251120 Minute
North Ayrshire Council · 29 January 2026
Back to Audit and Scrutiny Committee — 29 January 2026 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 20 November 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, Cameron Inglis and Donald L. Reid. Present (Remote Participation) Eleanor Collier, Davina McTiernan and Donald Reid. In Attendance D. Hammond, Executive Director; Y. Baulk, Head of Housing and Public Protection (Communities and Housing); C. Cameron, Director of Health and Social Care Partnership; and A. Johnson, Principal Manager (HSCP Business Admin) (Health and Social Care Partnership); M. Boyd, Head of Finance; A. Fenton, Team Manager (Audit); A. Fitzharris, Team Manager (Risk); K. Gray, Team Manager; and H. Ward, Fraud Investigator (Corporate Fraud) (Finance); A. McClelland, Head of Education (Education); T. Reaney, Head of Neighbourhood Services (Place); F. Walker, Head of People and ICT; J. McNeil, Senior Manager (IT Services); and T. Riddick, Team Manager (Customer Services); A. Craig, Head of Democratic Services; S. Wilson, Committee Services Officer, and J. Hutcheson, Senior Communications Officer (Media and Internal Communications) (Democratic Services) (Corporate Services). Chair Councillor Bell in the Chair. Apologies Tom Marshall, Matthew McLean and John Sweeney. 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 28 August 2025 and (b) the Special Meeting of the Audit and Scrutiny Committee held on 23 September 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. Audit and Scrutiny Committee Self-Evaluation 2025 Submitted report by the Head of Democratic Services reporting on the outcome of the annual self-evaluation of the Audit & Scrutiny Committee. The 2025 self- evaluation was attached at Appendix 1 to the report.
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The Committee agreed to (a) note the findings of the self-evaluation, as set out at Appendix 1 to the report; and (b) repeat the self-evaluation exercise on an annual basis. 4. Corporate Fraud Team: Mid-year Update Submitted a report by the Head of Finance providing an update on the work of the Corporate Fraud Team between April and September 2025. Officers responded to Members’ questions and the Committee agreed to note the work carried out by the Corporate Fraud Team. 5. Internal Audit and Corporate Fraud Action Plans: Quarter 2 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 September 2025. The ‘Actions due by 30 September 2025 but not started or partially completed’ was attached at Appendix 1 to the report. Officers responded to Members’ questions and the Committee agreed to note the current position with the implementation of Internal Audit and Corporate Fraud actions. 6. Internal Audit Plan 25/26: Mid-year Update Submitted report by the Head of Finance providing an update on progress made in delivering the 2025/26 Internal Audit Plan. The Internal Audit Plan 2025/26 Quarters 1 & 2 and Additions to the Internal Audit Plan 2025/26 for Quarters 3 & 4 were attached at Appendix 1 and 2, respectively, to the report. The Rolling Internal Audit Plan was attached at Appendix 3 to the report. Officers responded to Members’ questions and the Committee agreed to (a) note the current position with the 2025/26 internal audit plan and (b) approve the inclusion of eight additional audit reviews in 2025/26. 7. Strategic Risk Register 2025/26: Mid-year Update Submitted report by the Head of Finance providing an update on the progress with actions related to the Strategic Risk Register attached at Appendix 1 to the report. Officers responded to Members’ questions and the Committee agreed to note the mid- year update on the 2025/26 Strategic Risk Register. 8. IJB Annual Report 2024/25 and Audit Plan 2025/26 Submitted report by the Head of Finance informing of the IJB’s annual report for 2024/25 and the approved internal audit plan for 2025/26. Officers responded to Members’ questions and the Committee agreed to note the IJB annual report and approved internal audit plan.
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9. Internal Audit Reports Issued Submitted report by the Head of Finance informing of the findings of Internal Audit work completed since August 2025. Officers responded to Members’ questions and the Committee considered the outcomes from the Internal Audit work completed. 10. Standing Item of Business : Consideration of Future Business for Scrutiny There were no future reports requested by the Committee. 11. 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. 12. Internal Audit Reports Issued Submitted report by the Head of Finance informing the Committee of the findings of Internal Audit work completed since August 2025. Officers responded to Members’ questions and the Committee agreed to the recommendation noted in the report. The meeting ended at 11.15 a.m. The full meeting proceedings can be viewed at https://north-ayrshire.public-i.tv/core/portal/home