Audit Committee
Minutes of Proceedings - 19 November 2025
Audit Committee - 19 November 2025.pdf (153.25 kb)
Meeting Location: Room 21 Parliament Buildings
Present:
Alan Chambers MLA (Chairperson)
Diane Forsythe MLA (Deputy Chairperson)
Nick Mathison MLA
In attendance by video:
John Blair MLA
Jemma Dolan MLA
In Attendance:
Ashleigh Mitford, Assembly Clerk
Elaine Farrell, Assistant Clerk
Alison Ferguson, Clerical Supervisor
Laura Gourley, Clerical Officer
The meeting commenced at 10.02 a.m. in open session.
1. Apologies
None.
2. Declaration of Interests
No interests were declared.
3. Draft minutes
Agreed: The Committee agreed the minutes of the meeting held on 22 October 2025.
4. Matters arising
Noted: The Committee noted correspondence from the Committee for Finance dated 23 October 2025 and correspondence from the Department of Finance (DoF) dated 28 October 2025, on Clause 20 of the Administrative and Financial Provisions Bill. The Committee noted that DoF agrees with the Committee's position that the power to appoint external auditors to the NIAO would remain with DoF at this time.
5. Correspondence
Agreed: The Committee noted the correspondence dated 23 October 2025 from the Committee for Finance on the December Monitoring Round and agreed to write to the Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO), Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman (NIPSO) and the Northern Ireland Assembly Commission (NIAC) to request copies of their December Monitoring Round returns, where applicable.
Noted: The Committee noted the correspondence dated 23 October 2025 from the Committee for Finance on the Analysis of 2025-26 Outturn and Forecast Outturn.
Noted: The Committee noted the correspondence dated 14 November 2025 from the Committee for Finance on the revised Outturn and Forecast Outturn 2025-26 guidelines.
Noted: The Committee noted the correspondence dated 14 November 2025 from the Committee for Finance in respect of the role of the Department of Finance in relation to the Northern Ireland Civil Service.
John Blair joined the meeting at 10.06 a.m.
6. Updating of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with NIPSO - oral briefing
The following representatives from NIPSO joined the meeting at 10.07 a.m.
Margaret Kelly, NIPSO Ombudsman
Sean Martin, NIPSO Deputy Ombudsman
The representatives briefed the Committee and this was followed by a question and answer session.
The oral evidence session was covered by Hansard.
The Chairperson thanked the representatives for their attendance.
Agreed: The Committee agreed that the Committee Clerk will liaise with NIPSO on the development of a draft updated MOU for consideration at a future meeting.
Agreed: The Committee agreed to write to NIPSO to request follow-up information on a number of issues as discussed during the meeting.
7. Updating of the MOU with NIAO
The Committee Clerk briefed the Committee on this agenda item.
Agreed: The Committee considered a draft updated MOU with NIAO and agreed to schedule an oral evidence session with NIAO in the new year to discuss the revised MOU.
Agreed: The Committee agreed to move into closed session for the remainder of the meeting.
The meeting moved into closed session at 10.31 a.m.
8. Review of arrangements in relation to the C&AG salary - review of options paper
Noted: The Committee noted the correspondence from the NIAC dated 5 November 2025 on the Role Evaluation and Salary Benchmarking Report.
Noted: The Committee noted the correspondence from the NIAO dated 10 November 2025 in response to the Committee's letter dated 23 October 2025 in respect of the benchmarking exercise.
The Committee discussed the options paper and the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the review.
Agreed: The Committee agreed Option D for the ToR (ii) - 'The review will consider what arrangements should be put in place for managing the salary in the future, including the appropriateness of the Audit Committee's role in setting the salary'.
Agreed: The Committee agreed that in respect of ToR (iii) - 'The review will consider what the appropriate level of the salary should be', that the Committee Clerk will prepare and circulate a short summary outlining issues for consideration by the Committee as discussed, which will be considered at the next meeting.
Agreed: The Committee agreed to explore approaches to job evaluation exercises for potential use in the future.
9. Forward Work Programme
Agreed: The Committee agreed the Forward Work Programme.
10. AOB
None.
11. Date, Time and Place of the next meeting
The next meeting of the Audit Committee will take place on 10 December 2025 at 10.00 a.m. in the Senate.
The meeting was adjourned at 11.26 a.m.
Alan Chambers MLA
Chairperson, Audit Committee
10 December 2025
