A representative from the Council’s External Auditor KPMG will present the final version of their 2024/25 ISA 260 year-end report and their External Audit Plan & Strategy for the year ended 31 March 2026.

The Committee received a covering report on behalf of the Council’s External Auditor, KPMG, which had attached the final version of KPMG’s ISA 260 report for 2024/25 and their External Audit Plan & Strategy for the year ended 31 March 2026.  Ming Guo from KPMG addressed the Committee on the ISA 260 year-end report and the Plan & Strategy and provided an update on current progress.

The ISA 260 report set out the final findings from the external audit of the 2024/25 financial statements, highlighting key risks, audit work undertaken, and conclusions on financial reporting and value for money arrangements. It explained that, due to the national audit backlog and unresolved assurance issues, particularly around opening balances, reserves and prior-year comparatives, KPMG intended to issue a disclaimer of opinion on the 2024/25 accounts, while work continued to rebuild assurance with the aim of moving to a qualified opinion in future.

The External Audit Plan & Strategy set out the planned audit approach for the 2025/26 financial year, setting out the scope of the external audit, key risks, materiality levels, and how the audit would be delivered.

In response to a query, Ming Guo confirmed that on page 6 of the ISA 260 report, on the Valuation of post-retirement benefit obligations audit risk, the statement “Our specialist is finalising their work and will provide an update to the next Audit Committee meeting” should not have been included after “We found the valuation of post-retirement obligations to be balanced”.

Resolved:      

(1)    That KPMG’s final 2024/25 ISA 260 year-end report be noted;

(2)    That KPMG’s External Audit Plan & Strategy for the year ended 31 March 2026 be noted.