in place, up to date and take cognisance of best Practice. 19. The Scottish Government developed the “Going Out There” Framework which relates to outdoor experiences and off-site visits in a wide variety of settings from galleries and museums to woodlands, parks and wild natural spaces, as well as planned adventure and residential experiences. It is expected that ‘Going Out There’ should be adopted as a common framework across Scotland by all those managing or organising visits or providing activities and venues. 20. The aims include to increase confidence and co-operation and that by adoption of the good practice exemplified in the framework allows Employers to fulfil their responsibilities under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 for outdoor experiences and off-site visits for all participants. 21. The Scottish Advisory Panel for Outdoor Education (SAPOE) is the forum where Scotland’s outdoor learning community collaborates to develop best practice in the design and safe delivery of outdoor learning for all children and young people in Scotland. It is member led, and representatives include Local Authorities. One of its key aims is: “promote and develop consistent good practice across Scotland for off-site visits through the implementation of the framework Going Out There”. 22. Not all Councils have chosen to adopt the “Going Out There” best practice yet. The Service has made the decision to adopt the best practice guidance and has established a working group to undertake this. The group comprises one Education Manager, two Headteachers (one being the SAPOE representative) and a representative from school support team. 23. This group has already identified the school trips and outdoor learning management circulars requiring updating as they need to reflect the decision to adopt the national guidance. 24. The Council’s Education Service have a suite of Education Management Circulars (EMCs) which collectively form the current policies and procedures issued to schools. There are five EMCs that provide guidance and instruction relating to the procedures for planning and undertaking of school residential trips, these are:
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9 Argyll and Bute Council – Internal Audit Report –Process for School Residential Trips November 2025 • EMC 3.25 School Trips -is the main circular, containing most of the procedures, it directs staff read EMC 3.14, EMC 1.26 and EMC 3.23 and was last reviewed in 2017. • EMC 3.14 Insurance – provides details of the three insurance policies available to cover school trips and procedures for notifying and liaising with Insurance Services and was also last reviewed in 2017. • EMC 1.26 Outdoor Education - gives overarching guidance for individual activities, last reviewed 2023 – although this appears to be incomplete. • EMC 3.23 Child Protection and Safeguarding - is a core Council policy document which is supported by annual training provided to all school staff, it was updated in July 2023. • EMC 1.10 School Funds – provides guidance and instructions relating to the financial aspects of school residential trips, this was updated in May 2025, in response to internal audit recommendations. 25. The circulars reviewed in detail as part of this audit were, School Trips, Insurance and Outdoor Education. The information in these was used to test procedures in nine schools which included, one joint campus, two 2-18 schools and six primary schools. 26. The School Trips circular is the main source of guidance and instruction for staff involved in the planning and undertaking of school trips, including residential trips and contains three appendices. 27. The School Trips circular has not been updated since 2017 and does not reflect current working practices and contained gaps which we have identified including: • No record retention period for any of the documents, which has led to inconsistent record keeping among the different schools. • There is no formal or consistent process for P7 transition trips. These require co- ordination between multiple schools with staff in different schools carrying out tasks. Lack of guidance has resulted in school support not been notified by all schools involved in the trips. • There is no tailored approval form for home stay trips. • There are missing links to documents and contact details. • Post trip reports are now verbal and are mostly lessons learned. It is unclear whether this is the current way of working or if reports no longer required. 28. The circular sets out the roles and responsibilities for four key roles involved but not all roles and responsibilities are included. • Head Teacher/Campus principles /nominated delegate – as Head of the Establishment has overall responsibility for all trips and approval. • Leaders In Charge – the teacher (s) planning and leading the school residential trip. • Supervising staff – accompanying the trip. • School liaison officer – the in-school contact for those on the trip. 29. Clerical staff in the schools have an active role, performing tasks related to the administration for school trips but this is not detailed in the circular and has led to differing practices and inconsistency within schools. In some small primary schools, clerical staff organise the trips while in other larger schools, teachers undertake more of the administration.
