2024_25_InternalAudit_CommunityEducationProvision_Report FINAL.docx
Argyll and Bute Council · 17 December 2024
Back to Audit and Scrutiny Committee — 17 December 2024 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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Classification: OFFICIAL Argyll and Bute Council Internal Audit Report December 2024 FINAL High Medium Low VFM Number of Findings 0 0 1 0 Community Education Provision Audit Opinion: High
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2 Argyll and Bute Council – Internal Audit Report – Community Education Provision, December 2024 Classification: OFFICIAL Contents 1. Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................ 3 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 3 Background ............................................................................................................................................. 3 Scope ....................................................................................................................................................... 4 Key Dates ................................................................................................................................................ 5 Risks ........................................................................................................................................................ 5 Audit Opinion ......................................................................................................................................... 5 Recommendations ................................................................................................................................. 5 2. Objectives and Summary Assessment ........................................................................................... 6 3. Detailed Findings ............................................................................................................................ 7 Appendix 1 – Action Plan ..................................................................................................................... 11 Appendix 2 – Audit Opinion ................................................................................................................. 13 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 – Community Education Provision, December 2024 Classification: OFFICIAL 1. Executive Summary Introduction 1. As part of the 2024/25 internal audit plan, approved by the Audit & Scrutiny Committee in March 2024, we have undertaken an audit of Argyll and Bute Council’s (the Council) system of internal control and governance in relation to Community Education Provision. 2. The audit was conducted in accordance with the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards (PSIAS) 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. Community Learning and Development (CLD) is a professional practice within education with delivery stretching across all stages of lifelong learning. CLD is an essential means of delivering Scottish Government priorities, in particular Curriculum for Excellence, GIRFEC and the Government’s social policy frameworks for combating poverty, tackling health inequalities and prioritising early years. 5. The Government's National Performance Framework sets out the strategic objectives for all public services, including those delivering CLD. Within this, CLD's specific focus should be: improved life chances for people of all ages, including young people in particular, through learning, personal development and active citizenship; stronger, more resilient, supportive, influential and inclusive communities. 6. The purpose of CLD is to provide early intervention and prevention to those experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, inequality of opportunity within the education and skills system. CLD is a method of working with groups and individuals of all ages to engage in learning, personal development and active citizenship. Support is focused on disadvantaged or vulnerable individuals or groups with the aim of bringing about change in their lives and communities. 7. CLD activity, refers to a distinctive process of engagement and support with content that is negotiated with learners and has a strong focus on early intervention, prevention, tackling inequalities and includes the following: Community Development (building the capacity of communities to meet their own needs, engaging with and influencing decision makers); Youth work, family learning and other early intervention work with children, young people and families;
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4 Argyll and Bute Council – Internal Audit Report – Community Education Provision, December 2024 Classification: OFFICIAL Community Based Adult Learning including Adult Literacies and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL); Learning for disadvantaged and vulnerable groups and individuals, for example people with disabilities, have care leaving experience or have a history of offending; Volunteer development, and Learning support and guidance in the community. 8. CLD helps to develop the resilience and ambition needed to combat the effects of economic factors which cause deprivation and inequality. It ensures that barriers to achieving better life chances are identified, understood, overcome and that communities are full partners in delivering practical and policy solutions. 9. The Community Learning & Development (Scotland) Regulations 2013 place a statutory requirement on local authorities to publish a plan every 3 years’ outlining how it will co-ordinate and secure “adequate and efficient” Community Learning & Development (CLD) provision with other sector partners. Whilst Argyll and Bute Council are required by legislation to lead on meeting the requirements of the CLD Regulations, it is important to note that partners must also be meaningfully involved, taking collective ownership and responsibility to produce, implement and review the CLD Plan. 10. The Council approved the transfer of its Community Learning and Development Service to liveArgyll effective from 30th June 2021. The Council retain a governance role working alongside liveArgyll. The existing service level agreement (SLA) between the Council and liveArgyll was updated to include the ‘Transfer Agreement’ for CLD provision between the Council and the Trust, setting out management and delivery responsibilities. At the point of transfer, staff were restructured into two themes; adult and youth. 11. The Argyll and Bute Community Learning and Development Strategic Partnership (the strategic CLD group) is a multi-agency strategic group, led by liveArgyll, formed to co-ordinate planning of CLD provision, maximising the synergies and contribution of partners across the sectors, in delivering the identified outcomes for communities. 12. The strategic CLD group is responsible for the development implementation, monitoring and reporting of the Argyll and Bute CLD Plan. This will include the appropriate arrangements for risk management and mitigations, given manpower and resources available. 13. Community Learning is managed by liveArgyll on behalf of Argyll and Bute Council with Community development managed through the Community Planning Partnership. This review focuses on Community Learning only. Scope 14. The scope of the audit was to review the effectiveness and equity of service provision across Argyll and Bute, as outlined in the Terms of Reference agreed with the Chief Education Officer/ Head of Education-Wellbeing, Inclusion and Achievement on 26 September 2024.
