Agenda

All Members present are required to declare, at this point in the meeting or as soon as possible thereafter:

(i)         any disclosable pecuniary interests and / or

(ii)        other interests arising under the Code of Conduct

in respect of any item(s) of business being considered at this meeting.

The Committee is asked to confirm as a true record the Minutes of the inaugural Meeting of the Committee held on 20 May 2026 (attached) and to authorise the Chair to sign them.

The Committee is requested to note its Terms of Reference as agreed by the Shadow Authority at its meeting of 20 May 2026 and as detailed in section 3-B5 of the Constitution (excerpt attached).

This report sets out proposals for appointing the Council’s external auditor for the accounts audit for the three-year period 2027/28 to 2029/30.

Surrey County Council and the District and Borough Councils in Surrey have opted into the ‘appointing person’ national auditor appointment arrangements, established by Public Sector Audit Appointments (PSAA), for the period covering the external audit of the councils’ accounts for 2023/34 to 2027/28.  PSAA recently extended the current national auditor appointment arrangements for a further two-year period to cover the audits of local bodies for 2028/29 and 2029/30 through mutual agreement with the appointed audit firms.  The existing arrangements therefore cover the audit of the existing councils’ accounts for 2026/27, the final year they will produce accounts. 

East Surrey Council has the right to join the national scheme.  To ensure consistency and ease of administration in the procurement and appointment of an auditor, it is recommended that East Surrey Council opt in to the national auditor appointment arrangements through PSAA (soon to become the Local Audit Office) for the period 2027/28 to 2029/30.

The Committee is requested to note its forward work programme for 2026-27.