Norfolk County Council's Audit and Governance Committee has asked officers to set clearer deadlines for completing outstanding audit recommendations, after members questioned why progress updates were missing from the latest internal audit report.

At the meeting on 28 April, councillors sought clarification on why there were no updates on actions arising from previous audit findings, particularly for recommendations flagged as medium or high risk. Officers acknowledged some recommendations had taken longer than expected to implement, partly due to regulatory inspection activity elsewhere in the organisation.

The Assistant Director of Finance (Audit), Adrian Thompson, confirmed that officers would provide the committee with a fuller update on outstanding recommendations and would consider introducing clearer timescales going forward — a commitment the committee formally agreed as part of its resolution.

Despite the concerns, the committee resolved that the overall opinion on the council's framework of risk management, governance and internal control for the quarter ending 31 March 2026 remained 'Acceptable' — the middle rating in the assessment scale.

Of the 26 audits included in the 2025–26 plan, six had reached the final report stage by 31 March, six were at draft stage, ten were still in fieldwork and four were in planning. Officers told the committee that further progress had been made since the report was written, with four more audits finalised.

The committee also approved the internal audit plan for 2026–27, covering key areas including governance, financial management, asset management and information governance. Officers confirmed the audit service was adequately resourced to deliver the planned work, including counter-fraud activity. A new Anti-Fraud Support Officer recently joined the team and is already progressing casework.