Minutes of Proceedings

Present:                

David Murphy, Chairperson

Ivor Johnston, Independent Member

Dónall Curtin, Independent Member

Andy Allen, MLA

In Attendance:      

Lesley Hogg, Clerk/Chief Executive

Gareth McGrath, Director of Parliamentary Services

Tara Caul, Director of Legal, Governance and Research Services

Steven Baxter, Director of Corporate Services

Paula McClintock, Head of Finance

Nathan Lynch, Information Standards

Conor McGeown, NIAO

Stephanie McKevitt, NIAO

Helen Smyth, EY                                                                                               

David Murphy commenced the meeting at 3.02pm and formally welcomed all those

in attendance, including Andy Allen MLA as the new Assembly Commission representative.

1. Apologies

Apologies were received from Pauline Poots, EY.

2. Declaration of Interests

Dónall Curtin declared an interest as an Independent Member of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee of the Special EU Programmes Body. '

3. Minutes of Previous Meeting

The minutes of the previous meeting, held on 13 May 2026, were agreed.

4. Matters Arising

Director of Legal, Governance and Research Services to send an update on FOI procedures to ACARC members before the October 2026 ACARC meeting.

Tara Caul confirmed that this action is in progress.

Internal Auditors to provide draft three-year plan at next meeting.

Helen Smyth confirmed that the three-year Internal Audit Framework and Value Charter have been included in the meeting pack.

David Murphy to circulate an updated Chairperson’s Foreword to the ACARC Annual Report to ACARC members.

David confirmed that this action is complete.

Information Standards to circulate update on outstanding actions of the NAO Cyber Security and Information Risk Action Plan Monitoring to ACARC ahead of next biennial review.

Gareth McGrath confirmed that this action is complete and an update was provided to ACARC by correspondence on 22 June 2026.

Information Standards to facilitate joint meetings between Internal and External Auditors and ACARC Independent Members for future meetings.

David confirmed that this action is complete.

ACARC considered and noted the matters arising.

5. Internal Audit Activity Update

Helen summarised the Internal Audit Progress Update Report, noting that the Internal Audit Plan for 2025-26 had been completed, with seven completed audits receiving a satisfactory rating and no priority one recommendations.

Helen summarised the findings of the Internal Audit Review of Business Continuity Planning (BCP), noting that the report contains four recommendations.

Helen noted the impressive work completed in this area in the last few years, advising that the recommendations will serve to bring the Assembly Commission’s BCP in line with ISO accreditation standards.

Helen advised that the timelines for completion of the recommendations may need revisited when the new Head of Usher Services is appointed.

David enquired about the BCP for Plenary business. Steven Baxter advised that the response depends on the incident, noting that options ranged from moving proceedings to the Senate Chamber to relocation to other suitable off-site venues.

David asked when the draft BCP would be finalised, and if it was planned to add Business Continuity Planning to Director’s Stewardship Statements. Steven advised that the BCP remains in draft pending further development to achieve ISO accreditation and that he had not yet discussed incorporating Business Continuity Planning in Stewardship Statements with the Senior Management Team.

Helen summarised the Internal Audit Follow Up of Outstanding Recommendations, noting that this is an important piece of work to ensure recommendations are adequately actioned and implemented.

Helen stated that three recommendations from the 2023-24 Audit Plan and two recommendations from the 2024-25 Audit Plan were included as partially implemented, noting that full implementation largely depended on the completion of longer-term projects, but that significant work has been undertaken by management to mitigate the risk root causes. She also advised that since the report was completed, the partially implemented recommendation relating to delegated procurement has been fully implemented.

ACARC considered and noted the Internal Audit Activity Update.

Internal Audit Annual Assurance Report 2025-26

Helen summarised the Internal Audit Annual Assurance Report 2025-26, noting the achievement of an overall Satisfactory rating, and that no priority one recommendations or control issues were identified.

ACARC considered and noted the Internal Audit Annual Assurance Report 2025-26.

