The Audit Committee of Doncaster Council was scheduled to meet on 24 July 2025 to discuss several key items, including an update on covert surveillance practices, the committee's prospectus and work programme, an internal audit progress report, and the unaudited statement of accounts for 2024/25. The meeting was also set to cover the audit committee action log, and the minutes of the previous meeting.

Unaudited Statement of Accounts 2024/25

The committee was scheduled to review the council's unaudited statement of accounts for the 2024/25 financial year. The report highlighted the overall financial position for the year, a summary accounts closure timetable and information on performance including improvements achieved in accuracy and quality. The council's responsible financial officer had approved the accounts on 17 June, ahead of the statutory deadline of 30 June. The accounts were available for public scrutiny from 18 June to 29 July. The report noted that the final outturn position was a balanced position with the net overspend of £1.1m being funded from the release of ear-marked reserves.

The report also noted a number of changes in the Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Statement (CIES), including:

• An increase in Place net expenditure largely due to revaluation losses related to the National College for Advanced Transport & Infrastructure (NCATI) and the Waste PFI site.
• An increase of £8.2m in the loss on disposal of non-current assets, due to an increase in the amount derecognised for housing.
• A decrease of £8.3m in (Surplus) / Deficit on Trading Undertakings not in Net Cost of Services.
• A decrease of £9.8m in National Non-Domestic Rates (NNDR) income and an increase of £13.9m in the Collection Fund relating to NNDR (net increase of £4.1m).
• An increase in the Surplus on revaluation of non-current assets of £74.3m which was largely due to an upward revaluation of the airport of £113m.
• A decrease of £64.7m in the actuarial gains on pension assets / liabilities caused mainly by a change in financial assumptions.

Covert Surveillance - Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) Update

The Audit Committee was scheduled to receive an update on the council's use of covert surveillance, as regulated by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA). The report noted that the council had not authorised any surveillance applications under RIPA since the last report to the Audit Committee in July 2024.

The report also noted that the council was inspected by the Investigatory Powers Commissioner's Office (IPCO) on 19 May 2025, and that the outcome was very positive.

The report included a recommendation to approve changes to the council's RIPA policy and procedure, as set out in the report and appendices. The changes were recommended to align with the Codes of Practice for Covert Surveillance and CHIS¹, and to incorporate practical examples of when online authorisations may or may not be required.

The report included the following table showing the number of authorisations each year for the last 7 years:

The report also included the council's Authorisation Procedures for the use of Directed Covert Surveillance and a Covert Human Intelligence Source (CHIS).

Audit Committee Prospectus, Terms of Reference and Work Programme 2025/26

The committee was scheduled to agree the Prospectus setting out the Audit Committee's scope, standards and work programme for the year and note the updated Terms of Reference for the Audit Committee for the 2025/26 Municipal Year.

The prospectus sets out the role, scope and standards of the Audit Committee, as well as some of the expected outcomes from its work during the year. The work programme demonstrates the Committee's coverage of the areas identified in its Terms of Reference, as follows:

• Internal Audit
• External Audit
• Regulatory Framework
• Accounts
• Ethical Governance

The report noted that the new Global Internal Audit Standards for the UK Public Sector were coming into force from 1st April 2025.

Internal Audit Progress Report for the period: April to June 2025

The Audit Committee was scheduled to receive an update on the work undertaken by Internal Audit for the period of April-June 2025. The report was in five sections:

• The Audit Plan / Revisions to the Plan
• Audit Work Undertaken During the Period
• Implementation of Management Actions arising from Audit Recommendations
• Internal Audit Performance
• Global Internal Audit Standards

The report noted that there were no high-risk level overdue management actions reported in April-June. The total number of overdue medium and low risk level management actions had increased slightly from 21 to 24.

The report also noted that key operational indicators were over the timeliness of the issue of draft and final reports, and these had all been issued within target timescales. Results relating to major recommendations and customer satisfaction remained positive.

Audit Committee Action Log

The committee was asked to consider the Audit Committee Actions Log, which updates Members on actions agreed during Audit Committee meetings. The report noted that there were no actions outstanding with the one previous action now fully complete.