Request ID: FOI-4181-2324 Date published: 08 March 2024
You asked
Hello, I hope you are well. I have come across the statement on TfL website:
Summaries of internal audit reports are included in the Audit & Assurances committee meeting papers. You can get copies of the full internal audit reports by emailing [email protected]. We will always share the reports with you, unless there are specific legal or commercial grounds for confidentiality.
Is it at all possible to request a couple of audit reports? 20 607 Procurement during Covid19, and 20 112 TfL Management System for example. Would really appreciate that.
We answered
TfL Ref: 4181-2324
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 9 February 2024 asking for information about Internal Audit reports.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can confirm that we hold the information you require. You asked: I have come across the statement on TfL website: Summaries of internal audit reports are included in the Audit & Assurances committee meeting papers. You can get copies of the full internal audit reports by emailing [email protected]. We will always share the reports with you, unless there are specific legal or commercial grounds for confidentiality.
Is it at all possible to request a couple of audit reports? 20 607 Procurement during Covid19, and 20 112 TfL Management System for example.
Please find attached the two audit reports requested. Please note that all the actions from these two reports have been completed. Internal Audit reports are written for an internal audience who are assumed to have a starting level of knowledge about TfL processes and procedures. In order to provide a fuller context around these reports, the following additional notes have been prepared:
Internal Audit 20 607 was completed in early 2021 and was commissioned with the specific purpose of providing assurance on the adequacy and controls of TfL procurement during the exceptional circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a result of the severe financial challenges the COVID-19 pandemic caused for Transport for London (including the drop in passenger income to almost zero within a matter of days as customers followed government guidance and stayed at home), additional governance controls were introduced early in the pandemic to control spending. This included the introduction of a Financial Commitments Oversight Group (FCOG) whose role was to approve any financial commitments above an initial level of £1,000 from June 2020. This FCOG process remained in place until early 2023, at which point TfL had moved to a more secure financial position and a return to more normal approval processes could take place. Throughout this period FCOG acted as an additional level of control over new procurement commitments. Elements of the FCOG process worked well and were transferred across into BAU activities including the presence of a senior member of the Finance team at Procurement assurance meetings to review budget commitments.
Audit trails during the pandemic were impacted by the sudden changes to ways of working at the outset of the pandemic. When TfL transitioned directly to working from home and a number of staff were furloughed, all evidence was not always available to new and covering staff. As well as this change in ways of working, there was a significant pivot in our purchasing activity during this period to focus on the goods and services required to safely operate the network to support essential journeys. At that time we did not hold a single end-to-end system to provide an audit trail around approvals of governance papers and purchase requisitions, which has subsequently been addressed by the introduction of SAP Ariba.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, TfL did not introduce any new arrangements to enable suppliers different, easier or speedier access to contracts.
TfL Standing Orders and procurement policies require that any contracts or significant purchase orders can only be placed if approved by more than one authorised approver.
TfL retained all its existing assurance and governance mechanisms throughout its COVID response, and only increased the governance controls (per FCOG above) rather than reducing them.
Please note that in accordance with TfL’s obligations under Data Protection legislation some personal data has been removed, as required by section 40(2) of the FOI Act. This is because disclosure of this personal data would be a breach of the legislation, specifically the first principle which requires all processing of personal data to be fair and lawful. It would not be fair to disclose this personal information when the individuals have no expectation it would be disclosed and TfL has not satisfied one of the conditions which would make the processing ‘fair’.
If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for any reason, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.
Yours sincerely
Sara Thomas FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
