Minutes
North Ayrshire Council · 20 November 2025
Back to Audit and Scrutiny Committee — 20 November 2025 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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Audit and Scrutiny Committee 28 August 2025 At a Meeting of the Audit and Scrutiny Committee of North Ayrshire Council at 2.00 p.m. involving participation by remote electronic means and physical attendance within the Council Chambers, Irvine. Present (Physical Participation) John Bell, Eleanor Collier, Cameron Inglis and Donald L. Reid. Present (Remote Participation) Davina McTiernan In Attendance (Physical Participation) R. McCutcheon, Executive Director (Place); M. Boyd, Head of Service, J. McCallum, Senior Manager (Audit, Fraud, Safety and Risk) (Finance); F. Walker, Head of Service (People and ICT); R. Leith, Head of Service (Connected Communities); A. McClelland, Head of Service (Education); E. Currie, Principal Manager (Finance) (Health and Social Care Partnership); Raymond Lynch, Senior Manager (Legal Services), C. Cheung, Digital, Media and Marketing Analyst (Communications) and H. Young, Senior Committee Services Officer (Democratic Services) (Corporate Services). Chair Councillor Bell in the Chair. Apologies Tom Marshall and John Sweeney. Due to a technical issue with the remote meeting platform, Councillor McTiernan was unable to participate in meeting. 1. Declarations of Interest There were no declarations of interest by Members in terms of Standing Order 11 and Section 5 of the Code of Conduct for Councillors. 2. Minutes The accuracy of the Minutes of (a) the Meeting of the Audit and Scrutiny Committee held on 29 May 2025 and (b) the Special Meeting of the Audit and Scrutiny Committee held on 19 June 2025 will be confirmed and the Minutes signed in accordance with Paragraph 7 (1) of Schedule 7 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. 3. 2024/25 Elected Member Requests Report Submitted report by the Head of Democratic Services informing of the Council's performance relating to Elected Member requests handled in Financial Year 2024/25.
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Officers responded to Members’ questions and the Committee agreed to note the report and the information provided. 4. 2024/25 Complaint Report Submitted report by the Head of Democratic Services informing of the Council's complaint performance and volumes and trends of complaints received in Financial Year 2024/25. The North Ayrshire Council Annual Complaint Report 2024 to 2025 was attached at Appendix 1 to the report. Officers responded to Members’ questions and the Committee agreed to note the report and the information provided. 5. Elected Member Development Submitted report by the Head of Democratic Services providing information and seeking views on the development sessions provided to Elected Members over the 12 months from September 2024 to August 2025, and on future planned development sessions. Officers responded to Members’ questions and the Committee noted the report and provided feedback (a) on the Elected Member Development sessions held in the period September 2024 to August 2025; (b) on means to support Elected Member attendance; (c) on how future programmes might be improved; (d) the future development sessions scheduled to date; and (e) to suggest additional topics for the next year. 6. Accounts Commission’s Briefing: Local Government Budgets 2025/26 Submitted report by the Head of Finance informing of the key messages identified within the recently published briefing. The Local Government Budgets 2025/26 was attached at Appendix 1 to the report. Officers responded to Members’ questions and the Committee noted (a) the key messages within the recent Accounts Commission briefing; and (b) the current position of North Ayrshire Council in relation to the key messages. 7. Internal Audits Reports Issued Submitted report by the Head of Finance informing of the findings of Internal Audit work completed since May 2025. Officers responded to Members’ questions and the Committee noted the outcomes from the Internal Audit work completed. 8. Internal Audit and Corporate Fraud Action Plans: Quarter 1 Update Submitted report by the Head of Finance advising on the progress made by Council Services in implementing the agreed actions from Internal Audit and Corporate Fraud reports as at 30 June 2025.
