INTERNAL AUDIT SERVICES
INVITATION TO TENDER
Tenders must be received at the Association’s Head Office no later than 12 noon on Friday 7 February 2014
INTERNAL AUDIT SERVICES
HABINTEG HOUSING ASSOCIATION (ULSTER) LTD
CONTENTS
Section
Description
Page no
Section A
Background
3
Section B
Statement of Requirements
4
Section C
Documents to be Submitted
6
Section D
Additional Information
8
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INTERNAL AUDIT SERVICES
HABINTEG HOUSING ASSOCIATION (ULSTER) LTD
Section A Background Habinteg Housing Association (Ulster) LTD (“Habinteg” or “The Association”) wishes to engage a service provider to provide internal audit services to the Association. The Association is a registered housing association with charitable status. Its current activities comprise-: development of new social housing in accordance with housing need management of over 2,000 units of housing stock comprising sheltered, general needs, housing-with-care and supported accommodation A copy of the Association’s last Annual Report and Accounts is available upon request. Additional information about our structure and activities can be obtained from our web site www.habinteg-ulster.co.uk. The Association is required to work within the regulatory framework for Northern Ireland Housing Associations which is the responsibility of the Department for Social Development (DSD). More details can be found from their website www.dsdni.gov.uk. Internal Audit is required to provide assurance to the Board on the whole system of internal control. The work of the service provider must fully adhere to the standards and guidelines for the professional practice of internal audit as set out by the Institute of Internal Auditors – UK and Ireland. In addition, the service provider should refer to the standards and guidelines set out by the Tenant Services Authority as accepted by DSD in their “Code of Audit Practice”. Your proposal should give specific comment about your ability to work to both standards. An important element of this tender process is that the selected contractor must be able to review the entire operations of the Association. In particular, IT Audit, Value for Money issues, risk management and governance issues are just as important to the Association as general assurance work. Tenderers should therefore ensure that their proposal clearly sets out how their service will assist the Association in these areas.
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INTERNAL AUDIT SERVICES
HABINTEG HOUSING ASSOCIATION (ULSTER) LTD
Section B Statement of Requirements SECTION C outlines the information that must be included in tender submissions. Failure to provide all or part of the information may result in your submission being excluded from the evaluation process. The contract will cover the internal audit service for the three financial years 2014/2015 to 2016/2017 with the possibility of an extension of a further 2 years, subject to satisfactory performance. The service provider will be expected to provide a minimum of 30 days per annum including contract management Firms may be required to provide additional days at an agreed rate. The Internal Auditor will report to the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee and to Habinteg senior management. The scope of the Internal Audit work extends to all operations and records, financial and operational, of the Association. The scope of the work to be delivered is as follows -: the development of an audit needs assessment and strategic audit plan; the delivery of internal audit services as specified by the plan; the delivery of ad hoc value for money reports as requested by management; the provision of other special reports such as investigations into specific control breaches as required; advice and support to the Association in its implementation of a risk management strategy. The internal audit contractor may also be invited to provide certain management consultancy services, including IT consultancy; advice on financial management and financial systems; advice on other financial/corporate matters. Applicable daily rates for specialist consultancy staff should be provided. Working files or papers produced during the course of the contract will remain the Association’s property and these must be handed over in the event of contract termination. Last date for submission of tenders is 12 noon on 7 February 2014. THREE copies of the proposal should be submitted. Late submissions will not be accepted under any circumstances. Firms will be judged on the following evaluation criteria;
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INTERNAL AUDIT SERVICES
HABINTEG HOUSING ASSOCIATION (ULSTER) LTD
the firm’s internal audit methodology particularly in the areas of risk assessment and quality assurance; experience and expertise of the firm within the housing association and not-for-profit sector; experience and ability of the audit team; knowledge of and ability to interpret Housing Association Guide; the ability of the firm to “add value” rather than providing purely a compliance audit; the firm’s abilities to offer consultancy services; the cost of the internal audit. Short-listed companies will be invited to present and discuss their proposals (date to be notified in due course). Tender documents should be returned, marked ‘Tender for Internal Audit Services’. Habinteg will not be liable to reimburse any costs incurred by the service provider during this tender process. Habinteg wishes to maximise the value obtained from the available internal audit resource, however does not bind itself to accept the lowest tender. Tenderers should note that, while they may tender for both internal and external audit contracts, a single provider will not be selected to deliver both services. Evaluation of tenders will be carried out by a Tender Panel, and the evaluators will, if necessary, contact tenderers to seek clarification of any aspect of a tender. Tenderers should identify any work they are currently carrying out or competing for which could cause a conflict of interest, and indicate how such a conflict would be avoided.
