Item 3 - DRAFT Minute of Audit Committee - 11 June 2025
West Dunbartonshire Council · 24 September 2025
Back to Audit Committee — 24 September 2025 and its agenda
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AUDIT COMMITTEE At a Meeting of the Audit Committee held in Civic Space, 16 Church Street, Dumbarton on Wednesday, 11 June 2025 at 2.00 p.m. Present: Provost Karen Murray Conaghan and Councillors Ian Dickson, Fiona Hennebry, John Miller, Martin Rooney, Gordon Scanlan, and Sophie Traynor. Attending: Peter Hessett, Chief Executive; Laurence Slavin, Chief Officer – Resources; Andi Priestman, Shared Service Manager – Audit and Fraud; Julie Slavin, Chief Financial Officer – HSCP; Carol Alderson, Finance Manager; Craig Wilson, Maintenance Manager; Andrew Brown, Senior Education Officer; Tom Reid, External Auditor – Forvis Mazars and Lynn Straker, Committee Officer. Apologies: Apologies for absence were intimated on behalf of Councillor Clare Steel. Councillor Gordon Scanlan in the Chair DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST It was noted that there were no declarations of interest in any of the items of business on the agenda. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING The Minutes of Meeting of the Audit Committee held on 19 February 2025 were submitted and approved as a correct record. OPEN FORUM The Committee noted that no open forum questions had been submitted by members of the public. INTERNAL AUDIT PLAN 2024/25 – PROGRESS TO 30 APRIL 2025 A report was submitted by Chief Officer – Resources advising Members of progress to 30 April 2025 against the Internal Audit Plan for 2024/25.
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After discussion and having heard the Shared Service Manager – Audit and Fraud and the Maintenance Manager in further explanation of the report and in answer to Members’ questions, the Committee agreed to note the content of this report. PUBLIC INTEREST DISCLOSURES AND OTHER INTERNAL AUDIT INVESTIGATIONS 1 NOVEMBER 2024 TO 31 MARCH 2025 A report was submitted by Chief Officer – Resources advising Members of the outcome of investigations into allegations and disclosures in line with public interest disclosure and business irregularities policies received by Internal Audit between 1 November 2024 and 31 March 2025. After discussion and having heard the Shared Service Manager – Audit and Fraud and the Maintenance Manager in further explanation of the report and in answer to Members’ questions, the Committee agreed to note the content of this report. EXTERNAL AUDIT PROGRESS REPORT A report was submitted by Director of External Auditor – Forvis Mazars, providing an update on the External Audit Progress report. After discussion and having heard the External Auditor and Chief Officer - Resources in further explanation of the report and in answer to Members’ questions, the Committee agreed to note the External Audit Progress Report and note the update to the External Audit Strategy and Plan. EXTERNAL AUDIT ENQUIRIES – 2023/24 ACCOUNTS A report was submitted by Chief Officer – Resources informing Members of External Audit’s requirement for the provision of information regarding the Council’s approach to dealing with fraud, litigation, laws and regulations as part of their audit of the Council’s 2023/24 Statement of Accounts and 2023/24 Trust Accounts. After discussion and having heard the Chief Officer - Resources in further explanation of the report and in answer to Members’ questions, the Committee agreed:- (1) to consider the enquiries for those charged with governance for the 2023/24 Council Accounts and 2023/24 Trust Accounts; and (2) to approve the submission of the draft responses set out in Appendix 1 for the Council and appendix 2 for the Trust Funds to the Council’s external auditors. INTERNAL AUDIT ANNUAL REPORT TO 31 MARCH 2025 A report was submitted by Chief Officer – Resources advising Members of the work undertaken by Internal Audit in respect of the 2024/25 Annual Audit Plan and
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advising Members of the contents of the Assurance Statement given to Members of West Dunbartonshire Council, the Chief Executive and the Section 95 Officer (Chief Officer - Resources) in support of the Annual Governance Statement. This report outlines how audit assurances are obtained. After discussion and having heard the Chief Executive and the Shared Service Manager – Audit and Fraud in further explanation of the report and in answer to Members’ questions, the Committee agreed to note the contents of this report. ANNUAL REPORT ON THE AUDIT COMMITTEE A report was submitted by Chief Officer – Resources providing Members with the Audit Committee Chair’s 2024/25 Annual Report on the Audit Committee. After discussion and having heard the Shared Service Manager – Audit and Fraud and the Chief Officer - Resources in further explanation of the report and in answer to Members’ questions, the Committee agreed:- (1) to review and endorse the Chair’s Annual Report on the Audit Committee for 2024/25; and (2) that the report should be presented to a future meeting of the Council in line with best practice guidance. REVIEW OF INTERNAL AUDIT CHARTER A report was submitted by Chief Officer – Resources providing Members with the updated Internal Audit Charter (the Charter) for approval. It was noted the Charter defines the terms of reference for the Council’s Internal Audit function to carry out its role to enable the Chief Audit Executive to prepare the annual Internal Audit opinion on the adequacy of the Council’s overall control environment. After discussion and having heard the Shared Service Manager – Audit and Fraud in further explanation of the report, the Committee agreed to approve the revised Internal Audit Charter. CODE OF GOOD GOVERNANCE AND ANNUAL GOVERNANCE STATEMENT 2024/25 A report was submitted by Chief Officer – Resources advising Members of the outcome of the annual self-evaluation undertaken of the Council’s compliance with its Code of Good Governance and inviting Members to consider the Annual Governance Statement that will be published in the Council’s Abstract of Accounts. After discussion and having heard the Shared Service Manager – Audit and Fraud in further explanation of the report, the Committee agreed:-
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(1) to note the outcome of the recent self-evaluation process in considering how the Council currently meets the agreed Code of Good Governance, together with the issues identified and improvement actions; and (2) to consider the detail of the Annual Governance Statement and approve the actions identified by management to improve the internal control environment. TREASURY MANAGEMENT STRATEGY AND ANNUAL INVESTMENT STRATEGY A report was submitted by Chief Officer – Resources providing Members with the opportunity to further scrutinise the Treasury Management Strategy Statement and Annual Investment Strategy and the indicators contained within. After discussion and having heard the Finance Manager in further explanation of the report and in answer to Members’ questions, the Committee agreed:- (1) to approve the proposed Treasury Management Strategy Statement and Annual Investment Strategy and the indicators contained within; (2) to approve the continued use of the Asset Life Method (using either annuity or equal instalment) for the repayment of loan fund advances with the exception of spend to save schemes where the funding/income profile method could be used; (3) to approve the ability to continue to use countries with a sovereign rating of AA and above; (4) to note the removal of Lender Option Borrowing Option as an approved source of borrowing; and (5) to note the report will be referred to Audit Committee for further scrutiny. GLOBAL INTERNAL AUDIT STANDARDS A report was submitted by Chief Officer – Resources informing Members of the new Global Internal Audit Standards (UK public sector) that came into effect from 1 April 2025 and internal audit teams in the public sector will be working to implement these new internal audit standards by 31 March 2026. After discussion and having heard the Chief Officer – Resources and the Shared Service Manager – Audit and Fraud in further explanation of the report and in answer to Members’ questions, the Committee agreed to note the contents of this report and note that further update reports will be provided during 2025/26 in relation to the new Global Internal Audit Standards (UK public sector). The meeting closed at 2.58 p.m.