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10 Argyll and Bute Council – Internal Audit Report –Process for School Residential Trips November 2025 30. The School Support Team is the corporate support team which consists of the School Support Manager, the Admin and Finance Officers and clerical staff. Schools are advised to send a copy of the approval forms to school support for them to record. The tasks carried out by theses staff are not detailed in the circular. 31. When updating the circulars there would be benefit to reviewing the tasks at each stage of the process and clarifying the roles and responsibilities of the staff involved. Action Plan 1 32. As noted above, EMC 3.14 Insurance provides details of the insurance policies in place for school trips and procedures for notifying and liaising with Insurance Services, it was last reviewed 2017. 33. The Council has four policies available to schools’ undertaking trips, the costs of these are apportioned into school budgets: • Public Liability & Employers Liability insurance automatically covers all employees and all activities officially approved by school, outdoor centre, youth club etc are covered. Cover is automatic and insurance documents are published on the Hub. • Group personal accident policy - applicable to staff only, cover is automatic. • School journey policy is available for trips involving overnight stays, it covers participants, teachers and other adults, whether employees or not, who accompany them. Examples of cover include medical expenses, cancellation expenses, personal effects and legal liability. o This policy is optional, and cover is supplied only when schools complete the School Travel Insurance Policy Proposal form (appendix 1) and submit this to Insurance Services, before the event. 34. Schools are not directly provided with copies of the policies where there is automatic cover and there are no links in the circular to these, rather it states that it is the Head Teachers responsibility to “ensure that all staff who may be involved in organising school journeys are made aware of the content”. 35. When Insurance Services receive Appendix 1 requests from schools, they record this so that they have the details in the event of a claim and provide schools with a copy of the School Journey policy. 36. The guidance contained in the Insurance circular could be clearer, and some gaps were identified which create the potential that trips are booked without fully checking the existing cover available. These include: • Appendix 1 - staff are advised to submit this before the event, there are no minimum timescales within which schools should submit this form to Insurance Services nor any retention period for this. • Appendix 1 - asks for minimal details only and does not require to be signed by the Head Teacher/ person approving the trip. • The School Journey Policy schedule is only provided to schools after Appendix 1 has been submitted, this has some exclusions, e.g. maximum age covered is 70 and limitations on winter sports, which are not reflected in the Insurance circular.
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11 Argyll and Bute Council – Internal Audit Report –Process for School Residential Trips November 2025 37. The Insurance Circular and its appendix should be reviewed and updated with the assistance of Legal Services to ensure it reflects current working practices and requirements. Action Plan 2 38. Residential trips are classified as all school journeys involving an overnight stay, these should be notified to Insurance Services and as the School Journey Policy cover is an extensive policy additional insurance is not normally required. 39. Testing of processes within schools found that there are occasions when schools do not advise Insurance Services of residential trips and pay for insurance cover with external parties, examples included an outdoor centre being visited and a company organising an overseas trip. The costs of this are included in the total trip costs, either some or all of which are paid by for mostly by families of those participating in the trips. 40. Insurance Services maintain a record of all insurance claims. In the past five years there have only been twelve claims, six of which related to cancellations due to lockdown. 41. The Outdoor Education circular gives overarching guidance for individual activities. In recognition that many heads of educational establishments and staff involved in the planning of outdoor education and activities are not specialists in these areas and so may have difficulty in the exercise of judgements on certain outdoor activities. To provide support with this, the Council has engaged the services of a technical adviser, who is kept on retainer, and is available to provide advice. 42. The Outdoor Education circular was reviewed in 2023, but this document appears incomplete as there are missing sections, specifically those relating to the Scottish Government “Going Out There” best practice framework/toolkits. Action Plan 3 43. Both the School Trips and Outdoor Education circulars provide some guidance on the use of external providers, requiring that Head Teachers/Head of Establishment should be fully satisfied as the capability of the external provider, e.g. travel or activity provider. 44. When enquiring with schools about the trips that they have undertaken, some have used external companies to help with the provision and planning of the trips. There has been no direct instruction from Senior Managers that advice should be sought from Procurement and Commercial Contract Management Team (PCCMT). 45. Some providers have been engaged with via PCCMT, but this has only happened when the team having become aware, via their overview and monitoring of spend, that providers are being used or will be used on a regular basis for school trips. PCCMT have then followed procurement processes and put appropriate arrangements in place. Consideration should be given to PCCMT being consulted prior to making bookings/ entering an agreement with external providers for school residential trips. Action Plan 5 46. Education Maintenance Circulars are all published on the Council’s website but procedures are not easily accessible to staff as the end-to-end process for planning school residential trips and are not contained in one document.
