We received the draft accounts after the statutory deadline of 30 June 2025 on 26 July 2025. 
The quality of the draft accounts and working papers was generally good. 
We issued an unqualified opinion on the accounts after the statutory deadline of 31 October 2025 on 1 December 2025. There were no uncorrected misstatements in the accounts. There was one significant issue to report. 
Our performance audit work found that the Council has strengthened its risk management arrangements, but some areas could be improved to support the delivery of its strategic objectives. We also reported our findings to the Council on its arrangements for cyber security. Due to the nature of the topic, our report was considered by the Council’s Governance and Audit Committee in private, and the report is not published on our website. 
The audit team made several recommendations to the Council aimed at improving the Council’s risk management arrangements and further strengthening cyber security. 
The audit team has substantially completed the audit work as set out in our Audit Plan 2024, dated May 2024.