The Governance and Audit Committee of Cardiff Council convened on 21 October 2025, to discuss the audited statement of accounts for Cardiff Council, the Cardiff Harbour Authority, the Cardiff & Vale of Glamorgan Pension Fund, and the Annual Governance Statement. The committee was also scheduled to review the audit findings and opinions presented by Audit Wales.

Statement of Accounts

The committee was scheduled to review the audited Statement of Accounts for 2024/25 for:

• Cardiff Council, including Cardiff Harbour Authority & Trust Funds
• Cardiff & Vale of Glamorgan Pension Fund

The report pack included the ISA 260, Audited Statement of Accounts 2024/25 for Cardiff Council including Cardiff Harbour Authority & Trust Funds and Annual Governance Statement, as well as the ISA 260 and Audited Statement of Accounts 2024/25 for Cardiff & Vale of Glamorgan Pension Fund.

The report pack stated that the Governance and Audit Committee received an electronic copy of the signed draft financial statements for comment on 8 July 2025. It also stated that following the completion of the audit, the following would be attached for 2024/25:

• Draft Audited Statement of Accounts for the County Council of the City and County of Cardiff (Cardiff Council) and Cardiff Harbour Authority (Appendix 1)
• Draft Audited Statement of Accounts for the Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan Pension Fund (Appendix 2)
• Annual Governance Statement (AGS) (Appendix 3).
• Audit of Accounts Reports (ISA 260) for 2024/25 in respect of:
  • The County Council of the City and County of Cardiff (Cardiff Council) – Appendix 4
  • Cardiff Harbour Authority Appendix 5
  • Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan Pension Fund Appendix 6

According to the report pack, the Audit of Accounts Reports (ISA 260's) for 2024/25 included:

• management and financial statement representations required to be made by the Council to its Auditor, including those on specific issues requested by the auditor.
• the proposed audit report and audit opinion for 2024/25 and
• summary of corrections to the accounts made following the audit.

The report pack noted that the final Audit of Accounts Reports (ISA 260) along with the final audited financial statements and Annual Governance Statement were to be considered by the Council at its meeting on 23 October 2025.

The report pack recommended that the Governance and Audit Committee:

1. Note the 2024/25 Audited Statement of Accounts for Cardiff Council and Cardiff Harbour Authority.
2. Note the 2024/25 Audited Statement of Accounts for Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan Pension Fund.
3. Note the 2024/25 Audit of Accounts Reports (ISA 260) for the Statement of Accounts for Cardiff Council, Cardiff Harbour Authority and Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan Pension Fund and the contents of the Letters of Representation.
4. Note the 2024/25 Annual Governance Statement
5. To ask questions of the auditor in respect to the appendices ahead of the request for Council approval on 23 October 2025.

Cardiff & Vale of Glamorgan Pension Fund Statement of Accounts 2024/25

The Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan Pension Fund is part of the national Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) for England & Wales. Cardiff Council is the Administering Authority for the Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan Pension Fund.

As of 31 March 2025, the fund had 46,640 members, including 17,904 contributing employees, 14,127 pensioners, and 14,609 deferred members. The Pension Fund's Investment assets were valued at £3,081 million as at 31 March 2025, an increase of 4.0% compared with the 31 March 2024 valuation of £2,963 million.

The report pack noted that a significant development during 2024/25 was the release in November 2024 of the Government's Fit for the Future consultation for the LGPS in England and Wales. One of the key proposals was that Pools would be required to be Investment Management Companies authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The report pack stated that the WPP and the eight LGPS funds in Wales were pleased to receive confirmation from the Minister's for Pensions and Local Government that the WPP business case to move forward to the setting up of a FCA authorised Investment Management Company by the target date of 31 March 2026 had been approved.

The report pack also noted that the Pension Committee approved the Net Zero Policy including setting a target for the Fund to be net zero by 2040 at its meeting on 20 May 2024.

Cardiff Council Draft Annual Governance Statement 2024/25

The report pack included the Cardiff Council Draft Annual Governance Statement 2024/25. The Council is responsible for ensuring that its business is conducted in accordance with the law and proper standards, and that public money is safeguarded and properly accounted for, having regard to a combination of economy, efficiency, and effectiveness.

The Governance Framework comprises the systems, processes, culture, and values by which the Council is directed and controlled. The Framework comprises two core principles and five supporting principles.

The AGS summarises the assessment of governance against the Governance Framework and comprises three elements:

• Statements from Senior Management, the Audit Manager and the Governance and Audit Committee
• Supporting analysis mapped to the core and supporting good governance principles that provides a judgement that is based on supporting information and evidence
• A Senior Management judgement of the Council's significant governance issues

The Senior Management Team considered that the 2024/25 end of year Senior Management Assurance Statement offered a true and fair reflection of the governance maturity of the Council for the year overall.

The Audit Manager stated that based on the programme of audit work undertaken to assess the framework and application of governance, risk management and control, the annual opinion for 2024/25 was effective with opportunity for improvement.

The Governance and Audit Committee stated that based on the evidence presented to the Governance and Audit Committee during 2024/25, it was the considered view of the Governance and Audit Committee that the Council does have, for the most part, sound internal controls and governance arrangements in place.

The report pack included an action plan of significant governance issues owned by SMT and formally reviewed and updated on a bi-annual basis. The four areas considered for 2024/25 consisted of one action brought forward and three new actions:

• Extend the assurance on the quality of performance reviews through evidence gathering at Directorate level.
• Strengthen arrangements to ensure the systematic completion of high-quality Equality Impact Assessments (EIAs) and ensuring due regard for EIAs within the decision-making process.
• Enhance arrangements to ensure that consultation and engagement is undertaken with relevant stakeholders at the appropriate time, where this is identified through the Equality Impact Assessment process.
• Ensure that all affected directorates undertaken the subsidiary questionnaire and having reflected on the findings update their annual assessment.

The report pack also included a proposed 2025/26 AGS Action Plan, with the following actions:

• Building on existing measures in place, to ensure there is a proportionate level of application of assurance in respect to the Control environment throughout each directorate and to ensure high risk areas are prioritised.
• Building on existing measures in place, to ensure there is a proportionate level of application of assurance in respect to the Compliance environment throughout each directorate and to ensure high risk areas are prioritised.
• Taking the opportunity created by new senior management structures to reinforce key messages, and to build clarity and depth to the assurance environment in new directorates covering areas of risk.

Audit of Accounts Report – Cardiff Harbour Authority

The report pack included the Audit of Accounts Report for Cardiff Harbour Authority. Audit Wales stated that they had substantially completed the audit work as set out in their Audit Plan dated June 2025. Audit Wales updated materiality to reflect the 2024-25 accounts and stated that they had not identified any new audit risks.

Audit Wales stated that there were no uncorrected misstatements identified in the accounts, but that they had identified misstatements that had been corrected by management, including a £6.058m adjustment to the Revaluation Reserve.

Audit Wales stated that they intended to issue an unqualified audit opinion on this year's accounts once they had received a Letter of Representation.

Audit of Accounts Report – Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan Pension Fund

The report pack included the Audit of Accounts Report for Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan Pension Fund. Audit Wales stated that they had substantially completed the audit work as set out in their Audit Plan dated June 2025, and that there were a small number of queries remaining outstanding. Audit Wales updated materiality to reflect the 2024-25 accounts and stated that they had not identified any new audit risks.

Audit Wales stated that there were no misstatements identified in the accounts.

Audit Wales stated that they intended to issue an unqualified audit opinion on this year's accounts once they had received a Letter of Representation.

Minutes

The committee was scheduled to approve the minutes of the meeting held on 16 September 2025.