To present to the Committee the progress on outstanding actions identified by the Committee along with general updates on other issues that fall within the responsibilities of the Committee.

Members considered a report (A.6) which updated them on the progress on outstanding actions identified by the Committee along with general updates on other issues that fell within the responsibilities of the Committee.

It was reported that the Table of Outstanding Issues had been reviewed and updated since it had been last considered by the Committee in June 2026. There were three main ongoing elements to this report as follows:

1) Updates against general items raised by the Committee – Appendix A

2) Updates against the 2025/26 Annual Governance Statement Action Plan – Appendix B

3) Updates against recommendations made by the External Auditor –

In terms of items 1 and 3 above, there were no significant issues to raise, with actions remaining in progress or further details set out below.

In respect of the 2025/26 Annual Governance Statement Action Plan, although this remained subject to the Committee’s final approval later in the year once the work of the External Auditor had been completed, for timely and practical reasons the version currently published at the end of June 2026 alongside the Unaudited Statement of Accounts presented the most up to date position for the Committee’s consideration.  Similarly to last year, this approach enabled the actions and associated updates to be considered as early as possible within the Committee’s annual work programme.  Appendix B therefore included outstanding items from last year’s Annual Governance Statement alongside new items for the year.  There were no significant issues to highlight at the present time and actions and activities remained on-going.

In terms of progressing and monitoring recommendations emerging from the work of the External Auditor, several items had been presented as part of the overall outcome from their work on the Council’s 2025/26 Statement of Accounts that had been considered by the Committee on 19 February 2026.  The items identified were broadly a continuation of previous recommendations which remained subject to on-going activities to fully address any outstanding issues. The External Auditor’s most recent report had been considered earlier on in the meeting, which had largely superseded / complemented the existing outstanding items, which would therefore form part of future reports to the Committee.

Review of the Effectiveness of the Audit Committee

It was reported that, following ongoing reviews, including a recent facilitated session with Members, outcomes and conclusions remained subject to being drawn together for presenting to the Committee. As previously highlighted, this had provided a timely opportunity to continue to maximise the input from various stakeholders including Members of the Committee, ahead of reporting the outcomes to the January 2027 meeting of the Committee.

Risk Management Review

Following the update presented to the June 2026 meeting of the Committee, a separate detailed report had been considered earlier on in the meeting.

Local Audit Reform

Members were made aware that following publication of the Government’s response to the consultation in April 2025, the Government had subsequently published “Implementing the New Local Audit System: A Transition Plan” in November 2025.  The plan had provided further details on how the proposed Local Audit Office (LAO) would be established and how responsibilities would be transitioned from existing organisations over several years.  The Government had confirmed that the initial focus of the LAO would be on coordinating audit quality and oversight, auditor appointments, addressing the audit backlog and rebuilding assurance where audit opinions had been disclaimed as part of the backlog recovery process. 

The Government had also reported progress in reducing the historic audit backlog. In an earlier response, it had stated that the backstop programme had resulted in approximately 95% of local bodies publishing audited accounts for all financial years up to and including 2022/23. However, the Government had recognised that recovery of the system and rebuilding assurance would take time and that wider structural reform remained necessary.  The Government continued to position the establishment of the Local Audit Office as the central mechanism for creating a more streamlined and coordinated local audit system.

The reform programme had now moved from the consultation and policy development stage into a transition and implementation phase, with the Government publishing the aforementioned transition plan.

Whilst there were no immediate changes to the Committee’s statutory responsibilities, the transition programme had indicated that further changes to local audit oversight, reporting arrangements and guidance were likely as the reforms were implemented. Officers would continue to update Members on developments relating to the establishment of the Local Audit Office, the ongoing management of the national audit backlog and any future changes to audit committee requirements, financial reporting expectations or auditor appointment arrangements.

Exemption from Procurement Procedure Rules Register

As discussed in an earlier report, the Council’s External Auditors had identified that an Exemption from Procurement Procedure Rules Register should be maintained and at its June 2026 meeting the Committee had been represented with the first iteration of the required register.

In line with the requirement that all waivers must be registered and reported to the Council’s Audit Committee, the register would be reported to the Committee on an annual basis as set out within their work programme (it was currently scheduled to be presented to the June meeting of the Committee each year).

RIPA – Regulatory Investigatory Powers Act 2000

The Authority had not conducted any RIPA activity in the period under review, and it was rare that it would be required to do so.

Whistleblowing (inform the Committee of any activity under the Whistleblowing Policy as part of the monitoring arrangements since the adoption of its policy in July 2023).

The Committee was informed that there was a notification required as detailed below.

It was moved by Councillor Fairley, seconded by Councillor Steady and:-

RESOLVEDthat the updates set out within this report (A.6) be formally noted.