Issue - meetings

Committee is asked to:

1.    Provide input to and approve the Internal Audit Charter 2026-27

2.    Provide input to and approve the Internal Audit Annual Audit Plan 2026-27

Iona Bond, Deputy Head of Southern Internal Audit Partnership (SIAP) attended the meeting to present the Committee with the report to consider the Internal Audit Charter 2026/27 and the Internal Audit Annual Audit Plan 2026/27.

The Deputy Head of SIAP explained that the Internal Audit Charter was presented annually alongside the Audit Plan and set out the mandate, purpose, roles and responsibilities of internal audit, including those of senior management, the Audit Committee, and the audit provider. Members were reminded that the Charter had been substantially updated in the previous year to reflect the Global Internal Audit Standards, and that no further changes had been made since its approval in September.

It was suggested by Councillor Neall that a clearer distinction or glossary explaining the relationship between the audit mandate, strategy and plan would be helpful. He also sought assurance regarding the independence of internal audit, particularly in the context of reviewing the new risk management and governance arrangements being developed with the support of a governance consultant also engaged by the Council. He enquired how the Committee would be assured if the new framework proved less effective than its predecessor.

In response the Deputy Head of SIAP explained that the new governance assurance framework (risk management) was included in the Audit Plan for Quarter 3 and would be subject to a full internal audit review. This would assess how well the framework was embedded, how it operated in practice, and how assurance mapping had changed. The review would be undertaken independently, and findings would be reported transparently through the audit opinion. Comparison would also be made with the previous framework, which had received a limited assurance opinion.

In response to Councillor Nichols’ query whether SIAP met regularly with the new Chief Executive it was confirmed that while the Deputy Head of SIAP did not meet routinely with the Chief Executive on a one?to?one basis, engagement took place through senior management forums and meetings involving the Chair of the Audit Committee. The Charter provided for direct access to the Chief Executive or Chair of the Committee where required.

There were no further questions on the Internal Audit Charter.

The Deputy Head of SIAP explained that the Plan had been developed in the context of a unique and exceptional year, with the Council approaching vesting day as part of Local Government Reorganisation (LGR). Despite this, the Plan followed a risk?based approach, informed by the risk register, assurance mapping, previous audit coverage, the Improvement and Recovery Plan as well as horizon scanning.

Key points highlighted included:

• The audit year would be nine months, as the annual internal audit conclusion for 2026/27 would need to be reported in March 2027.
• All audits contributing to the annual conclusion were therefore scheduled for Quarters 1 to 3, with Quarter 3 focusing largely on follow?up work where previous audits had resulted in limited assurance.
• Certain high?risk areas, including risk management (governance assurance) and procurement, were scheduled for full re?audit due  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20