The internal audit plan for 2020/21 was initially approved by the audit and governance committee on 5 May 2020. Following that an updated and proposed revised annual audit plan for the remainder of 2020/21 has been prepared and approved on 14 October 2020 following consultation with the chief finance officer and shared with the management board.

The initial plan remains relevant however the huge effort the council is undertaking in relation to response and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to push back a significant proportion of the initial planned work and result in new, also significant, initially unplanned work.

Internal audit continues to respond to requests to support COVID-19 work, this includes work where there is a definitive date for a declaration to the relevant Government department.

The plan will continue to be reviewed as the year progresses and changes to the plan will be reported to the audit and governance committee through the regular Internal Audit progress update reports that committee receives.