Issue - meetings

The Azets representatives introduced the report which provided a summary of the findings and key issues arising from the 2024/25 audit of the Council.

The Chair thanked the Azets representatives for the report.

Members also conveyed they’re thanks to the Azets representatives for their hard work and commented that the relationship between Azets and the Council felt positive.

Expansion was sought on the operational ‘bottlenecks’ mentioned within the report, and the action being taken to eradicate these.

The Azets representative said that the wording of this recommendation was made by the previous auditor, EY, in their 2022/23 report, and related to the challenges in producing accounts with a lean Finance Team. 

Questions were raised on the risks around Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) and how this was impacting decision making and the Risk Register.

The Committee’s attention was drawn to Item 10 on the agenda, which gave specifics around Members and LGR. They were advised that the financial impact of LGR was not entirely known, as Government had not yet decided on how many unitary councils there would be.

The Director for Finance, Performance and Risk said that he believed that the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) - which was also on the agenda, was robust, but savings would need to be found over the next five years. 

It was moved by Councillor Nicholls and seconded by Councillor Dunlop that that the recommendations, as detailed, be approved.

After being put to the meeting and a vote taken, this motion was declared CARRIED.

RESOLVED – that the external auditor’s Annual Auditors Report (Appendix A) for 2024/25 and any comments be received.