FOI 14-25: Information in regards to internal audit reports commissioned to examine MLA expenses

Information Standards Freedom of Information Response

26 February 2025

Our Ref: FoI 14-25

Freedom of Information Act 2000

I am writing to confirm that the Northern Ireland Assembly Commission (Assembly Commission) has processed your request dated 29 January 2025 in line with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA). In your request, you asked that the Assembly Commission provide-

"[C]opies of the internal audit reports commissioned to examine MLA expenses.

These are referenced in a recent Assembly report on the employment arrangements of former Sinn Féin press officer Michael McMonagle:

The report says (point 62) that there were five internal audit reports - for the financial years 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22, and 2022-23 - with the first four prepared by Assembly Commission staff and the fifth by Ernst and Young (EY).Please disclose the following;

  1. A copy of each of the above internal audit reports (redacted where appropriate if necessary).
  2. A copy of the internal audit report for the financial year 2023/24 (redacted where appropriate if necessary)."

 

Our response

The Assembly Commission holds the information you have requested. Please see the attached four internal audit reports prepared by Commission employees (an interim and final report was completed by the Commission's internal audit unit each year) as well as the internal audit report produced by Ernst & Young (EY) contained within Annex A (PDF, 65 Pages, 2,804 KB).

 

Further Information

You have the right to request an internal review of this decision by the Assembly Commission. If you wish to request such a review, please write to me at the above address. If, after that review, you are dissatisfied with the way in which the Assembly Commission has handled your request for information, you may complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.

Your request for information and our response may be published in the disclosure log maintained by the Assembly Commission under a publication scheme agreed with the ICO. The request and our response will be anonymised.

Yours faithfully

INFORMATION STANDARDS