The West of England Combined Authority Audit Committee met on Monday 27 April 2026 to discuss the committee's work plan for the upcoming year. The committee also reviewed a report, with one member abstaining from the vote.

Committee Work Plan

The committee discussed the proposed work plan for the upcoming year, which has been divided into summer, autumn, winter, and spring sessions for 2027. Councillor Ben Burton noted that the plan looked extremely busy and suggested the possibility of adding a fourth or fifth meeting to alleviate congestion. This suggestion was taken away by Councillor Burton and others to review with Tim.

There was also a discussion about the timing of internal briefings. Councillor Sibusiso Tshabalala inquired if indicating the timing of these offline briefings within the work plan would be helpful. Tim confirmed that briefings, such as the one on Treasury Management, are typically scheduled for November and that efforts would be made to program and space them out appropriately, acknowledging that there had been a dozen or so in the past year.

Report Review

The committee was asked to vote on a report. Councillor David Wilcox abstained from the vote on this particular report. The minutes do not specify the content of the report or the reasons for Councillor Wilcox's abstention.

Points to Refer to Main Committee

The committee considered points to refer to the main committee, including the annual business report, which is scheduled to be held on 5 June. Members were invited to email any issues they wished to raise on the committee's behalf for consideration.

Meeting Feedback

During the feedback session, Councillor Sibusiso Tshabalala commented on the work plan, acknowledging the need to address the overload from the last committee but also cautioning against making the forward plan too stacked, which could limit the room for additional meetings. This point was noted.

The meeting concluded with thanks to all attendees. The attendance of the chief executive of the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) at future Audit Committee meetings was also raised, with a commitment to relay the question to the chief executive.