SCOTTISH CRIMINAL CASES REVIEW COMMISSION

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE AUDIT COMMITTEE ON WEDNESDAY 27 AUGUST 2025 @ 14:30, HYBRID MEETING

FOR DISCLOSURE VIA THE PUBLICATION SCHEME

In line with the Commission’s Disclosure policy, various paragraphs may have been edited or deleted from these minutes as the information contained therein relates to specific case information and/or personnel-related matters. Where the summary of discussion has been edited or the names have been deleted, this is indicated at the start of the relevant paragraph or section.

There have been no edits to these minutes.

Members of the Audit Committee:

  • Mrs Suzanne Mertes (Chair) – Video Conference
  • Ms Laura Reilly – Video Conference
  • Mr Finlay Young (Chair) – Video Conference

In attendance:

  • Ms Gillian McCreadie, Senior Audit Manager, Audit Scotland – Office
  • Miss Emma McCarter, Auditor, Audit Scotland – Office
  • Mr William Wilkie, Internal Audit Manager, Scottish Government – Office
  • Dr Vanessa Davies (Observer), Chair – SCCRC – Video Conference
  • Mr Michael Walker, Chief Executive & Accountable Officer – Office
  • Mr Chris Reddick, Director of Corporate Services – Office

1.1 Apologies

There were no apologies.

 

1.2 Conflicts of Interest/Declarations of Interest/Gifts & Hospitality

Members were asked to declare any known conflicts of interests or gifts and hospitality.

There were no declarations of conflicts, gifts or hospitality.

 

1.3 Minutes of the Audit Committee meeting held on 24 March 2025

The Audit Committee noted the minutes of the meeting held on 24 March 2025 which had previously been approved by Members on 25 April 2025. The Audit Committee also noted the version for the publication scheme, which had also been approved on 25 April 2025.

1.4 Matters Arising

There were no matters arising.

 

1.5 External Audit

2024-25 Draft Annual Accounts

1.5.1    Mr Reddick provided the Audit Committee with an overview of the annual audit process, confirming that this year had been slightly more involved on account of last-minute changes to the Scottish Government accounts preparation team, resourcing pressures within the admin team and the impact of the implementation of the new Oracle Cloud system and the mid-year data migration process. He noted that this has subsequently impacted on preparation timescales and the level of resource input from the external audit team. Despite these issues he confirmed that the audit process had been extremely thorough, constructive and supportive.

1.5.2    Mr Reddick the took the Audit Committee through the draft accounts on a page-by-page basis, noting that the format of the accounts was relatively consistent with the previous year. He provided an overview of the performance reporting within the statement of performance, confirming that despite receiving the highest number of cases on record, all case review targets had been achieved and the performance indicators provided a positive overview of performance. He also provided a general overview of financial performance, confirming that the Commission operated within its allocated budget for the year and made no requests for additional funding. He also provided an update on payment performance which was consistently high and in line with prior year figures.

1.5.3    Mr Reddick also took Members through the accountability report and governance statement, and in particular noted additional commentary in this year’s accounts in respect of the implementation of Oracle Cloud and its impact on the Commission. He highlighted the absence monitoring figures, noting that the average number of sick days per employee in 2024-25 was 1.1 days, a further reduction on the prior year’s excellent performance. Mr Reddick then took Members through the financial statements, noting both the financial outcome, as well as highlighting some minor changes and updates to accounting policy for the year.

1.5.4    Members discussed the content of the annual accounts in detail and noted the very positive performance outcomes reported. Mr Young noted that further consideration should be given in future regarding qualitative aspects of performance but this could be considered at a future Policy meeting. Mr Walker confirmed that the 2024-25 Annual Report, to be considered by the Board, provided a broader assessment of performance as well as providing an analysis of key themes and issues arising during the year. Mrs Mertes raised the issue of Audit Committee effectiveness and asked for an update on this process. Mr Reddick confirmed that both Board and Audit Committee effectiveness were considered on an ongoing basis through a process of self-assessment using a standard questionnaire. He noted that this process had been taken forward in 2024-25 and that this could be scheduled for further consideration during 2025-26.

