The committee oversees and directs internal scrutiny
Academy trusts must have an audit and risk committee. If your trust's annual income is over £50 million, it must be a dedicated committee. Read more about the requirements of your committee.
As an audit and risk committee, a key part of your role is to:
- Oversee and direct those who carry out internal scrutiny, without actually doing this work yourself
- Set the programme of work they follow, and receive reports
All trusts must have a programme of work (agreed annually) for internal scrutiny
This is to provide the board with independent assurance that the following are operating effectively:
- Financial controls
- Non-financial controls
- Risk management procedures
This is outlined in sections 3.1 to 3.8 of the Academy Trust Handbook (ATH).
The ATH (in section 3.20) states that the firm that does your external audit cannot also do your internal audits, in line with the Financial