Issue details

In April 2013 the Council entered into a procurement exercise with a number of other London boroughs, with Islington as the lead borough, for a new Internal Audit, Anti-Fraud, Risk Management and Advisory Framework contract.

On 11^th August 2014 the framework contract was awarded to Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC). The assessment of the bids received was weighted as follows, recognising the need to maintain a strong control environment in light of funding reductions in other parts of the organisation:

• 70% Quality
• 30% Price (for the Internal Audit lot this was made up of 25% price and 5% volume discount)

The quality criteria reflected the desire of the lead boroughs to work more closely together and the role that the provider can play in supporting that objective. The boroughs also wish to ensure that the in-house teams benefit from the range of specialisms available to the provider so that as a group we become less reliant on the provider over time, Finally, it recognised the modernisation of the audit, risk and anti-fraud function, with less reliance on “compliance” work and more of a demand to influence the strategy of the organisation and act as a pro-active advisor to senior management to help them make informed decisions.

The contract includes no minimum values, so there is no obligation to use; our annual audit and anti-fraud plans will determine the number of days that are anticipated to be delivered by the provider.

The framework will run for four years, and organisations wishing to use it will draw down days from the framework. It is anticipated that a number of other London based local authorities, NHS bodies or ALMOs and other local authorities in the counties surrounding London will join the framework. The contract is structured so that increased volumes of work will lead to a reduction in price and will benefit all organisations using it.

Closer working with other like-minded boroughs will help us to improve our services, share best practice and deliver efficiencies over time.

Our current contract for internal audit services expires on 31 August 2014. We will therefore draw down against the new Framework contract from 1 September 2014.