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Managing the council's finances
Fraud
Internal audit

Internal audit

Internal audit strengthens the Council's ability to create, protect, and sustain value by providing independent, risk-based, and objective assurance, advice, insight, and foresight. Audit services are delivered in accordance with the Global Internal Audit Standards in the UK Public Sector.

Audit Charter

The Internal Audit Charter is a formal document that includes the internal audit functions mandate, organisational position, reporting relationships, scope of work, types of services, and other specifications.

Contained within the Audit Charter is:

  • An outline of the purpose of Internal auditing.
  • The Internal Audit Mandate which refers to the internal audit function's authority, role and responsibilities, granted by the Governance and Audit Committee and applicable legislation.
  • Details of Governance and Audit Committee oversight with its responsibility to establish, maintain, and ensure that the Council's internal audit function has sufficient authority to fulfil its duties.
  • Audit Manager responsibilities with regards to the system of ethics and professionalism, independence and objectivity, management of the internal audit, communication, and the quality assurance and improvement programme.
  • The scope and types of internal audit services.

Download the Audit Charter 2026 to 2027 (PDF, 939 KB).

Purpose

A primary requirement of the Audit Team is to deliver a plan of assurance audit engagements which are sufficient to publish an Audit Manager annual opinion on the Council's control environment, comprising governance, risk management and control. The Audit Team also provides core assurance to the Section 151 Officer and the Governance and Audit Committee relevant to their respective responsibilities.

The Audit Team also provides consulting or advisory services, generally at the request of Management for independent insight and guidance on areas of control during process development / change. The aim is to deliver value by aligning the Audit Plan to the Council's strategies, objectives and risks, and through delivering robust audit assurance and support.

The Investigation Team performs a range of proactive and reactive work in order to prevent and detect fraud. It supports managers to develop and maintain a culture in which fraud, bribery and corruption are understood across the organisation as unacceptable, for which firm action is and will be taken to prevent and detect fraud loss, bring fraudsters to account quickly and efficiently and to recover any losses.

The first line of defence is the internal control environment within each directorate, in which there needs to be a culture of accountability, a zero tolerance to fraud, supported by a robust application of controls.

Download the Audit Strategy (PDF, 299 KB).

Annual Report

Each year, the Audit Manager produces an Internal Audit Annual Report, which outlines the assessment and the opinion of the Audit Manager, on the Council's control environment. The report details the audit work completed to support the opinion, and provides information on the performance of the Audit Service, and an account and assessment of ongoing conformance with the required standards.

Audit Progress Reports

Regular Internal Audit Progress Reports set out performance in relation to the Internal Audit Plan. They summarise the work performed, the priority recommendations raised, the critical findings, emerging trends, and relevant value for money findings across the Council. An executive summary report is attached to the relevant Audit Progress Report for any audit engagement in which an 'unsatisfactory' assurance audit opinion is provided over the reporting period.