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12 Argyll and Bute Council – Internal Audit Report –Process for School Residential Trips November 2025 47. School offices tend to keep copies of school trip packs which contain forms that are required, with some schools developing a covering checklist with key tasks. Staff planning trips are provided with copies of these packs from the offices, however, these do not always contain a copy of the circular and similarly do not always read the School Trip and Insurance circulars in full; most were unaware of the linkages to the Outdoor Education circular. 48. When reviewing and updating the circulars there would be benefit to considering including a flow chart providing a visual overview and a checklist as these could help streamline and standardise the processes. This may help navigate the process more effectively and support consistency of approach. Action Plan 1,2 and 3 There are appropriate oversight and monitoring arrangements in place for schools undertaking residential trips. 49. The Education Management Circulars provide information and instruction to schools to assist staff in planning and approval processes for school residential trips. There is no mention of centralised monitoring arrangements in these documents and our testing established that out with schools there are no monitoring arrangements in place. 50. In schools, Head Teachers, or their nominated deputies, as Head of the establishment, are responsible for checking and approving arrangements for school residential trips and are expected to ensure staff are supported in organising school trips. 51. The School Trips circular appendix 2 – Residential Trips is the approval form that Leaders in Charge complete with the main details of the proposed trip. This form is passed to the Head Teacher for review and approval. Copies of this should be retained in the office and emailed to the School Support Team for recording. A review of forms found most are completed and signed but there are other examples that were incomplete, some unsigned and some were out of date forms from 2013. 52. Clerical staff within the school support team file the documents received from schools and record some of the information on the Master School Trip spreadsheet. Limited checks are carried out e.g. there is a formula built into the spreadsheet to check the ratios of pupils to teachers. This information is available on request but nothing else appears to be done with the information. 53. Schools do not receive any acknowledgement nor feedback, unless the ratios need queried. Discussions with Head Teachers and staff in schools established that the assumption is that no response or feedback means that there are no issues with the forms and processes. 54. A sample of available Appendix 2 Approval forms, from schools and from the school support records were reviewed and compared with the Master School Trip spreadsheet, this found that not all trips undertaken were notified to school support, some schools submitted copies of risk assessments, others did not. 55. The lack of sufficient monitoring of both schools and school support processes has meant that there are no mechanisms for providing feedback to staff. As a result, staff are unaware where procedures could be improved.
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13 Argyll and Bute Council – Internal Audit Report –Process for School Residential Trips November 2025 56. Appropriate corporate monitoring arrangements should be established and implemented. There would be benefit to updating the School Trips Master spreadsheet to ensure that it capture all the information required to support monitoring arrangements. Action Plan 4 Staff involved in school residential trips have been provided with appropriate information, instruction and training regarding their responsibilities. 37. The EMC’s provide written information and instruction to staff, outlining responsibilities for Head Teachers and Leaders in Charge, but as noted above, these require updating. 38. No corporate/ practical training is made available to staff involved in the planning and undertaking of school residential trips, rather Head Teachers are expected to follow the management circular and ensure staff are supported to organise school trips. Head Teachers can contact the Education Managers for support, but this is not detailed in either the School Trip or Outdoor Learning circulars. 39. Feedback during testing highlights that staff would like some formal or tailored training to help them feel more confident planning and undertaking school residential trips. Most go to other teachers who have undertaken trips previously for advice. 40. School excursions and educational visits can involve an element of risk, and the School Trips circular instructs staff to carry out a risk assessment at the planning stage. A review of the circulars and wider testing established that: • There are no arrangements in place to provide training on the completion of risk assessments to Leaders in Charge/ staff planning school trips and those expected to approve school trips. • The circulars do not refer staff to the Council’s LEON Risk Assessment training module. • No risk assessment template is included in any of the circulars. • The further information section on P19 of the School Trips circular provides a link to The Health and Safety Executive leaflet Five steps to risk assessment • Some schools had been provided with a risk assessment template by the Council’s Health and Safety Team. • There is no retention period stated for completed risk assessments. • There is no monitoring of risk assessments carried out. 41. EMC 1.26 Outdoor Education states the “First Aid certificate - requirements “the level of first aid training required by the authority for all activities is the 'standard' first aid course”. There is no mention of First Aid requirements in EMC 3.25 School Trips. Action Plans 1 and 3 42. Testing highlighted that there is not always a First Aid trained member of staff participating in all school residential trips. In some instances, like trips to outdoor centres, this is covered by the facility being visited.