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INTERNAL AUDIT SERVICES
HABINTEG HOUSING ASSOCIATION (ULSTER) LTD
Section C Documentation to be submitted To facilitate the needs of the Tender Committee in the evaluation process, all proposals submitted must follow the following format. Failure to supply all or any part of the requested information in the required format may result in a proposal being excluded from the evaluation process. Section 1 Background information on your firm. Section 2 Organisation chart for your firm or, in the case of multi-office firms, an organisation chart for the local office responsible for this contract. This should include the total number of staff within each department together with the number of staff (and full-time equivalents) working on internal audit assignments. Section 3 Details of previous experience of providing internal audit services to the public sector, the voluntary sector and the Registered Social Landlord/Housing Association sector. The Association is seeking a provider that is fully familiar with the operating environment and regulatory issues faced by Housing Associations. Please provide details of all Registered Social Landlords/Housing Association that your firm currently acts for. State what type of service is provided, when the contract commenced and the number of days internal audit service provided per annum. Habinteg want to take up references from at least two of your current clients. Our intention is to select these from the list that you provide to us. We will contact tenderers to advise which clients we shall be contacting and obtain contact points from you. Section 4 Personnel and employment details of the audit team should be provided in this section of your proposal. This section should include: Name of employee; job title; internal audit qualifications; other professional qualifications; date that they joined your firm; current and previous work experience; Please include a table setting out the experience of the RSL/Housing Association sector, for each member of your nominated team i.e. Name
Job Title
Date of joining office servicing our contract
No of years RSL/Housing Association Experience
Please include a table showing the level of input from each grade nominated in your team: Partner or Director Manager Assistant Manager Other Qualified Part Qualified (MIIA, PIIA, QICA) Part Qualified (Other) Junior Total
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INTERNAL AUDIT SERVICES
HABINTEG HOUSING ASSOCIATION (ULSTER) LTD
Section 5 Methodology Assessment of audit needs The successful firm will be expected to undertake an assessment of audit needs and present its findings along with a strategic plan for internal audit to the Association for consideration and approval. Please provide details of your approach to the assessment of audit needs, including the key stages of the process and whom this would involve. Audit fieldwork Please outline your approach to audit fieldwork, including the level of input that you would expect from Association staff Audit reporting Please provide an example of your standard report template(s) Section 6 Price Please outline your fees (including expenses) for the following activities. Tenderers should note that the Association expects these rates to remain constant1 for the duration of the contract: Daily Rate (£)
Additional Daily Costs (£)
Assessment of Audit Needs Operational Audit Other (please specify) Section 7 Quality is a key concern to the Association. Tenderers should set out the arrangements within their firm for ensuring that quality exists throughout the internal audit process. Reference should be made to the relevant Institute of Internal Auditor – UK and Ireland standards. Section 8 Please provide the following additional information with your proposal: a copy of your Health & Safety Policy Statement; a copy of your Equal Opportunities policy; details of any rulings against your firm in respect of equality legislation; details of your firm’s Professional Indemnity Insurance.
1
Subject only to an RPI increase
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INTERNAL AUDIT SERVICES
HABINTEG HOUSING ASSOCIATION (ULSTER) LTD
Section D ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Anyone requiring additional information should contact: David Duly Chief Executive Habinteg Housing Association (Ulster) Ltd 22Hibernia Street Holywood Co Down BT18 9JE Tel: (028) 90427211 Email:
[email protected] Any requests for additional information will be collated by the Association and a composite response sent to all firms who have been invited to tender.
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