EAST Ayrshire Council auditors will devote a significant part of the year to scrutinising health and social care finances following last year’s multi-million-pound overspend.
Members of the governance and scrutiny committee approved the council’s Internal Audit Charter, Strategy and Risk-Based Internal Audit Plan for 2026/27.
Interim chief auditor Paul Davies said the audit plan had been designed around the council’s highest risk areas and would place a particular focus on governance and financial controls within the Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) and Integration Joint Board (IJB).
The move follows the £8.598 million overspend reported in council-commissioned HSCP services during 2025/26.
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Mr Davies told councillors that the audit plan included “a significant allocation of time on scrutinising and supporting governance and controls within and between the HSCP and the IJB”.
He said he was already working with the Health and Social Care financial recovery assurance board to ensure audit work focused on the areas with the most financial risk.
The report noted that Audit Scotland had recently highlighted the importance of maintaining strong governance when interim financial management arrangements are in place within public bodies.
Despite the additional work within health and social care, councillors were told that audit coverage across the rest of the council would continue.
Mr Davies said the plan was based on available staffing resources. However, he acknowledged recruitment challenges facing the service.
A temporary senior auditor post has been advertised to provide additional support while he carries out his interim finance role, but he warned that recruiting audit staff remains difficult.
Questioned by committee chair councillor Sally Cogley about staffing, Mr Davies said: “It is a challenge recruiting for internal audit at any time.”
Referring to the temporary position, he added: “For a one-year temporary post, that is also a challenge.”
Mr Davies said the council had explored whether work could be outsourced to audit teams in other local authorities but found there was “limited capacity on a national basis”.
Councillor Stephen Canning suggested the council could consider recruiting staff with data analysis skills and train them in auditing.
He told the meeting: “I think we always found it easier to get a data analyst in and then train them to be an auditor than an auditor who is a data analyst.”
Mr Davies said the audit plan had been structured to ensure resources remained focused on the council’s most significant risks while retaining flexibility to respond to emerging issues during the year.
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