Issue - meetings
EXTERNAL AUDIT - 2025/26 VFM RISK ASSESSMENT
Meeting: 09/09/2026 - Finance, Audit and Risk Committee (Item 20)
20 EXTERNAL AUDIT - 2025/26 VFM RISK ASSESSMENT 
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REPORT OF KPMG
To receive VFM Risk Assessment for the year ending 31 March 2026.
Decision:
RESOLVED: That the Committee noted the External Audit 2025/26 VFM Risk Assessment.
Minutes:
Audio recording – 08 minutes 13 seconds
The Director (KPMG) presented the report entitled ‘External Audit – 2025/26 VFM Risk Assessment’ and advised that:
· This assessment looked at three areas as detailed on page 2 of the report.
· A summary of the assessment could be found on page 4.
· Additional work was carried out to confirm whether an identified risk would lead to a significant weakness, and this would be reported on as part of the final report of the auditors at the next Committee meeting.
· There was only significant area of weakness, which was related to Improving Economy, Efficiency and Effectiveness.
· The £22M deficit referred to on page 6 of the report with regards to the four unitary model for Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) was based on a high-level model with various assumptions.
· A watching brief would be kept on how LGR would progress since the pause and commentary would be provided in the Annual Report of the Auditors.
· There was no significant risk in Governance as detailed on pages 7-8 of the report.
· The publication of the unaudited Statement of Accounts was no longer a risk of weakness as the Council had only missed this by 1 day in 2025/26 compared to the previous year, rather than 2 days compared to the previous year as mentioned in the report.
· Noticeable staffing shortages across the Council had been identified, and this had been raised as a weakness as it could impact the ability of the Council to deliver projects on-time, and key services would have to be prioritised over others.
· Additional follow up inquiries for this were set out on page 10 of the report, and an update would be reported at the next Committee meeting.
· The Annual Report of the Auditors would also be presented at the next Committee meeting.
In response to a question from Councillor Paul Ward, the Director (KPMG) advised that their work focused on how engaged the Council had been with LGR and its responsiveness to stakeholders on this, rather than the value for money of LGR considering the pause to this by the Government, as that was a national decision rather than one taken by the Council.
Councillor Elizabeth Dennis proposed and Councillor Sadie Billing seconded and, following a vote, it was:
RESOLVED: That the Committee noted the External Audit 2025/26 VFM Risk Assessment.