Guidance for an Audit Visit

1. Introduction
Hampshire Supporting undertake Audit Visits in order to verify the accuracy
and quality of the information on which your performance data is based.
These notes are intended to inform you of what an Audit Visit will involve.
These visits will normally take place about four weeks after the submission
date for the quarterly performance indicator return and we will be auditing the
performance information on which you have based your returns and also any
client record or outcomes data that has been submitted to the Client Record
Data Office at St Andrews University. Looking at the most recent returns will
form the basis of the visit but it should be noted that we may need to look at
the information relating to previous returns too.
These visits will be undertaken to a sample of services selected at random
from all of those that we fund.
We may also undertake these visits to services where we have specific
concerns about the quality or accuracy of the data we have been provided
with. In these circumstances they may occur at other times and we may give
you less notice.

2. Purpose of the visit

As the SP administering authority we need to be sure that all of the
information provided by you by way of the quarterly performance indicator,
client record data and outcomes returns is accurate. The member of our staff
undertaking the visit will verify that all of the information provided can be
evidenced by the records that you hold. This will involve checking records
relating to the areas outlined in Section 5 below.

3. Notice to be given
You will normally be informed by the end of the third week of the quarter if you
have been selected for an audit visit. We will aim to provide you with a
minimum of two weeks notice of when we intend to carry out the visit. We do
reserve the right however, to reduce this notice where we have serious
concerns about the information you have provided.

4. Who we will need to meet

We will need to meet the person within your organisation responsible for
completing the Performance Indicator Workbooks each quarter along with the
person responsible for submitting data to St Andrews. If the Workbooks and
forms for St Andrews are completed by a member of staff located at a site
other than the actual service whose records we are auditing, we may need to
meet both the people responsible for submitting the data and the person at
the actual service responsible for providing him/her with the information to be
submitted. It is envisaged that the visit will be undertaken at the location
where the source data is kept although we are aware that the visit may have
to be split between the actual service and a central office if information is held
in both places. The actual format of the day will be discussed with you when
the date for the visit is arranged.

5. What we will be looking at

We need to ensure that all of the information provided in the returns is correct
and as such we will be asking to see records relating to the following:

5.1 Eligibility to receive SP Funding for service

(This will only apply to long-term services)
It is necessary for you to be able to provide records to show that your clients
are in receipt of Housing Benefit.

5.2 Capacity and availability

(This will only apply to Accommodation Based services)
This will involve checking the number of rooms/units at the service address
and looking at your records that show which rooms/units have been available
during the relevant period.

5.3 Utilisation
We will need to see details of the start and end dates for each of your clients
and details of whether any rooms/units have been vacant between clients.

5.4 Throughputs and departures

Details will have to be provided of the clients who were registered at the close
of the quarter. We will also need to see your records that show details of
clients that have left the service during the quarter. You should also be able to
provide us with information about where these clients have moved on to and
be able to confirm the total number of clients that you have supported during
the quarter.

5.5 Length of stay

In order for us to be able to clarify that your service is correctly described as a
short or long term service, we will need to see records of the date that each
client registered with your service.

5.6 Staffing

We have to be able to confirm that the support hours that you are contracted
to deliver are being delivered. It will be necessary for us to have access to
records showing the members of staff employed at the service. We will need
to see records of the hours they have worked during the quarter along with
leave and sickness records. It may be necessary for us to see the records
relating to other services where a member of staff carries out duties at more
than one service. If you have employed any locum staff during the quarter we
will also need to see records showing how may hours were worked by them.

5.7 St Andrews Data

We will need to see evidence that shows that the information submitted in
either the client record data forms or the outcomes forms is correct. This will
involve checking that client characteristics have been recorded correctly and
in the case of the outcomes forms will require the support plan to be checked.
(It should of course be noted that both the client record data and outcomes
data is confidential and the member of our staff will not need to see named
documents but it should be possible to identify the record from the client
/tenant code used on the form submitted to St Andrews

5.8 Miscellaneous
5.8.1 Care Leavers
If the service works with Care Leavers, we need to be satisfied that records
are kept showing details of the start and end dates of the service for the Care
Leaver.

5.8.2Your additional comments

If any additional information has been added to the comments box in the
Workbook, you must be able to provide evidence to substantiate it.

5.8.3 Procedures
We also wish to ensure that there are written procedures in place relating to
the completion of the PI workbook, Client Record Forms and Outcomes
Forms which could be used by other members of staff if necessary.

6. Reporting back to you

Following the Audit Visit, a report will be prepared and a copy will be sent to
your organisation. We will aim to ensure that this is sent to you within two
weeks of the visit.
If there are any concerns highlighted in the report, we will ask you to submit
an action plan to remedy them. You will be given a date by which this must be
done and will be required to notify us when the plan has been implemented so
that arrangements can be made for us to visit again if necessary. It should be
noted that failure to comply may result in you being in breach of your contract
with us.
We do reserve the right to request more information or to undertake further
visits if we feel we have been unable to obtain all of the necessary information
to prepare the report.

7. Enquiries/further information
If you have any enquiries relating to this guidance, please contact the
Supporting People Contract Support Officer responsible for your service.