Purpose

The Council seeks approval to agree Call-Off Contracts to access Internal Audit Services from the APEX Framework Agreement procured by the London Borough of Croydon. Accessing the framework enables the Council to access expert external assurance services, access specialist capability (including digital, data, AI-enabled audit and analytics), shared learning and benchmarking – where required, to support existing in-house resource.   

Decision

The Executive Director has AGREE to:

1. Approve entering into an Access Agreement with the London Borough of Croydon to access the APEX Framework Agreement for the provision of Internal Audit services from October 2026 up to the 16 April 2030.
2. Delegate the award of the Call-Off Contract and related Service Order(s) for the provision of Internal Audit services to the Head of Audit, Fraud and Risk Management up to the total cumulative value of £1,499,999 excluding VAT (£1,799,999 including VAT) with Forvis Mazars (Company Registration: OC308299) as the single provider of the London Borough of Croydon’s APEX Internal Audit Framework Agreement from the 1 October 2026 up to the 16 April 2030, following the ordering process outlined in this report.