Issue - meetings

To receive the Internal Audit Annual Report 2024/25, the Audit Committee Annual Report 2024/25 and the 2024/25 Annual Audit Plan.

The Principal Auditor and the Audit, Governance & Procurement Lead Manager presented the Internal Audit Annual Report 2024-25, the Audit Committee Annual Report, 2024-25 and the 2025-26 Annual Audit Plan.

Planned resources of 610 days had been allocated, but due to some unplanned assignments some of the audits had been deferred and this amended the total planned time to 422 days.  Audit Committee had been kept updated during the municipal year and at the end of 2024/25 some audits had been rescheduled.

The Chief Internal Auditor Annual Opinion gave reasonable assurance as set out in the report. 

In relation to report issues and gradings, green, yellow and red reports had decreased but there had been an increase in amber reports from the previous year.

The Internal Audit team had achieved or exceeded all of its KPIs that had been set and customer satisfaction surveys showed a 100% satisfaction rate

The Internal Audit Plan 2025/26 set out details of the Council’s statutory obligation to provide assurance as part of the its corporate governance framework and effective management of risks. To ensure effective use of resources, reasonable assurance was provided through the development of the annual Audit Plan. The Plan was risk-based with areas of concern identified by management and from intelligence-led information.  The Plan had been drawn up on available resources and 628 days plus a two percent contingency had been allocated for 2025/26, although the Plan remained dynamic and could change throughout the year. 

In response to a question regarding preventative measures that were in place to prevent fraud and misuse of public monies or public resources, Members were informed that there had not been many cases.  There were good open channels of dialogue where any concerns could be highlighted.

Members were also advised that the Council ensured that the right controls were in place in respect of direct payments to ensure that assessments were, and remained, accurate and valid.  There was an ongoing role for the Financial Case Management Team to ensure the spend was appropriate.  An audit of Direct Payments is planned during 2025/26, to provide assurance to the Committee that processes are being followed.

Upon being put to the vote it was, unanimously:

RESOLVED - that:

a)    the Internal Audit Annual Report for 2024/25 be noted;

b)   the Internal Audit Plan 2025/26 be approved; and

c)    the operations of the Audit Committee for 2024/25 be noted.