Bexley Council has deferred eight internal audits from the 2024/25 plan to the 2025/26 plan, leading to an increase of approximately 85 budgeted days overall. The decision was made during a meeting of the General Purposes and Audit Committee on Wednesday, 30 July 2025.

The updated internal audit plan for 2025/26 was reviewed and is designed to align further with the Global Internal Audit Standards (GIAS). Each audit included in the plan has been aligned to the strategic risk register (July 2024 version) and the council's Corporate Plan 2022-26, specifically the council's three corporate priorities:

  • Aspiration for our residents
  • Ambition for our borough
  • An efficient and effective council

The key differences between the previous internal audit plan and the updated plan are the alignment of each audit to the strategic risk register and the council's corporate priorities, the inclusion of eight deferred audits, and updates to the Internal Audit Charter 2025-26.

The eight audits were deferred from the 2024/25 internal audit plan to the 2025/26 plan because they had not fully commenced by March 31, 2025. The specific audits are listed in Appendix 2 of the Updated Internal Audit Plan 2025-26.

According to the Internal Audit & Counter Fraud Progress Reports Q1 2025/26, the internal audit work is being carried out by an in-house team, which includes a Head of Assurance and two contracted internal auditors. The council is addressing resourcing challenges by recruiting for a principal auditor and utilizing contractors to deliver the plan in the interim. Bexley is also continuing as a member of the CCAS framework past March 2026 to pull on additional resources at a competitive price.

As part of the meeting, the committee was asked to review the updated Internal Audit Plan 2025-26, note the changes under the GIAS, and approve the Internal Audit Charter 2025-26 and the approach to achieve conformance with the GIAS. The Internal Audit Charter 2025-26 has been updated to align to GIAS and is based on the model public sector template provided by the IIA.

The Annual Head of Internal Audit Report 2024/25 stated that the council has adequate and effective systems of internal control in place to manage the achievement of its objectives, but that assurance can never be absolute. The report also noted that internal audit work had identified a number of opportunities for improving controls and procedures, which are documented in each individual audit report to management. The implementation of recommendations will be monitored and reported to GP&A Committee.

The Annual Head of Internal Audit Report 2024/25 addresses internal audit independence, stating: To manage the risk to organisational independence, internal audit will report to Committee on the steps taken to ensure independence when insurance, risk management and Health & Safety (going forwards) are audited. These steps will include evidence to demonstrate compliance with the Chartered Institute of Internal Auditor's Code of Ethics.