The Audit Committee of Telford and Wrekin Council met on 20 November 2024 and were scheduled to receive a number of reports about the financial management of the council. There were also scheduled discussions about the work of the Audit Committee and a proposal for a review of its effectiveness.

External Audit

The Committee was scheduled to receive an update from KPMG, the Council's external auditors. KPMG were scheduled to present their report on their progress with the audit of the council's accounts.

The report says that:

Audit quality is at the core of everything we do at KPMG and we believe that it is not just about reaching the right opinion, but how we reach that opinion.

The report also outlines two changes to the audit plan that KPMG had previously presented to the council in May 2024.

Internal Audit

The committee was also scheduled to receive an update on the activities of the council's internal audit team. The Internal Audit Activity Report outlines the work that the team had done between July and October 2024 and gave an update on the progress of previously issued audit reports. It also proposed a future review of the effectiveness of the Audit Committee. The report explains the grading system that the Internal Audit team uses to record the outcome of its audits, saying that a rating of 'Good' means:

There is a sound system of control designed to address relevant risks with controls being consistently applied.

The report explains the work that the Internal Audit team had planned to do in 2024/25, which had been approved by the Committee at its meeting in May. This plan is included as Appendix A to the report. The report also explains that because of a vacancy on the Internal Audit team, six audits have had to be deferred.

Corporate Risk Register

The Committee was scheduled to receive the Corporate Risk Register. The report explained that the Register:

...included those risks that could impact on the council’s abilities to deliver services and objectives.

The highest scoring risks on the register were staff retention and climate risk.