The Audit and Standards Committee met on Thursday 11 September 2025, receiving an internal audit update report, discussing the committee's future work programme, and noting the upcoming retirement of Robert Zara, Independent Member. The committee also agreed to exclude the public from the meeting to discuss confidential information.

Internal Audit Update Report

The committee received an update on the outcome of internal audit work to date in 2024/25. The internal audit update report was exempt from public viewing.

The previous Internal Audit Annual Report 2024/25, which was discussed at the meeting on 17 July 2025, stated that Paul Clarke, Internal Audit Manager, had given his independent opinion that the council's governance, control and risk management provided substantial assurance that the significant risks facing the authority were being addressed.

Future Work Programme and Meeting Dates

The committee reviewed its work programme and noted the arrangements for future meetings.

The following meetings are scheduled to be held at Shire Hall, Warwick:

• 25 November 2025 at 2pm
• 19 March 2026 at 10am

The work programme lists the items to be discussed at the meeting on 25 November 2025, including:

• Annual Governance Report
• Warwickshire County Council Audit Findings Report 2024/24
• Warwickshire Pension Fund Audit Findings Report 2024/25
• Warwickshire County Council Statement of Accounts 2024/25
• Warwickshire County Council Annual Audit Letter 2024/25
• Annual Governance Statement 2024/25
• Strategic Risk Management
• Internal Audit Update Report (exempt)

The committee may change its meeting schedule for next year.

Other Business

Robert Zara, Independent Member, announced his intention to stand down from the committee after the November meeting, after four years of service. He noted that the November meeting would be challenging due to the volume of papers to be reviewed.

Exclusion of Public

The committee voted to exclude members of the public from the meeting for the items mentioned in the agenda, citing paragraph 3 of Section 12A of Part 1 of the Local Government Act 1972¹. This relates to the disclosure of exempt information.