The Audit Committee of Ealing Council was scheduled to meet to discuss the external audit plan, treasury management, internal audit progress, and risk management. The committee was also expected to review the minutes from the previous meeting.

External Audit Progress

The committee was scheduled to receive an update on the external audit progress for the year 2024/25 from Forvis Mazars, the council's external auditors. The update was to cover progress on the audit of the financial statements and a commentary on the council's value for money arrangements¹. The report included Forvis Mazars' audit progress for the 2024/25 audit and the Value for Money commentary.

The Code of Audit Practice sets out the auditor's audit responsibilities which are based on two key objectives, requiring them to review and report on the council's:

• Financial Statements (including the Annual Governance Statement); providing an opinion on the council's accounts and the Pension Fund accounts
• Value for Money concluding on the arrangements in place for securing economy, efficiency and effectiveness in the council's use of resources.

Public reports pack

The audit formally commenced, and initial risk assessments had been completed. The report noted that due to complexities arising from several years of disclaimed audits, a large volume of information had been requested from the council covering the three disclaimed years. The value-for-money work remained on track for reporting in November.

The External Audit Update Report included a draft of Forvis Mazars' Annual Report 2024-25. According to the draft report, Forvis Mazars were on track to complete their audit work to enable the council to publish its audited accounts by 27 February 2026. However, the report stated that there was insufficient time to complete detailed procedures to rebuild assurance in light of the three years of disclaimed financial years. As a result, Forvis Mazars anticipated issuing a disclaimed audit opinion on the council's financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2025.

The draft annual report also noted a significant weakness in the council's arrangements in relation to governance, specifically due to a failure to implement or achieve progress on recommendations raised by the Regulator of Social Housing on health and safety.

Treasury Management

The Audit Committee was scheduled to discuss the council's borrowing and investment activities for the second quarter of 2025/26. According to the Treasury Management Q2 2025-2026 report, all treasury management activities were executed by authorised officers within the parameters agreed by the Full Council.

Between April and September 2025, the Bank of England decreased its base rate by 25 basis points, from 4.25% to 4.00% in August 2025. There was no long-term borrowing raised during this period. The council earned an average investment return of 4.142% on short term investments, just below the average SONIA² overnight rate of 4.190%. The council currently holds no direct investments with overseas financial institutions, although these are held indirectly through Money Market Funds (MMF).

The report also provided an update on the council's investments held on behalf of external parties, including the West London Waste Authority (WLWA) and the Board of Mortlake Crematorium.

The Prudential Indicators Q2 2025-26 were included as an appendix to the report.

Internal Audit and Investigation

The committee was scheduled to receive an update on the performance of the Internal Audit and Investigation team between 1 April 2025 and 30 September 2025. According to the LBE Q2 Audit Investigation Report, 27% of reports have been issued to draft or final against a target of 23%.

There were eight high-risk recommendations that remained outstanding. The report provided an update on the progress of these recommendations, including those related to pensions administration, voids[^4], corporate property works, Let's Go Southall, and temporary accommodation health and safety.

Reactive investigations during the year have resulted in proven cases with a value totalling £701,000, comprised of £687,000 in notional savings and actual losses of £14,000.

The report also detailed the outcomes of the National Fraud Initiative (NFI) data match, the NFI fraud hub programme, the succession applications project, and the temporary accommodation project. Additionally, it provided an overview of the enhanced vetting process for new recruits and the performance of the investigation team.

Risk Management

The Audit Committee was scheduled to receive an update on the strategic risks for the council. According to the Risk Report Q2, the number of risks remained at 13, as reported in Q1, with only minor updates made during the period. The financial resilience risk remained under review.

The report included the Strategic Risk Register, a heat map, and a risk scoring matrix as appendices. The register detailed the unmitigated and mitigated risks, their potential impact and likelihood, risk owners, and mitigation strategies. Key risks identified included financial resilience, cyber/data protection, agility/resilience in an emergency, financial control/control environment, management information, workforce, resident harm, non-compliance with housing regulatory frameworks, regulatory compliance (adults), major projects, supplier/market failure, government policy risks, and children's safeguarding.