CIPFA Guidance on Local Authority Audit Committees - Find a freedom of information request

CIPFA Guidance on Local Authority Audit Committees states that "Recommended practice is for audit committees to review and assess themselves annually or to seek an external review.

" We realise that the committee with audit related responsibilities are not always called 'Audit Committee'.

Please can you confirm what the title of this committee is within your local authority and answer the following questions in relation to that committee.

a) Internal Annual Review of Audit Committee For each of the last five financial years please provide me with a copy of the audit committee's annual review of its work. Please state the date the review was published and how it was made public at the time.

b) External Review of Audit Committee Please confirm the most recent date that an external review of the audit committee was sought, who undertook that review, when and where it was published and provide a copy of the review.

I can confirm that the information requested is held by Lincolnshire County Council. I have detailed below the information that is being released to you. Lincolnshire County Council has an Audit Committee.

a) The Audit Committee produce an Annual Report through which the Committee assesses itself on effectiveness, and this is approved each February. These are published as part of the Committee papers and are located on the Council's website.

https://lincolnshire.moderngov.co.uk/mgCommitteeDetails.aspx?ID=133

b)The last external assessment was held in 2022 covering LCC for a five year period. This was considered at the June 2022 Audit Committee meeting and published on the Council's website.

As such, this information is exempt from disclosure in accordance with the exemption set out at Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 which provides that a public authority need not comply with a request for disclosure under the Act where that information is reasonably accessible by other means