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14 Argyll and Bute Council – Internal Audit Report –Process for School Residential Trips November 2025 43. The Council’s Corporate Health and Safety plan states that Services should “undertake a training needs analysis and provide suitable training to staff, taking into account risk assessments for work activities and the need to provide appropriate Health and Safety induction and refresher training, in line with the relevant policies and local risk assessment”. This has not been carried out for school trips processes. 44. A training needs analysis should be undertaken, and suitable training provided, for Head Teachers and staff, including clerical, involved in the processes of planning and undertaking of school residential trips. This should consider, making the LEON Risk Assessment Module compulsory and requirements for First Aid Training. Action Plan 5 Adults participating in school trips have received the required child protection information/basic training and evidence of this is retained. 45. The Council has well established processes and arrangements in place to ensure that all school staff receive the required child protection information and training with appropriate records kept for evidence of this occurring. 46. Prior to the start of each new academic year, schools have two in-service days, child protection training is provided to all staff and records maintained by schools of this. 47. From 1 April 2025, it is a legal requirement for individuals to be a member of the Disclosure Checks – Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme when carrying out a regulated role with children, protected adults, or both. Organisations had to ensure that individuals who are to carry out a regulated role (paid or voluntary) have PVG scheme membership from 1 April 2025 onwards. 48. To comply with this legislation the Council carried out an organisation wide check of regulated roles and took steps to ensure that the individuals in those roles undertook the required level of Disclosure Checks and evidence of this is retained. 49. Testing identified that during home stay trips PVG checks were not undertaken in line with Council procedures. 50. The revised PVG scheme requirements should be included when updating the guidance and instructions within the EMCs, including EMC 1.56 Disclosures, and considered when developing monitoring arrangements. Action Plans 1, 3 and 4
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Appendix 1 – Action Plan No Finding Risk Agreed Action Responsibility / Due Date High 1 EMC 3.25 School Trips and its appendices are not up to date and gaps have been identified. The School Trips circular should be reviewed, clarified and updated. There would be benefit to including a flow chart providing a visual overview and a checklist as these could help streamline and standardise the processes, improving consistency of approach while helping document and evidence compliance with relevant legislation and Scottish Government best practice contained in the “Going Out There” Framework. Processes and procedures for school residential trips are not effective and record keeping arrangements may not provide sufficient evidence of compliance with relevant legislation. The Education working group established to facilitate the Council’s adoption of the “Going Out There” best practice framework, will lead the review of the circular. Education Officer 30 August 2026 High 2 EMC 3.14 Insurance and its appendix have not been updated since 2017. The circular could be clearer, and some gaps were identified which create the potential that trips are booked without fully checking the cover available. This circular should be reviewed and updated with the assistance of Legal Services. There is the potential that trips are booked without fully checking exclusions within the cover available. The Education working group established to facilitate the Council’s adoption of the “Going Out There” best practice framework will lead the review of the circular, with the assistance of Legal Services. Education Officer 30 August 2026 High 3 EMC 1.26 Outdoor Learning and its appendices, do not take account of best practice “Going Out There” framework. The circular should be reviewed, clarified and updated to ensure it takes cognisance of the best practice contained in the “Going Out There” Framework. The Councils current processes are not as efficient and effective as they could be if they were following best practice guidance in relation the planning of school residential trips. The Education working group established to facilitate the Council’s adoption of the “Going Out There” best practice framework will lead the review of the circular. Education Officer 30 August 2026 High 4 Insufficient oversight of schools undertaking residential trips. The lack of monitoring of both schools and school support processes has means there is no mechanism for providing feedback to staff. As a result, there are inconsistent Monitoring arrangements do not provide sufficient oversight of school residential trips. The Education working group established to facilitate the Council’s adoption of the “Going Out There” best practice framework will determine appropriate corporate monitoring Education Officer 30 August 2026