Independent Auditor’s Report & ISA580 – Letter of Representation

1.5.5    Ms McCreadie presented her independent auditor’s report to the Audit Committee, confirming that her audit work was substantially complete and, subject to the receipt of a revised set of annual accounts for final review, she anticipated issuing an unmodified audit opinion in the Independent Auditor’s Report on 27 August 2025. She also confirmed that the proposed Independent Auditor’s Report, as set out in Appendix A, had already been incorporated into the Annual Accounts. She set out her responsibilities in accordance auditing standards, confirming that all findings were detailed within the Annual Audit Report. She noted that there were two unadjusted errors identified and the background for this was also included within the Annual Audit Report. In accordance with ISA (UK) matters, she sought the required confirmations from those charged with governance on the various key matters.

1.5.6    In respect of representations from the Accountable Officer, Ms McCreadie summarised the Letter of Representation (ISA580) which was appended to her report and confirmed that this would be submitted by the Accountable Officer with the signed accounts.

Draft Annual Audit Report 2024-25

1.5.7    Ms McCreadie presented the draft Annual Audit Report for 2024-25 to the Audit Committee. In particular, she provided an overview of the various exhibits covering materiality values, significant findings from the audit of the financial statements and resulting recommendations, and an update on prior year recommendations, which had been progressed well. She provided an update on the audit timetable, confirming that there had been some delays in submitting the draft accounts and supporting information, as set out earlier by Mr Reddick, and this had in part been the result of changes to the accounts preparation team and the implementation of Oracle Cloud. She also confirmed that this had resulted in additional audit resource being required to conclude the review and that and additional audit fee had been charged. Mrs Mertes noted that this had been discussed in full in respect of the charge calculation.

1.5.8    Ms McCreadie took Members through Exhibit 2, setting out significant findings identified as part of the audit, none of which had exceeded the various materiality levels. She noted that two findings had been left unadjusted following discussions with management, confirming that one of these would be addressed in 2025-26 and the second, in respect of services provided by Scottish Government payroll team, would be considered further during the year.

1.5.9    Ms McCreadie referred to Exhibit 3 of the report, concerning other matters to report following the interim audit phase and review of key financial controls, confirming that these did not impact on the annual report on the accounts and were mostly in respect of policy matters which could be strengthened.

1.5.10  Ms McCreadie referred Members to Exhibit 4, significant risks of material misstatement to the financial statements, confirming that no issues had been identified. In terms of their wider scope, she also confirmed that the less complex bodies approach had been adopted. Finally, she referred to Appendix 1, confirming that management had accepted all recommendations and provided suitable responses which would be subject to review next year. She also noted that the three prior-year recommendations had all been fully implemented.

1.5.11  Ms McCreadie concluded by passing on her and her team’s thanks to Mr Reddick and his team for their support and assistance throughout the entire audit process.

1.5.12 After further discussion, the Audit Committee confirmed that they were happy to recommend the signing of the Accounts to the Accountable Officer. Mrs Mertes thanked all involved in the year-end process.

 

1.6 Internal Audit

 2025-26 Internal Audit Progress Report

1.6.1    Mr Wilkie introduced himself to the Audit Committee as it was his first meeting with the Commission in a number of years. He confirmed that he had previously been on the Commission’s internal audit team and he looked forward to working with the Commission again.

 1.6.2    Mr Wilkie provided Members with an update on the 2025-26 Internal Audit Plan, confirming that this would be covering both Health & Safety and Environmental matters. He noted that initial planning for these audits had now commenced and anticipated taking forward substantive work on both during quarter 3. He confirmed that updated terms of reference would be issued in due course.

