Issue - meetings

Grant Thornton, as the Council’s appointed External Auditors, have produced a report (Appendix A) which provides an update to Audit & Governance Committee on their progress to date in delivering their responsibilities.

The report includes an update on their audit work. Key points of note are:

·       Financial Statements Audit 2024/25

o   Work on the financial statement audit is nearly complete.

o   The audit findings report is being reported to the Audit & Governance Committee alongside this progress report.

o   The value for money audit is complete and was included in the interim annual auditor report (AAR) presented to this committee in Nov 2025.

o   The AAR report will be updated to include key financial statement audit findings and then issued in final form.

·       Financial Statements Audit 2025/26

o   Plan to undertake planning and early testing prior to the year end to support an earlier completion.

o   In order to prepare for the backstop moving forward over the next two years, plan to finalise the 2025/26 audit by November 2026.

The report also includes a summary of emerging national issues and developments that may be relevant to the Council.

Barrie Morris and Katie Whybray, representing Grant Thornton, the Council’s External Auditor (EA) presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'B' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

The report provided an update from the EA on progress to date in delivering its responsibilities, including an overview of the audit work undertaken and the key points of note in relation to the Financial Statements Audits for 2024/25 and 2025/26. The report also provided a summary of emerging national issues and developments that could be relevant to the Council. The EA representatives drew attention to their work on “After the Backstop”, which included a local audit reset report available via the link provided in Appendix A and plans to run a webinar on 10 February 2026 for audit committee members. Details of the webinar would be circulated to the Committee by email.

The Chief Financial Officer responded to concerns about the process for setting the Council’s 2026/27 budget when the detail of the Government’s funding for SEND support was still unclear. He explained that the Council meeting to set the budget had been switched to later in February to allow sufficient time to take into account the details of the Government’s announcement which was expected during that month. He advised that although 11 March was technically the latest possible date to set the budget, in practical terms it needed to be agreed before then to allow enough time for all statutory processes to be undertaken.

It was noted that this was Katie Whybray’s last committee before moving on to other audit work. Barrie Morris and the Chair on behalf of committee members extended thanks to her for her support.

RESOLVED that the Audit and Governance Committee notes the External Auditor’s progress to date in delivering their responsibilities and the sector update provided.

Voting: Agreed with no dissent