Minute of Meeting of Audit and Risk Committee of 1 December 2025 for Approval
Perth and Kinross Council · 23 March 2026
Back to Audit and Risk Committee — 23 March 2026 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
Page 1
DRAFT Audit and Risk Committee Minute of hybrid meeting of the Audit and Risk Committee held in the Council Chambers on Wednesday 1 December 2025 at 1.00pm. Present: Councillors D Illingworth, B Brawn, A Chan, L Barrett, I MacPherson and G Stewart. In Attendance: T Glen, Chief Executive; S Walker, Chief Finance Officer; L Simpson, Strategic Lead – Legal and Governance; J Clark, K Molley, A Brown and M Pasternak (all Legal and Governance); S Cooper and S Wilson (Children, Families and Justice) Z Robertson and S Thomson (Health and Social Care Partnership). Apology: Councillor K Harvey Also in Attendance: R Browne and P Bryan (Audit Scotland). Councillor D Illingworth, Convener, Presiding. 1. Welcome and Apologies/Substitutions The Convener welcomed everyone to the meeting and gave a special welcome to Councillor B Brawn as the new Vice-Convener. The Convener also thanked Councillor C Stewart for his contributions on the committee since 2022. An apology was noted as above. 2. Declarations of Interest There were no declarations of interest made in terms of the Councillors’ Code of Conduct. 3. Minute of Meeting of the Audit and Risk Committee of 17 September 2025 for Approval The minute of meeting of the Audit and Risk Committee of 17 September 2025 was submitted and approved as a correct record. 4. Outstanding Business Statement Resolved: The contents of the Outstanding Business Statement, be noted and it was agreed to remove the completed actions. 5. Draft 2024/25 Annual Accounts (Audited) Draft 2024/25 Annual Audit Report There was submitted a report by Chief Finance Officer (25/330) presenting the Council’s draft 2024/25 Annual Accounts (Audited) in accordance with the Local
Page 2
DRAFT Authority Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2014 and draft 2024/25 Annual Audit Report. R Browne, Audit Scotland, provided a summary of the Audit Scotland’s Draft 2024/25 Annual Audit Report. The Convener asked the Chief Executive to make a statement about the inclusion of termination payments. T Glen confirmed he was content with Audit Scotland’s findings and advised that significant conversations had been held with colleagues from Audit Scotland over the period. T Glen referred to the recent instance where a senior post had left the organisation. T Glen confirmed the process was carried out in line with the governance procedures and the organisation’s Scheme of Delegation which led to a mutually agreed departure. T Glen added that verbal updates were provided to the appropriate Elected Members at the time to advise them of the situation. The Vice-Convener queried if the Chief Finance Officer was satisfied that procedures in place are robust to protect the Council from fraud. S Walker confirmed that a lot of work was involved in providing assurance that the correct measures are in place. Internal controls are scrutinised by Internal Audit and the organisation’s systems and controls are assessed by Audit Scotland which would be reported annually to the Audit and Risk Committee. Audit Scotland are in contact with the Chief Finance Officer and Chief Internal Auditor to see if they have any concerns. S Walker reassured members that the measures in place are robust as far as possible to protect the organisation from fraud. Councillor A Chan queried how exit packages are calculated. L Simpson confirmed that it would depend on the nature of the exit. If the exit was for redundancy or voluntary severance, the payment would be set out in terms of regulations and calculations would be carried out through a formulaic approach. S Walker added that work would be carried out internally with HR and if appropriate the Tayside Pension Fund on the process. Members thanked officers from Audit Scotland for their report Members thanked S Walker and his teams for the preparation of the Accounts. Members thanked J Clark for the reassurance from internal audit. Resolved: (i) The 2024/25 Audited Annual Accounts, be approved. (ii) The Leader of the Council, the Chief Executive and the Chief Finance Officer be authorised to sign the 2024/25 Audited Annual Accounts and the Chief Finance Officer be authorised to sign the Letter of Representation. (iii) The contents of Audit Scotland’s Draft 2024/25 Annual Audit Report, be noted.
Page 3
DRAFT 6. INTERNAL AUDIT FOLLOW-UP There was submitted a report by Chief Internal Auditor (25/331) presenting a summary of Internal Audit’s follow-up work that relate to actions completed up to September 2025. Resolved: The current position in respect of the agreed actions arising from Internal Audit’s work, be noted. 7. INTERNAL AUDIT UPDATE There was submitted a report by Chief Internal Auditor (25/332) presenting a summary of Internal Audit’s work undertaken as part of the Internal Audit Plans for 2024/25 and 2025/26. Resolved: The progress with Internal Audit activity, be noted. 8. 24-03 Multi-Agency Screening-Hub (MASH) There was submitted a report by Chief Internal Auditor (25/333) presenting an audit undertaken on Multi-Agency Screening Hub (MASH) as part of the Internal Audit Plan for 2024-25, which was approved by the Audit & Risk Committee on the 24th of June 2024. Councillor I Macpherson referred to a statement in the report that ‘there were no limitations identified that would impact the Audit. However, we were not able to comment on the effectiveness of the arrangements of the partner agencies’ and queried if this was standard practice across other Local Authorities for similar events. J Clark confirmed that the process was consistent as internal audit do not look at the effectiveness from the partner agencies perspective. The Convener asked the Chief Internal Auditor if she was content that all the actions she had recommended had been implemented. J Clark advised that she had not yet asked for evidence for the November dates. S Cooper added that work was currently being undertaken to update the Memorandum of Understanding and to improve the administration of sharing information. S Cooper confirmed that those actions should be completed by the end of December. Members thanked J Clark, her team and other relevant officers for their work in the audit. Resolved: The contents of Report 25/333, be noted.
Page 4
DRAFT IT WAS AGREED THAT THE PUBLIC AND PRESS SHOULD BE EXCLUDED DURING CONSIDERATION OF THE FOLLOWING ITEM IN ORDER TO AVOID THE DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION WHICH IS EXEMPT IN TERMS OF SCHEDULE 7A TO THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT (SCOTLAND) ACT 1973 P1. Internal Audit – Health and Social Care Partnership There was submitted a report by Chief Internal Auditor (25/335) regarding an investigation at a Care Home in Perth and Kinross in accordance with the Council’s Whistleblowing Policy. Resolved: The contents of Report 25/335, be noted.