Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Apologies for absence were intimated on behalf of Councillors Daniel Hampsey and Fiona Howard. 

There were no declarations of interest intimated.

The Minute of the previous meeting of the Audit and Scrutiny Committee, held on 12 March 2026 was approved as a correct record.

Report by Chief Internal Auditor

The Committee gave consideration to a report which provided a summary of Internal Audit activity and progress during quarter 1 of 2026/27 against the following areas:

Audits Completed

·         Payroll

·         Performance Management Arrangements and Reporting

·         Whistleblowing

·         LiveArgyll – Building/Property Maintenance

·         Rural Growth Deal

·         Risk Management

Audits in Planning/in Progress

·         Payroll – Staff and Members Expenses

·         Verification work and Claims

·         Social Work Management System

·         HSCP – Stakeholder Engagement

The report also provided information on the planned work for 2026/27 in relation to scrutiny; work carried out by the Counter Fraud Team; the continuous monitoring programme; the progress of work carried out as a result of information received by the National Fraud Initiative and progress made in relation to the Internal Audit development plan. 

Decision

The Audit and Scrutiny Committee reviewed and endorsed the Summary of Activities report.

(Reference:  Report by Chief Internal Auditor, dated 11 June 2026, submitted)

Report by Chief Internal Auditor

Consideration was given to a report which provided an update on all open actions as at 31 March 2026 including information on actions where the agreed implementation date had been rescheduled.

Decision

The Audit and Scrutiny Committee endorsed the contents of the report.

(Reference:  Report by Chief Internal Auditor, dated 11 June 2026, submitted)

Report by Chair of the Scrutiny Panel

Having noted that the Biodegradable Municipal Waste Landfill Ban Scrutiny review had been carried out in accordance with the 2025/26 Scrutiny Plan agreed at the meeting on 13 March 2025, the Committee gave consideration to a report presenting the findings of the review. 

Decision

The Audit and Scrutiny Committee agreed:

1.    the draft Biodegradable Municipal Waste Landfill Ban Scrutiny report; and

2.    the recommendation of the Scrutiny Panel that a copy of the Biodegradable Municipal Waste Landfill Ban Scrutiny report be made available to the Environment, Development and Infrastructure Committee for consideration. 

(Reference:  Report by Chair of the Scrutiny Panel, dated 11 June 2026, submitted)

Report by Chief Internal Auditor

Consideration was given to a report which outlined the work undertaken by Internal Audit in respect of the Annual Audit Plan 2025/26 and presented the contents of the Chief Internal Auditor’s independent annual opinion on the effectiveness of the Council’s risk management, internal control and governance processes. 

Decision

The Audit and Scrutiny Committee endorsed the content of the report and the associated annual opinion of the Chief Internal Auditor. 

(Reference:  Report by Chief Internal Auditor, dated 11 June 2026, submitted)

Report by Forvis Mazars

The Committee gave consideration to a report which provided an evaluation of elements of Argyll and Bute Council’s internal control, risk management and corporate governance systems based on the work of external audit during 2025/26.  The report also provided a summary of internal audit coverage in the year.

Decision

The Audit and Scrutiny Committee noted the contents of the report.

(Reference:  Report by Forvis Mazars, submitted)

Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Financial Services

Having noted that the Accounts Commission’s Local Government in Scotland – Financial Bulletin 2024-25 provides an independent overview of the financial and operational performance of Scotland’s local government sector, the Committee considered a report outlining the key messages and recommendations of the bulletin, together with information on Argyll and Bute Council’s comparative position and an assessment of the Council’s current compliance with those recommendations.

Decision

The Audit and Scrutiny Committee considered and noted the contents of the report.

(Reference:  Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Financial Services, dated 12 May 2026, submitted)

Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Customer Support Services

Consideration was given to a report which presented a high-level summary of Argyll and Bute’s performance as reported in the Local Government Benchmarking Framework data. 

Decision

The Audit and Scrutiny Committee considered the contents of the report and noted that the trend of net improvement across the Council’s functions identified in recent years was continuing.