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5 Argyll and Bute Council – Internal Audit Report – Community Education Provision, December 2024 Classification: OFFICIAL Key Dates 15. 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 26 September 2024 Fieldwork Commencement 01 October 2024 Draft Report issued 26 November 2024 Management Comments received 04 December 2024 Final Report issued 04 December 2024 Audit and Scrutiny Committee 17 December 2024 Risks 16. The risks considered throughout the audit were: Audit Risk 1: Failure to comply with the Community Learning & Development (Scotland) Regulations 2013. Audit Risk 2: Insufficient geographic and demographic coverage of key groups may lead to inequitable provision. Audit Risk 3: Evaluating the effectiveness of provision may be difficult if actions and targets are not specific, measureable and contextual and performs reviews are not timeous. Audit Risk 4: Monitoring and reporting arrangements may not be sufficient to demonstrate that the Council is fulfilling its governance role. Audit Opinion 17. 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. 18. Our overall audit opinion for this audit is that we can take a high level of assurance. This means that 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. Recommendations 19. We have highlighted one low priority recommendation where we believe there is scope to strengthen the control and governance environment. These are summarised below: There should be consistent use of names throughout the new plan, and a check carried out to determine if all appropriate logos are displayed.
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6 Argyll and Bute Council – Internal Audit Report – Community Education Provision, December 2024 Classification: OFFICIAL 20. 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 21. 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 There is a 3 year Strategic Partnership Community Learning and Development Plan in place for Argyll and Bute which covers 2024 – 2027. All risks High As required by the Community Learning & Development (Scotland) Regulations 2013, the Argyll and Bute Community Learning and Development (CLD) Strategic Partnership Plan 2024- 2027 has been created and published on the liveArgyll website in September 2024. There should be consistent use of names throughout the new plan, and a check carried out to determine if all appropriate logos are displayed. 2 There are arrangements in place for equitable provision of CLD across Argyll and Bute and the identified priority age groups. Audit Risk 1 Audit Risk 2 High There are arrangements in place for the provision of CLD across all four of Argyll and Bute Council areas for both identified priority age groups - youth and adult. It is recognised by the Scottish Government that the ability to meet the needs of learners is bound by funding restrictions. The Adult Numeracy and Literacy provision is dependent on funding, which is due to end March 2025. Alternative options are being explored but there is a risk that these may not be met once funding ends. 3 Appropriate monitoring and reporting processes are in place to allow for evaluation of the effectiveness of provision. All risks High The Council and liveArgyll via the SLA have agreed monitoring and reporting for arrangements to ensure that there is appropriate strategic oversight and scrutiny of the community learning provision across Argyll and Bute and progress towards the strategic priorities and allows evaluation of the effectiveness of CLD provision. 22. Further details of our conclusions against each control objective can be found in Section 3 of this report.
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7 Argyll and Bute Council – Internal Audit Report – Community Education Provision, December 2024 Classification: OFFICIAL 3. Detailed Findings There is a 3 year Strategic Partnership Community Learning and Development Plan in place for Argyll and Bute which covers 2024 – 2027 23. The Community Learning & Development (Scotland) Regulations 2013 place a statutory requirement on local authorities to publish a plan every three years’ outlining how it will co- ordinate and secure “adequate and efficient” Community Learning & Development (CLD) provision with other sector partners. The legislation requires that new plans should be published no later than each third year after the previous plan. 24. The Argyll and Bute Community Learning and Development (CLD) Strategic Partnership Plan 2024-2027 (the Plan) has been created and was published on the liveArgyll website in September 2024, this takes cognisance of the legislation and follows on from the 2021-2024 Strategic Partnership Plan, published in September 2021. There are no transitional arrangements as provision of community learning is a continuous service. 25. A review of the plan found a minor inconsistency in names. The Argyll and Bute Community Learning and Development (CLD) Strategic Partnership (the strategic CLD group) is responsible for the development implementation, monitoring and reporting of the Argyll and Bute CLD Plan. This is recognised in the logo on the front page of the plan and in the Governance flow chart, however, the full name is not used within the body of the plan. Additionally the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the group, does not use the word “strategic” when referring to the partnership. For the avoidance of doubt the plan and ToR should be updated to reflect the consistent use of the full name of the Argyll and Bute Community Learning and Development (CLD) Strategic Partnership and the plan should be reviewed to ensure that all appropriate logos are displayed. Action Plan 1 26. In line with legislative requirements, to ensure that the views of local people are understood, the formation of the new Plan involved extensive consultation and engagement across the Council area. A timeline of programmed activities targeted specific leaners and wider community groups, to establish what they considered to be the most important priorities for CLD in their area. Feedback from consultation influences the allocation of resources to address issues that are important locally and allowing the strategic CLD group to co-ordinate provision within Argyll and Bute. 27. Details of the relevant local and national strategies and plans, wider frameworks and consultation data, that have been used to inform the development of the new three year plan, are included in the section “Informing the New Plan 2024 -2027 “. This demonstrates that the agreed/emerging priorities are aligned with other key strategic plans. 28. In December 2023 the Scottish Government, as part of the wider education reform agenda, instructed the Independent Review of Community Learning and Development (CLD) sector across Scotland, seeking to better understand the extent to which CLD is delivering positive outcomes for some of Scotland’s most vulnerable learners. The report, “The Future of CLD Learning: For All. For Life.” was published in July 2024.
