Islington Council's Internal Audit function is set to demerge from Camden Council on 1 July 2025, following a shared service arrangement that has been in operation since 2012. The decision to demerge comes as both councils face increasing financial pressures and demands on local government services.
The news was included in the Internal Audit Annual Report 2024-25, which the Audit and Risk Committee was asked to note on Tuesday. The report covered the period from 1 April 2024 to 30 June 2025.
According to the report, Both Camden and Islington acknowledge the benefits the shared service arrangement has brought since its inception in 2012, however the operating environment has changed significantly over the last 14 years. Local Government is experiencing unprecedented change, financial pressures, demographic shifts and increasing demands. Given this outlook there is a need for additional resources to address the increasing complexity around delivery and demand for council services. Whilst the two services will continue to collaborate, this change will allow for each service to be better resourced, with a dedicated Head of Internal Audit and Risk Manager delivering a more focussed service based on the specific needs of the respective Councils.
The demerger is expected to allow for a more focused service based on the specific needs of each council. The Internal Audit Annual Report 2024-25 indicates that the demerger will allow for each service to be better resourced, with a dedicated Head of Internal Audit and Risk Manager. The report also mentions the recruitment of a new audit manager in March 2025 and plans to recruit a principal auditor in 25-26.
The Head of Internal Audit's (HIA) annual opinion for 2024-25 is that the council has Moderate Assurance
. This is consistent with the previous year. According to the report, the adequacy and effectiveness of the overall arrangements for the Council's systems of internal control, risk management and governance are adequate, with some improvement required.
The Internal Audit Annual Report 2024-25 states: In summary, it is the HIA's opinion that and overall rating of Moderate assurance is appropriate. Although some high risk rated recommendations were made in individual audit reviews, these were broadly isolated to specific systems or processes. None of the individual audit reviews had an overall classification of critical risk.
The report detailed the outcomes of the delivery of the 2024-25 audit plan, which are included in Appendix 1. Outcomes of follow up audits are in Appendix 3. Summary details of high priority recommendations not previously reported to the committee have been included in Appendix 2.
