Council must tighten up at school tills

Alert after probe into‘missing’cash

26.05.2018 Council bosses investigated claims that cash had gone missing from a primary school canteen till.

The probe centred on allegations that teaching staff were paying for meals that were not being recorded through the cash register.

Auditors were drafted in to investigate after management at the unnamed school reported the issue to Renfrewshire Council chiefs.

A report before the council’s Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Board explains how investigators tried to obtain CCTV footage from the canteen area but found it was not covered by cameras.

They also interviewed catering staff and a number of teachers, along with a thorough trawl through till receipts and takings.

They found that takings were being banked correctly and on time, however adult meals were not being recorded as paid.

The catering investigation eventually found all allegations to be false but made a number of recommendations to tighten up procedures to recording catering income in schools across Renfrewshire.

The report noted: “There is no evidence to substantiate the allegation made.

“While the auditor is satisfied that the allegation was made in good faith, it is the auditor’s opinion that the allegation is unreliable as it was based on a third-hand conversation where the two original officers have different recollections of their conversation.”

The report explained the key risk found was: “Procedures for recording catering income are inadequate due to a lack of segregation of duties.”

Two key outcomes were identified as a result of the internal inquiry.

The first was to remind all catering managers and supervisors of the procedures that should be followed for the selling of catering goods and collection of income.

The second, was that a refresher on the financial procedures manual should be included within the regular catering managers’ meetings and in the next catering managers’ training day with the information passed on to all staff.