Issue - meetings

As required by the Global Internal Audit Standards in UK Public Sector this report presents the Internal Audit Progress Report 2025-26 (February 2026). The report provides the Audit and Scrutiny Committee with an overview of internal audit activity and assurance work completed in accordance with the approved audit plan and provides an overview of key updates relevant to the discharge of the committee’s role in relation to internal audit.

The Committee received a report that presented the Internal Audit Progress Report 2025-26 (February 2026). The report provided an overview of internal audit activity and assurance work completed in accordance with the approved audit plan and provides an overview of key updates relevant to the discharge of the committee’s role in relation to internal audit.

The following matters were considered:

a)    A Member questioned why restricted reports only referred to the relevant paragraph of Part One of Schedule 12 to the Local Government Act and not the assessment undertaken as to the public interest as set out in annex 4.4 of the Council’s Operating Framework. The Principal Solicitor responded that the restriction would have been an officer decision and that it was not usual practice to include a public interest statement on restricted reports but would take this away for consideration.

Following consideration, it was unanimously resolved to:

(1)           Note the internal audit progress report 2025-26 (February 2026) from Southern Internal Audit Partnership (SIAP) attached at Appendix 1.