(Reference:  Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Customer Support Services, dated 28 April 2026, submitted)

Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Legal and Regulatory Support

Consideration was given to a report which advised that the code of corporate governance ‘issues for further development’ action plan for 2025/26 had been reviewed and updated along with the content of the governance statement for 2024/25 which reflected the governance position within the Council for 2025/26.  The report further noted that a new action plan for 2026/27 had been prepared based on Heads of Service assurance statements and that the review supported the inclusion of a governance and internal control statement within the 2025/26 Annual Accounts. 

Decision

The Audit and Scrutiny Committee:

1.    noted the updates in the ‘issues for further development’ action plan for 2025/26;

2.    considered and approved the ‘issues for further development’ action plan for 2026/27; and

3.    considered and approved the draft statement of governance and internal control for 2025/26.

(Reference:  Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Legal and Regulatory Support, dated 11 June 2026, submitted)

Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Customer Support Services

The Committee gave consideration to a report which provided the annual update on the number of severance packages relating to Chief Officers of the Council.

Decision

The Audit and Scrutiny Committee noted that the number of severance packages relating to the departure of Chief Officers of the Council in the period 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026 was nil.

(Reference:  Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Customer Support Services, dated April 2026, submitted)

For noting and updating

In order to facilitate forward planning of reports to the Audit and Scrutiny Committee, Members considered the outline Audit and Scrutiny workplan.

Decision

The Audit and Scrutiny Committee agreed to note the outline workplan.

(Reference:  Audit and Scrutiny Workplan, dated 11 June 2026, submitted)

Report by Head of Financial Services

Consideration was given to the Treasury Management Annual Report for 2025/26.  The report included information on the 2025/26 Strategy; borrowing and investment activity; 2025/26 capital expenditure and the Capital Financing Requirement (CFR); the overall treasury position and compliance with Prudential and Treasury indicators.

Decision

The Audit and Scrutiny Committee:

1.    approved the Treasury Management Annual Report 2025/26; and

2.    referred the report to full Council for noting.

(Reference:  Report by Executive Director/Section 95 Officer, dated 11 June 2026, submitted)

Report by Chief Internal Auditor

·         Performance Management Arrangements and Reporting

·         Reporting Concerns at Work/Whistleblowing Policy

·         LiveArgyll Building/Property Maintenance

·         Rural Growth Deal

·         Risk Management

Consideration was given to a report containing the action plans in relation to the following 5 audits:-

·         Performance Management Arrangements and Reporting

·         Reporting Concerns at Work/Whistleblowing Policy

·         LiveArgyll Building/Property Maintenance

·         Rural Growth Deal

·         Risk Management

Decision

The Audit and Scrutiny Committee reviewed and endorsed the summary report and detail within each individual report.

(Reference:  Report by Chief Internal Auditor, dated 11 June 2026, submitted)

.

The Committee resolved in terms of Section 50(A)(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, to exclude the press and public for the following item of business on the grounds that it was likely to involve the disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 14 of Part 1 of Schedule 7A to the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.

.

·         Payroll Systems

The Committee gave consideration to an internal audit report.

Decision

The Audit and Scrutiny Committee:

1.    reviewed the summary report and the detail within the internal audit report;

2.    agreed that the internal audit report be referred to the Policy and Resources Committee for consideration, with a progress report on the project to be provided, including lessons learned; and

3.    requested that a further update on the progress of the project be submitted to the March 2027 meeting.

(Reference:  Report by Chief Internal Auditor, dated 11 June 2026, submitted)

.

The Committee will be asked to pass a resolution in terms of Section 50(A)(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 to exclude the public for items of business with an “E” on the grounds that it is likely to involve the disclosure of exempt information as defined in the appropriate paragraph of Part I of Schedule 7a to the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.

The appropriate paragraphs are:-

Paragraph 14 

Any action taken or to be taken in connection with the prevention, investigation or prosecution of a crime.