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8 Argyll and Bute Council – Internal Audit Report – Community Education Provision, December 2024 Classification: OFFICIAL 29. In recognition of the impact of the review on both the strategic orientation of CLD and individual education authority CLD plans, the Scottish Government issued guidance providing the opportunity to carry forward much of the content of their existing plans. This has been recognised in the plan “This CLD Partnership Plan will adapt and change its focus as we track performance and review its impact. It will seek to build on the new recommendations outlined in the report Learning: For All. For Life - Independent Review of Community Learning and Development (CLD) 2024. New priorities will be incorporated into the three year Action Plan as they emerge. 30. The plan, Appendix 1 – Argyll and Bute CLD Partnership Action Plan specifies what actions liveArgyll and other partner organisations within the strategic group, will be meaningfully involved in the provision of community learning within Argyll and Bute, across the 6 identified priorities/themes, over the 3 year period of the plan. This also demonstrates the collaborations in place working towards delivering the CLD actions needed to achieve identified outcomes. 31. It is recognised by the Scottish Government, in its guidance document that “the current financial climate means, while there is increasing demand for CLD intervention and expertise, there is limited current scope for additional investment.” This means that ability to meet the needs of learners is bound by funding restrictions. 32. The unmet needs of CLD provision are defined as the barriers to adequate and efficient CLD provision. The challenges encountered include workforce capacity, as well as the partners’ capacity to reassess and alter traditional practices; access to sufficient resources, the expanding scope of CLD and working within funding restraints. To address some of these the plan states that the partnership will continue to work together to maximise funding streams to help reduce costs for targeted provision. 33. In January 2024 HM Inspectors of Education (HMIE) undertook a progress visit for Argyll and Bute Council’s CLD provision, areas covered included Governance arrangements, the Strategic Partnership Plan 21-24 and the local authority and CLD partners’ self-evaluation and performance data. For some areas of this review we have placed reliance on the HMIE conclusions. 34. The progress visit highlighted that CLD staff and partners are working together effectively in supporting learners to access appropriate learning opportunities. Stating that an increasing use of community hubs for CLD partners to deliver joint programmes helps to link service providers with learners and communities and to remove barriers to participation. 35. HMIe Inspectors recognised that liveArgyll and their CLD partners have made significant progress in the delivery of the outcomes of the CLD Strategic Partnership and have indicated that they will not need to return for the foreseeable future, which is a positive outcome and provides the Council with a high level of assurance that statutory requirements are being met and that the provision of CLD is effective. There are arrangements in place for equitable provision of CLD across Argyll and Bute and the identified priority age groups 36. Resourcing the Plan section outlines how the Governance and reporting arrangements have been implemented at both the strategic and operational levels, with a flow chart providing a visual illustration which highlights the key internal/external relations.
