The Audit and Risk Committee was scheduled to meet on Wednesday, 26 November 2025, to discuss the council's financial audits, consider management responses, and review audit progress for the 2024/25 period. Councillors were also scheduled to look at the committee's work programme for the coming year. Representatives from BDO LLP and Grant Thornton UK LLP were expected to attend by invitation.

Here's a more detailed look at the topics on the agenda:

BDO Audit Reports and Management Response

The committee was scheduled to consider the BDO Audit Report November 2025 V2 - Final, which covered the council's statement of accounts and associated value for money reports from 2019/20 to 2022/23. The report included a discussion of the circumstances that affected the audit work, including the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, regulator expectations, staffing issues, and the legality of transactions between the council and the pension fund. The report stated that BDO issued a disclaimer of opinion on the financial statements for the years 2019/20, 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23 because they could not obtain all the necessary audit evidence within the required timeframe. The report also highlighted significant weaknesses in the council's arrangements for financial sustainability and governance. The committee was also scheduled to review and approve the Management Response to BDO Audit Report November 2025 Council response, which included management's perspective on the audit findings and actions taken to address the identified issues. The report also included a recommendation to approve the audited statement of accounts for the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham and the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham Pension Fund for the financial years 2019/20 to 2022/23, delegating authority to Richard Harbord, Strategic Director, Resources and S151 Officer, to finalise the accounts and sign off the audited documents. The report also included a recommendation to approve the Letter of Representation as set out in BDO's annual report.

Grant Thornton Audit Progress Report

The committee was scheduled to receive an update on the 2024/25 external audit progress from Grant Thornton (GT) as detailed in their GT Audit progress and sector update report. The report was expected to cover the status of the financial statements audit, value for money audit, and certification of claims and returns. The report noted that GT commenced the fieldwork phase of the audit in October 2025, with a primary focus on gaining assurance regarding in-year transactions for the current audit year. The report also provided an update on the number of samples requested from the council and the number of responses received. The report highlighted that the group accounts and the completeness of disclosures in respect of IFRS 16 were under management review and had been subject to limited audit procedures at that stage. The report also included sector updates on financial instruments, local government financial sustainability, the spending review, public procurement, and the future of health and leisure services.

Management Response to Grant Thornton Report

The committee was scheduled to discuss the Council update on 2024-25 GT External Audit Progress, which provided management's response to the Grant Thornton report. The report was expected to cover actions taken by the council, collaboration with the auditors, and assurance on achieving the agreed timelines. The report highlighted the data cleansing of debtors and creditors undertaken by the Finance Team to enhance data accuracy and audit readiness. The report also noted that the council was working to address the issues raised by Grant Thornton in relation to IFRS 16 and group consolidation.

Work Programme 2025/26

The committee was scheduled to consider its work programme for 2025/26, as detailed in the ASC Work Programme 2025-26 from December 2025. Items scheduled for discussion at the January 2026 meeting included an update from Grant Thornton on the progress of the 2024/25 consolidated statement of accounts, a draft management letter of representation, and the annual value for money auditor report. The committee was also scheduled to discuss the preparation of the 2025/26 consolidated statement of accounts and pension fund accounts. Items scheduled for discussion at the March 2026 meeting included a progress update from Grant Thornton on the 2024/25 consolidated statement of accounts and pension fund accounts, and a report from Grant Thornton on the preparation of the 2025/26 consolidated statement of accounts and pension fund accounts.

Other Items

The agenda for the meeting also included standard items such as:

• Apologies for absence
• Declarations of interest
• Approval of the minutes from the previous meeting held on 15 September 2025.
• Consideration of any urgent items.
• Consideration of a resolution to exclude the public and press from the remainder of the meeting.