6. Internal Audit Framework and Value Charter

Helen summarised the Internal Audit Framework and Value Charter, which included the proposed three-year Internal Audit Plan.  

Dónall stated that he would prefer the Review of IT/Cyber Arrangements to be completed earlier than in year three as proposed, noting the high level of risk across the public sector in these areas.

Gareth noted that some recommendations from the previous audit in this area are not due for completion until 2027-28 and that this was the rationale for the current timing of the audit.

Following discussion, it was agreed that the Review of Arrangements for the Governance over the use of AI in year two of the proposed plan would be swapped with the Review of IT/Cyber Arrangements in year three.

ACARC considered and noted the Internal Audit Framework and Value Charter.

7. Outstanding Audit Recommendations Schedule

Tara summarised the status of the outstanding audit recommendations.

Dónall noted that the implementation date relating to the recommendation regarding key person dependencies in the Finance Team kept slipping. Steven confirmed that the external review had been completed, outlining the complexity of full implementation, and confirmed that the revised implementation date was achievable.

David asked for an update on the recommendation relating to manual processes for FAPP and Ivor queried if the new Finance system had been selected. Steven advised that pre-market engagement was about to commence.

ACARC considered and noted the Outstanding Audit Recommendations Schedule.

8. Financial Assistance for Political Parties Scheme 2024 – Audit Report 2026-26

Paula confirmed that the FAPP audit had been completed with no outstanding

issues, and that all certificates had been received. She highlighted the one recommendation and two observations made, as outlined in the covering memo, along with management responses.

ACARC noted the Financial Assistance for Political Parties Scheme 2024 – Audit Report 2025-26.

9. Draft Annual Report and Accounts for the Year Ended 31 March 2026

Paula presented the Draft Annual Report and Accounts for the Year Ended 31 March 2026, noting minor adjustments since the previous briefing in May. She then provided an overview of the adjustments as presented in the covering memo.   

Steven recorded his thanks to the Finance Team, and particularly Paula and Karen Steele, for their hard work on delivering the Annual Report and Accounts ahead of schedule.  

ACARC noted the draft Annual Report and Accounts for the Year Ended

31 March 2026 and recommended that they be signed by the Accounting

Officer.

10. NIAO Draft Report to Those Charged with Governance

Conor McGeown presented the Draft Report to Those Charged with Governance (RTTCWG), noting that the Comptroller and Auditor General intends to certify the 2025-26 Accounts with an unqualified audit opinion, without modification.

Conor highlighted that this is largely a positive report and that the audit was nearing completion, with minor internal clearance processes to be completed before the Letter of Representation is issued.

Conor summarised the findings from the audit, noting that there are two priority two recommendations and two priority three recommendations.  

Lesley Hogg confirmed that management responses would be provided to the NIAO for incorporation into the final RTTCWG, for consideration at the October ACARC meeting.

ACARC noted the Draft Report to Those Charged with Governance.

11. Corporate Risk Register

Tara summarised the changes to the CRR presented.

ACARC considered and noted the Corporate Risk Register.

12. Draft ACARC Annual Report

David presented the Draft ACARC Annual Report Year Ending 31 March 2026.

ACARC considered and agreed the ACARC Annual Report Year Ending 31 March 2026.

13. Fraud and Bribery

Steven confirmed that there had been no incidents of Fraud and Bribery since the last meeting. 

ACARC noted the update provided.

14. Whistleblowing

Steven confirmed that there had been no incidents of Whistleblowing since the last meeting. 

ACARC noted the update provided.

15. Key Guidance from Department of Finance

Paula noted that since the last ACARC meeting there had been one Dear Accounting Officer (DAO) letter and one Finance Director (FD) letter issued by DoF, the impact of which had been outlined in the covering memo.

ACARC noted the update provided.

16. Any Other Business

None.

17. Date and time of next meeting

ACARC requested the October 2026 and February 2027 meetings be agreed by correspondence.

Action: Information Standards to agree October 2026 and February 2027 meetings with ACARC by correspondence.

The meeting ended at 3.58pm.