Issue - meetings

The Committee is asked to:

1.    Note the Internal Audit Progress Report – August 2025 (appendix A); and

2.    Approve the adjustments to the internal audit plan 2025-26.

The Committee received the Internal Audit Progress Report for August 2025 from the Deputy Head of Southern Internal Audit Partnership.

The Deputy Head of Southern Internal Audit Partnership confirmed that due to resource and capacity issues from both internal audit and the Council, work on audits had been delayed, however this was closely monitored by internal audit and senior officers and escalated if required. The Q1 and Q2 Audits for 2025-26 were currently underway, with Q3 and Q4 audits under discussion. The Committee were advised of adjustments to the audit schedule, outstanding actions from previous audits, and the addition of a ‘Commercial Properties’ audit to Q4.  

The Committee suggested it may be helpful to expand the list of officer sponsors of the audit reports. Some members of the Committee expressed concern over timing of individual audits and requested assurances on service robustness until the audit report was delivered. The Committee noted that there was currently not enough information available for the ‘direction of travel’ on audits for a comparison to previous audits.

The Committee resolved to note the internal Audit Progress Report for August 2025 and approve the adjustments to the Internal Audit Plan 2025-26.

Meeting adjourned at 20:38

Meeting reconvened at 20:47