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Officers responded to Members’ questions and the Committee agreed to (a) note the current position with the implementation of Internal Audit and Corporate Fraud actions; and (b) challenge those Services that have not implemented actions within the previously agreed timescales. 9. Urgent Items There were no urgent items. Exclusion of the Public - Para 1 Resolve in terms of Section 50(A)4 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act1973, to exclude from the Meeting the press and the public for the following item of business on the grounds indicated in terms of Paragraph 1 of Part1 of Schedule 7A of the Act. Non Disclosure of Information In terms of Standing Order 21 (Disclosure of Information), the information contained within the following report is confidential information within the meaning of Section 50A of the 1973 Act and shall not be disclosed to any person by any Member or Officer. 10. Investigation Reports Issued Submitted report by the Head of Finance informing of investigation reports finalised since the last meeting. Officers responded to Members’ questions and the Committee agreed to (a) note the outcomes from the investigations carried out. The meeting ended at 11:25 a.m. The full meeting proceedings can be viewed at https://north-ayrshire.public-i.tv/core/portal/home
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Audit and Scrutiny Committee 23 September 2025 At a Special Meeting of the Audit and Scrutiny Committee of North Ayrshire Council at 10.00 a.m. within the Council Chambers, Irvine. Present John Bell, Eleanor Collier, Davina McTiernan, Donald L. Reid and John Sweeney. In Attendance D. Hammond, Executive Director; Y. Baulk, Head of Housing and Public Protection; and K. Henderson, Team Manager (Business Planning) (Housing and Public Protection) (Communities and Housing); M. Boyd, Head of Finance, D. Forbes, Senior Manager (Strategic Business Partner); and N. Graham, Team Manager (Financial Management and Revenues) (Finance); F. Walker, Head of People and ICT; R. Lynch, Senior Manager (Legal), S. Wilson, Committee Services Officer, and M. Sugden, Communications Officer (Media and Internal Communications) (Democratic Services) (Corporate Services). Also in Attendance F.M. Knight and D. Jamieson, Audit Scotland. Chair Councillor Bell in the Chair. Apologies Tom Marshall 1. Declarations of Interest There were no declarations of interest by Members in terms of Standing Order 11 and Section 5 of the Code of Conduct for Councillors 2. Annual Assurance Statement to the Scottish Housing Regulator 2024/25 Submitted report by the Executive Director (Communities and Housing) advising of the Council’s Annual Return on the Charter 2024/25 submission and seeking approval for its submission to the Scottish Housing Regulator. The North Ayrshire Council Annual Assurance Statement 2024/25 (unsigned), Supporting evidence document 2024/25 and Data corrections spreadsheet - North Ayrshire Council - 2023/24 were attached at Appendices 1-3, respectively, to the report. Officers responded to Members’ questions and the Committee agreed to (a) note (i) the Annual Return on the Charter submission 2024/25, (ii) the supporting evidence provided to demonstrate compliance with the regulatory framework and relevant legislation, (iii) the Council’s areas of non- compliance detailed at paragraphs 2.26- 2.30 and (iv) the amendments which have been made to the Annual Return on the Charter 2023/24 and submitted to the Scottish Housing Regulator; and (b) authorise the Chair to sign the Annual Assurance Statement 2024/25 attached at Appendix 1 to the report, for submission to the Scottish Housing Regulator.
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3. Our Council Plan Year End Progress Reporting including LGBF Analysis Submitted a report by the Head of Democratic Services for consideration and approval of Our Council Plan Year End Progress Reporting including LGBF Analysis. The Local Government Benchmarking Framework (LGBF) - Analysis of June 2025 Data Release, the six-monthly Council Plan 2023-28 Progress Update, Year End 2024/25 and the Annual Performance Report 2024/25 were attached at Appendices 1-3, respectively, to the report. The Chair requested a further report on the process for gathering data in terms of young people’s developmental milestones and the Service's action plan to assist those who are not meeting these milestones be brought to a future meeting of the Audit and Scrutiny Committee. Further information was requested regarding Education performance, whether there is a link between positive destinations and claimant count, Business Gateway start- ups performance relative to other local authorities and the relatively low numbers of people being supported into employment. Officers responded to Members’ questions and the Committee agreed to (a) note (i) progress within the LGBF Report as at June 2025 attached at Appendix 1 to the report, and (ii) that Cabinet approval related to the content of the report, not the layout or media used to ensure future flexibility for production of accessible format reports; and (b) note (i) Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report 1 October to 31 March 2025 attached at Appendix 2 to the report, and (ii) Our Council Plan Annual Performance Report attached at Appendix 3 to the report. 4. External Audit Report on the 2024/25 Audit and Best Value Work Submitted report by the Head of Finance on the Annual Audit and Best Value report for 2024/25 and to consider the verbal report by the external auditor. Appendix 1 to the report included letters of representation to be signed by the Head of Finance as the responsible officer for North Ayrshire Council. The External Auditor’s report, which summarised the findings of their audit, was attached as Appendix 2 to the report. Fiona Mitchell-Knight and David Jamieson of Audit Scotland provided a verbal report on the appendices to the report, including highlighting key aspects in relation to the findings of their audit, and also responded to Members’ questions in relation to their report. Officers responded to Members’ questions and the Committee agreed to (a) note (i) the findings of the 2024/25 audit of the financial statements as contained in the external auditor’s Annual Audit Report at Appendix 2 to the officer’s report, (ii) the agreed Action Plans as outlined in Appendix 1 to the Report; and (b) approve the audited Annual Accounts for signature. Councillor Bell, Chair, thanked the Head of Finance and his team, along with the external audit team, for all their hard work and diligence in terms of this year’s audit process.
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The meeting ended at 10.50 a.m. The full meeting proceedings can be viewed at https://north-ayrshire.public-i.tv/core/portal/home