SportEngland_AR_17_18

Fraud risks
There is a risk to grant giving bodies of fraud
occurring while undertaking their day-to-day grant
giving process through which funds are made
available to third parties. No matter how effective
the controls and checks, which are in place and
followed by the grant giving body, there remains a
possibility that fraud may occur.
To manage these risks, Sport England has a
Counter Fraud Strategy and a Fraud and Bribery
Prevention Policy which was reviewed and updated
in January 2018.
During the 2017-18 financial year there have
been only three cases raised where fraud has
been suspected concerning grant recipient
organisations, or concerning individuals in
management positions at recipient organisations.
Two of these cases were closed after no evidence
of fraud or attempted fraud were found and
the other has been passed to the police for
investigation. A fraud register is maintained within
Sport England that monitors past and present
cases, their status and final outcomes and
quarterly updates are presented to the Audit Risk
and Governance Committee.
Independent assurance
Internal Audit provides me with an objective
evaluation of, and opinion on, the overall adequacy
and effectiveness of the organisation’s framework
of governance, risk management and internal
control processes.
An annual programme of internal audit work
is carried out to professional standards by an
external firm of accountants informed by the Risk
Register, and an assessment of my assurance
requirements. Internal Auditors attend each Audit,
Risk & Governance Committee meeting and
provide periodic progress reports which include
the findings of follow-up reviews, culminating in
an annual report to the Committee on internal
audit activity. The Audit, Risk and Governance
Committee also considers the External Audit Plan
and reports from the National Audit Office.
The internal auditors are Mazars LLP, who were
appointed jointly by Sport England and UK Sport
to provide internal audit services, which includes
fulfilling the role of Head of Internal Audit, to both
sports councils for the period from 1 April 2015 to
31 March 2018.
Mazars LLP have concluded in their opinion
that, during 2017-18, overall there has been an
adequate and effective framework of governance,
risk management and control that provides
reasonable assurance over the achievement
of objectives. Certain weaknesses and exceptions
were highlighted as part of the audit work,
none of which were fundamental in nature.
A number of recommendations were made, all of
these have been, or are in the process of being
addressed.
In addition to the assurance from internal audit,
Moore Stephens LLP carry out a number of on-site
management audits to provide assurance over our
grant funding to national governing bodies, national
partners, County Sports Partnerships and other
significant grants in terms of size or complexity.
The timing and scope of the on-site audits reflect
their assessment of the organisations’ governance,
risk and internal control frameworks. The process
for assessing compliance with the Code for Sports
Governance has been informed by evidence from
these audits and other independent sources such
as Companies House records.
We also obtain assurance for our capital
programmes from surveyors’ reports, independent
project monitors and comparisons of leisure
facilities services under a benchmarking service.
Many of our capital grants extend for significant
periods, often up to 25 years and therefore it is
important to obtain assurance that the facility is
being utilised for the purpose originally intended.
The Active Lives Adult Survey data is prepared
and quality checked by Ipsos MORI, with data
also shared with analysts at DCMS, Public Health
England and DfT in advance of publication. As
well as extensive user consultation and testing,
the design of the Active Lives child survey and
questionnaire is being developed by a steering
group comprised of policy experts from DCMS,
DfE and DHSE. Sheffield Hallam University is also
completing a validation study on key aspects of the
child questionnaire.
A panel of academic experts independently
reviewed the Sport Outcomes Evidence Review
published in May 2017, with the future direction
of this work also being overseen by a group of
independent academics and practitioners.
Complaints
Through our formal complaints procedure we have
recorded 36 complaints in 2017-2018, of which we
had one complaint referred to the Parliamentary
and Health Services Ombudsman which was not
upheld.
Whistleblowing
Sport England has a Whistleblowing policy
and procedure that is reviewed annually for
effectiveness and to ensure it is in line with good
practice. The last review was undertaken in April
2018. There were no whistleblowing complaints in
2017-18.