Issue - meetings

The Section 151 Officer presented the Internal Audit Opinion for 2023/24 on behalf of Lincolnshire Internal Audit. The Head of Internal Audit had signed off the 2023/24 audit and the report summarised the role of Internal Audit and their approach to the audit plan. The Internal Auditors (Lincolnshire Assurance) were satisfied that sufficient assurance work had been carried out, and controls were adequate and effective, and had been demonstrated to be working in practice. There was one limited assurance audit, and it was acknowledged that it did not impact the governance controls of the Council. The limited assurance Controls are substantial and audit testing have demonstrated working in practice. The limited audit on Procurement was being taken seriously by the Council, and recommendations were being implemented.  

The Chairman thanked Officers at Lincolnshire Assurance for the positive report.

Members discussed the report and felt the limited assurance rating was inappropriate and the definition of limited provided in the report was not a true perception of the Council as there were no governance concerns.

RESOLVED that the

1)    Head of Internal Audit’s Annual report and opinion for 2023/24 be considered and any required actions identified.

2)    That the Annual Report and the Head of Internal Audit’s opinion be taken into account when considering the Council’s Annual Governance Statement 2023/24.