COUNCIL MEETING
8 October 2026

CONCLUSION OF EXTERNAL AUDIT 202 5/26

1. The Council’s external audit for 2025/26 has been completed and the external
auditor’s report and certificate have been issued and are attached to this
report.

2. In paragraph 2 of the External Auditor’s report, it will be noted that the auditor
considers that the Annual Governance and Accountability return accords with
proper practices and no other matters have come to the auditor’s attention
giving cause for concern that relevant legislation and regulatory requirements
have not been met.

3. The auditor has noted other matters not affecting their opinion which they
draw to the attention of the authority, as follows:

The smaller authority has not published the full and correct information in the
‘Notice of Public Rights’, as notice regarding the period for the
exercise of public rights published is for the exempt authority. Please ensure
that the correct information is published in future years.

While the smaller authority has confirmed that the independence of the
internal auditor was considered upon appointment, this consideration
was not minuted and so we have been unable to verify this to documentary
evidence. This was requested as part of our intermediate review
procedures. In accordance with the Practitioner’s Guide Paragraph 4.11 it is
considered best practice to review the independence of the internal
auditor on an annual basis.

The AGAR was not accurately completed before submission for review. The
AGAR has been amended.

4. Regarding the Notice of Public Rights, the same notice template was used as
in all previous years but evidently it was not the correct one for the type of
audit now being undertaken. This will require attention next year.

The internal auditor was selected in 2023 from a list provided by SALC.
Authority was delegated to Councillors Elmer and Roberts to select firms from
the list, to quote terms, to conduct interviews and to appoint the preferred firm,
which they did. The firm appointed have proved to be satisfactory over the last
three years. None of the firms asked to quote were known to the Council but
there was no Council minute confirming their independence. The Council is

advised that it is considered best practice to review the independence of the
internal auditor on an annual basis and this will be undertaken upon
consideration of the internal auditor’s next report.

At the time of the submission of the AGAR, the Clerk was unaware that in an
Income and Expenditure Audit, to which the Council is now subject, the VAT
refund from HMRC must be excluded from the declared income. Thus, with
the refund included, the figures could not be reconciled. When this was
appreciated, the AGAR was amended accordingly.

5. Public notice of the completion of the audit and the ability of the public to
inspect and take copies of the documents is in the attached documents and
has been published on the website and on the notice boards.

6. It is RECOMMENDED that the report be noted.

Graham White
Parish Clerk
1 October 2026