Monday 30 June 2025, 12 noon
Lagan Room, University Street, Belfast
Members Present:
Dean Sullivan (Chair)
Claire McAleenan
In Attendance:
Marie Mallon OBE (Chair NIAO Advisory Board)
Dorinnia Carville (C&AG)
Rodney Allen (Chief Operating Officer)
Brian O’Neill (Director)
Anu Kane (Audit Manager)
Ronan Lappin, SCC (External Auditor)
Lee Glover, Validera (Internal Auditor)
Suzanne Jones (Director) – Agenda item 4.4
Colette Kane (Director) – Agenda item -5
Louise Halligan (Secretariat Support)
Apologies
Apologies were recorded from Jill Laughlin.
Declaration of Conflicts of Interest
There were no issues declared by members.
Minutes and Matters Arising from the previous meeting
Minutes of the Meeting held on 28 May 2025 were agreed by all parties concerned, there were no matters arising requiring updating.
Draft Annual Report and Accounts 2024-25
Brian O’Neill provided an overview of the draft Annual Report and Accounts. ARAC discussed the contents and recommended the document to the C&AG for approval. Brian extended his thanks to the team for their excellent work in preparing the report and accounts.
External Audit – Report to those charged with Governance
External audit presented their report summarising the key findings of their audit of the 2024-25 draft Annual Report and Accounts. Ronan Lappin confirmed that the audit was conducted fully in accordance with the Audit Strategy previously presented to ARAC and advised that no internal control issue weaknesses were identified. Rodney Allen thanked SCC on behalf of NIAO for their professionalism in conducting the audit.
Internal Audit
3.1 Counter Fraud Arrangements Report – Lee Glover provided a verbal update on the status of the report. Members were advised that satisfactory assurance had been attained with two low priority action points identified and the final report will be issued imminently.
3.2 2024-25 Annual Assurance Statement – No questions or comments were recorded by members on the Report provided, which concluded that in Internal Audit’s opinion, NIAO has adequate and effective risk management, governance and control processes in place.
2025-26 Strategy – Members discussed the reviews proposed for 2025-26. The Chair asked that the Business Continuity audit scheduled for the 2026-27 year be completed in the current year, swapping with the Income and Debtors audit and this was agreed. Members also registered interest in following up the actions from the report on Information Governance. Lee Glover agreed to issue a revised Internal Audit Strategy to reflect this change.
Annual Information and Assurances
Anti-fraud, raising concerns and complaints statement – ARAC noted the paper presented.
Senior Management/Non-Executive Director Expenses and Hospitality – ARAC noted the paper presented and approved the disclosures for publication on the NIAO website.
IT Assurance Statement – Members discussed the paper and sought clarification on various points including the level of support that would be provided by IT Assist in the event of an incident. Following discussion, members were satisfied with the assurances provided in the Statement.
ISQC1 Quality Report – Suzanne Jones joined the meeting and provided an overview of the report presented. Members discussed the outcomes of recent reviews by ICAEW. It was noted that the ISQCI Quality Report will be published alongside the Annual Report and Accounts.
Risk Management
Corporate Risk Register
Colette Kane joined the meeting and provided an overview on the Risk Register presented. Members were advised that only minor changes had been made to the register since the May 2025 ARAC meeting, any changes made were highlighted in red for members’ convenience. A discussion followed regarding the proportionality of the risks listed and members requested that this be considered as part of the ongoing review. Lee Glover updated members on an advisory report on risk management which is nearing completion. Members agreed that a workshop on risk management would be beneficial with a date to be agreed later this year.
Report Tracking Implementation of Audit Recommendations
Internal Audit Recommendations
Brian O’Neill provided an update on the outstanding recommendations from the recent Internal Audit reports. Members were assured by the actions taken to address the recommendations outlined.
External Audit Recommendations
There are currently no outstanding recommendations.
7. Fraud, Raising Concerns and Complaints Report
Fraud
Brian O’Neill advised that there are no ongoing cases and no new fraud/raising concerns cases to report since the May 2025 ARAC meeting.
Internal Concerns Raised
There are no ongoing cases and no new cases to report since the May 2025 ARAC meeting.
Complaints
There are no ongoing cases and no new cases to report since the May 2025 ARAC meeting.
8. Papers to note
No papers presented.
9. AOB
No issues raised.
10. Date of Next Meeting
22 September 2025 @ 10am
11. The Committee met with Internal and External Auditors for private discussions.