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9 Argyll and Bute Council – Internal Audit Report – Community Education Provision, December 2024 Classification: OFFICIAL 37. At the point of transfer from the Council to liveArgyll, staff were restructured into two themes; adult and youth. As noted above, the allocation of resources is driven by locally identified needs ensuring provision is consistent with the current plan. There are currently 19 staff, with provision in each of the four Council areas for youth and adult services. 38. The Scottish Government recognises the role of CLD across the public and third sectors in providing invaluable support to Scotland’s learners and communities by developing new and flexible ways to deliver key services for vulnerable and marginalised learners in community, school and college settings. The plan provides details of how the provision of community learning and development will be resourced and co-ordinated with other persons/groups that provide community learning and development within the area of the education authority. 39. HMIe outlined areas of positive progress, in particular, “a strategic approach to planning the delivery of CLD services is leading to improved alignment of services to the CLD plan priorities. CLD staff plan their work through individual Project Proposals and Cluster Plans. This approach is ensuring that work is aligned to the six priorities and based on identified community need.” 40. Currently funding has been secured from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) and MULTIPLY funding to enable the temporary recruitment of Adult Literacy and Numeracy Workers (ALN) whose, primary objective is to bridge the provision gap for adults needing dedicated support in various literacy areas, including reading, writing, numeracy, and digital literacy. 41. The funding is currently in place until 31 March 2025 and it has been confirmed that it will not extend beyond this date. It has been identified, and acknowledged within the Risk Register, that there exists a considerable risk that literacy learners will experience regression rather than continued progress in their studies. 42. Current mitigation includes actively pursuing opportunities for additional funding to sustain this critical work and are engaging with other partners and organisations to assess their capability to further support learners/service users. The possibility of partner providers being able to independently assume responsibility for this provision, as current practice is that partners typically refer clients for this specific support. Should alternative provision not be found, this would be an unmet need for adult learners within Argyll and Bute. 43. There is a requirement to ensure that CLD workforce planning is an integral part of the CLD plan and that the plan identifies the actions to be taken to support and develop the CLD workforce. HMIe found there “is opportunity to build further on the enthusiasm of staff to share expertise and plan workforce development in a more strategic way”. The need to improve the understanding of the range of professional development and training opportunities and pathways workforce can access is recognised as a key outcome within Theme 6 – Improve how we work as a partnership, which identifies actions and measures of success to achieve this. Appropriate monitoring and reporting processes are in place to allow for evaluation of the effectiveness of provision 44. The Council and liveArgyll via the SLA have agreed monitoring and reporting for arrangements to ensure that there is appropriate strategic oversight and scrutiny of the community learning
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10 Argyll and Bute Council – Internal Audit Report – Community Education Provision, December 2024 Classification: OFFICIAL provision across Argyll and Bute and progress towards the strategic priorities and allows evaluation of the effectiveness of CLD provision. 45. The new plan provides an overview of this framework in the Governance and reporting arrangements section, which includes a diagram to highlight the linkages between the parties and the flow of information. 46. LiveArgyll use the Basecamp management information system to support collaboration, data sharing and communication among various community groups and organisations. The system is designed to ensure that the impact of initiatives can be measured and adjustments made as and when necessary to achieve the desired outcomes and evidence that the delivered outcomes align with national and local priorities. HMIe inspectors note that “outcomes are clearly articulated, reviewed and reported through the management information system. “ 47. Annually CLD leaders, managers and staff carry out a self-evaluation, to identify areas of strengths and aid planning for improvement, this also considers progress being made against identified priorities. The results are reported to Argyll and Bute Council and the Community Planning Partnership. 48. The liveArgyll Business Services and Support Manager prepares quarterly progress reports which are submitted to the Business and Performance Sub Committee, the liveArgyll Board and the Outcome 3 group within the Community Planning Partnership (CPP). This group holds the responsibility for advancing priorities pertaining to education, skills, and training within the 10- year Local Outcome Improvement Plan for Argyll and Bute. The Outcome 3 group directly reports to the CPP Management Committee. 49. Communication at a strategic level is maintained between liveArgyll and the Council’s Education Service. The Education Manager – Learning, Teaching and Assessment and Pathways, is the Council’s contact with liveArgyll, their role is to provide oversight and support across areas which include: Liaison between CLD and Secondary Schools; Training of staff in the setting of measurable outcomes; Dedicated evaluation of these to monitor effectiveness of delivery; Collaborating to inform annual progress reports. 50. There is a close and effective working relationship between staff involved in the co-ordination and delivery of CLD and the Education Manager, with regular meetings, usually monthly but during development of the new plan this was fortnightly. 51. Annual reports are presented to the Council’s Community Services Committee and at Area Community Planning Group meetings. The annual reports for Years 1 and 2 are interim monitoring and performance reports with Year 3 being a final annual report.
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Classification: OFFICIAL Appendix 1 – Action Plan No Finding Risk Agreed Action Responsibility / Due Date Low 1 Names and recognition of key parties A review of the plan and Terms of Reference (ToR) found a minor inconsistency in names. For the avoidance of doubt the plan and ToR should be updated to reflect the consistent use of the full name of the Argyll and Bute Community Learning and Development (CLD) Strategic Partnership and a check carried out to determine if all appropriate logos are displayed. Organisations involved in the delivery of Community Learning and Development within Argyll and Bute may not receive adequate recognition. The name will be changed throughout the document to remain consistent throughout the document. All relevant logos and organisational names will be added to the Plan. The TOR will be updated to reflect the above. Service and Support Manager liveArgyll Date: 30 March 2025
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12 Argyll and Bute Council – Internal Audit Report – Community Education Provision, December 2024 Classification: OFFICIAL 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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13 Argyll and Bute Council – Internal Audit Report – Community Education Provision, December 2024 Classification: OFFICIAL 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.