1.6.3    Mr Wilkie also confirmed that a number of additional reports/papers had been included on the agenda for noting only and these included:

  • 2024-25 Annual Assurance Opinion
  • 2024-27 Internal Audit Strategy
  • 2025-26 Internal Audit Charter
  • SCCRC – Annual Review – Performance Management & KPIs
  • DIAA – Annual Performance Report – 2024-25
  • DIAA – Annual Assurance Report – Scottish Government Corporate Systems 2024-25
  • DIAA – Quarterly Bulletin
  • EY Thought Leadership considerations for DIAA

1.6.4    Mr Wilkie provided a brief overview of the additional papers and invited any questions from Members. The Audit Committee noted the additional papers.

 

1.7 Audit Committee

Terms of Reference & Draft Annual Report 2024-25

1.7.1    Mr Reddick provided Members with a summary of the Audit Committee Terms of Reference and the draft Annual Report for 2024-25. He confirmed that no updates or amendments had been made to the Terms of Reference which was subsequently approved by Members.

1.7.2    In respect of the draft 2024-25 Annual Report, Mr Reddick confirmed that this had been updated to include the one personal data breach which had been reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office in 2024-25. Subject to this amendment, the Audit Committee approved the Annual Report.

 

Opportunity for Audit Committee to meet privately with the Auditors – the Audit Committee and Auditors met privately at this point in the absence of management. Mr Walker and Mr Reddick left the meeting at this point. Upon their return it was confirmed that there were no required follow up actions to be taken forward or discussed.

 

1.8 Risk Management

Corporate Risk Register – Quarter 1 Update

1.8.1    Mr Reddick noted that the quarter 1 risk register had been considered by the Board at their meeting in July 2025 and discussions had been taken forward in regarding risk 5, both in respect of widening out the narrative and also reconsidering the scoring of both likelihood and impact. Mr Reddick confirmed that the suggested update in respect of scoring had been incorporated into the current version which was subsequently discussed. It was agreed that the narrative to both risks 5 and 6 would be updated and circulated to the Board in September 2025 along with any other proposed updates.

1.8.2    Members went through each of the top 10 risks and made a number of suggested updates in respect of both narrative and scoring. It was agreed that Mr Reddick would incorporate these into an update for the next meeting of the Board.

 

1.9 Business Continuity Plan

Updated Business Continuity Plan (redacted)

1.9.1    Mr Reddick presented the redacted version of the updated Business Continuity Plan. He confirmed that a number of updates had been made to the plan as follows:

  • The BCP had been updated to take account of environmental risk assessments and the potential impact of climate change and adverse weather events.
  • In respect of the Business Continuity Planning Team BCPT), the plan has been updated to reflect additional input from relevant staff including the H&S Officer and the Environmental Officer.
  • The various events logs have been updated to capture individual risk assessments being undertake in response to each category of event.

1.9.2    Mr Reddick also confirmed that the next meeting of the BCPT had now been scheduled and this would be an opportunity to undertake some additional training with the team and set out a new test schedule, which would include various scenario planning and testing. He also confirmed that copies of the full updated plan would be circulated using the various formats agreed.

 

1.10 Best Value

Best Value Review & Action Plan 2025-26

1.10.1  Mr Reddick provided Members with an update on implementation of the 2024-25 Best Value Action Plan. He confirmed that when the plan was approved, all agreed actions were incorporated into the Commission’s annual Business Plan Objectives, in order to avoid unnecessary duplication.

1.10.2  With regard to the updated action plan, he noted that full implementation of all outstanding actions was scheduled by 31 March 2026 and that this would be kept under review by the Board as part of their quarterly business plan objectives reporting. The Audit Committee noted progress against the current plan.

 

1.11 AOCB

Mr Reddick concluded by passing on his thanks to both audit teams for their hard work and ongoing support and assistance to the Commission. He also noted his appreciation to his administration team for their hard work throughout the year, particularly given the resourcing pressures throughout the year.

 

1.11 Date of Next Meeting

  • Date of Next Meeting TBC

 

Chris Reddick

3 September 2025