The Audit Committee for Doncaster Council convened a meeting to address key financial and governance matters. The agenda included the audit committee action log, breaches and waivers to the council's contract procedure rules, the internal audit progress report, and the statement of accounts and annual governance statement. Also scheduled for discussion was the Grant Thornton Auditor's Annual Report 2024/25.

Grant Thornton Auditor's Annual Report 2024/25

The Audit Committee was scheduled to discuss the Grant Thornton Auditor's Annual Report 2024/25. The report stated that Grant Thornton expected to issue an unqualified audit opinion on the Council's financial statements for 2024/25, subject to all outstanding queries being resolved to their satisfaction. The report identified three significant weaknesses in the Authority's arrangements meaning they were not satisfied that the Authority had made proper arrangements for securing economy, efficiency and effectiveness in its use of resources. These related to:

• The Dedicated School Grant (DSG)
• The South Yorkshire Airport City (SYAC) project
• A Special Purpose Vehicle

Statement of Accounts and Annual Governance Statement 2024/25

The committee was scheduled to consider the Statement of Accounts and Annual Governance Statement (AGS) for 2024/25, including the draft ISA 260 report from the external auditor. The ISA 260 report is a report detailing the findings from the 2024/25 audit and the key issues that the Committee should consider before the external auditor issues their opinion on the financial statements. The report noted that Grant Thornton expected to issue an unqualified audit opinion on the Council's financial statements for 2024/25, subject to all outstanding queries being resolved to their satisfaction. The Section 151 Officer, was scheduled to re-confirm on behalf of the Council that she was satisfied that the Statement of Accounts presented a true and fair view of the Council's financial position at the end of the 2024/25 financial year, and the Council's income and expenditure for the 2024/25 financial year. The Council's AGS was scheduled to be presented to the Audit Committee, demonstrating compliance with governance requirements. The AGS identified five significant issues, which were scheduled to remain for 2024/25. Since producing the draft, key governance colleagues and partners were consulted for additional assurance and no further significant issues were identified. The Audit Committee was asked to note the contents of the draft external audit ISA 260 report, consider the Letter of Representation included in the draft ISA 260 report, and endorse it for signature by the Chair of the Audit Committee and the Chief Financial Officer. The Audit Committee was also asked to approve the Statement of Accounts 2024/25, and the Annual Governance Statement 2024/25, for signature by the Mayor and the Chief Executive, and delegate authority to the Chief Financial Officer, in consultation with the Chair, to agree any adjustments to the Statement of Accounts 2024/25, following the completion of the audit by Grant Thornton.

Breaches and Waivers to the Council's Contract Procedure Rules

The Audit Committee was scheduled to receive a report providing details of all the waivers and breaches to the Contract Procedure Rules (CPRs) for the period of 1 March 2025 to 31 August 2025. The report summarised the number of new waivers and breaches recorded for each Directorate since the last audit report presented in April 2025 and the one before in November 2024. The report noted that the number of approved waivers for this period had decreased from 13, as reported in April 2025, to 9, and the number of breaches for this period had decreased from 1, as reported in April 2025, to 0. The Council approved the revised Contract Procedure Rules (CPRs) in February 2025, with the primary changes reflecting the implementation of the new Procurement Act 2023. The Procurement Act 2023 and Procurement Regulations 2024 commenced operationally on 24 February 2025. The report included details of any new, unresolved, and resolved breaches for this period, and CPR waivers approved covering the period 1 March 2025 to 31 August 2025, with an explanation of the reasons for the waiver. The Committee was asked to note the waivers and breaches recorded for the period between 1 March 2025 to 31 August 2025, and the work undertaken by the Strategic Procurement Team (SPT) to ensure continued compliance to the CPRs and delivery of procurement services.

Internal Audit Progress Report

The Audit Committee was scheduled to receive a report updating members on the work undertaken by Internal Audit for the period of July to September 2025. The report covered:

• 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 (GIAS) The report noted that two limited assurance opinions were issued in the period, these being CYPF Placement Panel and Education Establishment A . The report stated that there were no high-risk level overdue management actions reported as at 30 September, but the total number of overdue medium and low risk level management actions had increased significantly from 24 to 50. The Head of Internal Audit considered that sufficient work would be delivered to be able to provide his opinion on the Council's risk, governance and control arrangements, and that work completed in the year to date had not identified any reason to result in a negative or limited annual opinion over the council's risk, governance and control arrangements. A section had been added to introduce changes to auditing standards that would apply to the work of the team from 1 April 2025, and an assessment against the Global Internal Audit Standards and the application note would be completed during 2025/26. The Audit Committee was asked to note the position of the Internal Audit plan, the Internal Audit work completed in the period, the position with regards to the implementation of management actions arising from Internal Audit recommendations, and the current position regarding the ability to deliver the annual opinion over the council's risk, governance and control arrangements.

Audit Committee Action Log

The Committee was asked to consider the Audit Committee Action Log, which updates Members on actions agreed during Audit Committee meetings, and allows Members to monitor progress against these actions, ensuring satisfactory progress is being made. The report detailed that there were no actions outstanding with all previous actions now fully complete. The Committee was asked to note the progress being made against the actions agreed at previous committee meetings.