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16 Argyll and Bute Council – Internal Audit Report –Process for School Residential Trips November 2025 No Finding Risk Agreed Action Responsibility / Due Date approaches, and staff are unaware where procedures could be improved. Appropriate corporate monitoring arrangements should be established and implemented. arrangements which will be implemented. Medium 5 Insufficient guidance on use of external providers. Guidance on the use of external providers places responsibility for checks on those approving school residential trips. When enquiring with schools about the trips that they have undertaken, some have used external companies to help with the provision and planning of the trips. Consideration should be given to the Procurement and Commercial Contract Management Team (PCCMT) being consulted prior to making bookings with external providers for school residential trips. Staff have not been provided with appropriate information, instruction and training regarding their responsibilities related to school residential trips. The Education working group established to facilitate the Council’s adoption of the “Going Out There” best practice framework, in consultation with Procurement and Commercial Contract Management Team (PCCMT), will consider this. Education Officer 30 August 2026 Medium 6 Staff involved in school residential trips have not been provided with training regarding their responsibilities. No training analysis has been undertaken, and no corporate/ practical training is made available to staff; gaps include the completion of risk assessments and first aid training. Head Teachers are expected to follow the circular and ensure staff are supported to organise school trips. A training needs analysis should be undertaken, and suitable training be provided, for Head Teachers and staff, including clerical, involved in the processes of planning and undertaking of school residential trips. This should consider: • making the LEON Risk Assessment Module compulsory. • requirements for First Aid training. Staff have not been provided with appropriate information, instruction and training regarding their responsibilities related to school residential trips. The Education working group established to facilitate the Council’s adoption of the “Going Out There” best practice framework will consider the training needs analysis and what training should be provided for those involved in the processes of planning and undertaking of school residential trips. Education Officer 30 August 2026
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17 Argyll and Bute Council – Internal Audit Report –Process for School Residential Trips November 2025 In order to assist management in using our reports a system of grading audit findings has been adopted to allow the significance of findings to be ascertained. The definitions of each classification are as follows: Grading Definition High A major observation on high level controls and other important internal controls or a significant matter relating to the critical success of the objectives of the system. The weakness may therefore give rise to loss or error. Medium Observations on less significant internal controls and/or improvements to the efficiency and effectiveness of controls which will assist in meeting the objectives of the system. The weakness is not necessarily substantial however the risk of error would be significantly reduced if corrective action was taken. Low Minor recommendations to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of controls or an isolated issue subsequently corrected. The weakness does not appear to significantly affect the ability of the system to meet its objectives. VFM An observation which does not highlight an issue relating to internal controls but represents a possible opportunity for the council to achieve better value for money (VFM).
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18 Argyll and Bute Council – Internal Audit Report –Process for School Residential Trips November 2025 Appendix 2 – Audit Opinion Level of Assurance Definition High Internal control, governance and the management of risk are at a high standard. Only marginal elements of residual risk have been identified with these either being accepted or dealt with. A sound system of control designed to achieve the system objectives is in place and being applied consistently. Substantial Internal control, governance and the management of risk is sound. However, there are minor areas of weakness which put some system objectives at risk and specific elements of residual risk that are slightly above an acceptable level and need to be addressed within a reasonable timescale. Reasonable Internal control, governance and the management of risk are broadly reliable. However, whilst not displaying a general trend, there are areas of concern which have been identified where elements of residual risk or weakness may put some of the system objectives at risk. Limited Internal control, governance and the management of risk are displaying a general trend of unacceptable residual risk above an acceptable level and placing system objectives are at risk. Weakness must be addressed with a reasonable timescale with management allocating appropriate resources to the issues raised. No Assurance Internal control, governance and the management of risk is poor. Significant residual risk and/or significant non-compliance with basic controls exists leaving the system open to error, loss or abuse. Residual risk must be addressed immediately with management allocating appropriate resources to the issues.