Summary report of 1 September 2026 FSA Audit and Risk Assurance Committee meeting
Updated 15 September 2026
Applies to England, Northern Ireland and Wales
© Crown copyright 2026
This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.
Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.
This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/food-standards-agency-september-2026-board-meeting/summary-report-of-1-september-2026-fsa-audit-and-risk-assurance-committee-meeting
Report to the Food Standards Agency (FSA) September 2026 Board meeting.
The Committee considered the following items:
Executive update
The Director of Corporate Services gave an update on the latest work and issues within the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and wider government including: the political environment, the budget and financial position, Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) agreement, Salmonella, National Food Crime Unit (NFCU) and FSA Ready.
Postmortem inspection, micro criteria sampling and warm meat: updates
The Director of Operations updated ARAC on the progress made implementing management actions. Members supported the direction of travel.
Regulatory audit report: ante-mortem Inspection
The Head of Delivery Assurance presented the key findings from the review with the Director of Operations giving an update on actions taken. The committee discussed the report and noted the actions.
Regulatory audit report: assess the planning, organisation and delivery of Official Controls in relation to food hygiene primary production
The Head of Delivery Assurance presented the key findings from the review with the Deputy Director of Regulatory Compliance giving an update on actions taken. The committee discussed the report and noted the actions.
ARAC effectiveness review
The Head of Internal Audit introduced the results from the annual ARAC effectiveness review. The committee continues to meet the expected standards and has improved in all areas assessed.
Internal audit progress report and quality assurance and improvement plan
The Deputy Head of Internal Audit introduced internal audit’s quarterly progress report. This summarised the themes coming out of internal audit reviews, progress made by the executive implementing audit management actions and delivery of the internal audit plan. The report also included internal audit’s updated quality assurance and improvement plan which was approved by the committee.
Annual review of internal audit charter
The Head of Internal Audit presented the updated internal audit charter which was agreed by ARAC members and the Chief Executive Officer.
Incident management: update
The Director of Operations updated ARAC on the progress made implementing management actions. Members supported the direction of travel.
NAO update
The NAO Audit Manager gave ARAC an update on the current audit of the 2025-26 accounts. Members raised questions on a couple of items which were discussed further.
FSA annual report: consolidated and devolved accounts
The Financial Controller and Assurance Manager introduced their elements of the annual report detailing the changes made from previous years to streamline the report and the associated processes, key accounting judgements and accounting policies and disclosures. ARAC members raised some points which were discussed with the executive attendees.
Sustainability
The People Insights and Service Lead introduced the update on environmental sustainability activity during 2025/26 and the associated risks The committee noted the report and raised some points which were discussed.
ARAC terms of reference review
The Head of Internal Audit presented the annual review of the ARAC terms of reference. This included a change to ensure it reflects future membership. The committee approved the change which will be received by the Board in December.
Risk management update
The Senior Risk Manager presented the paper which detailed the latest risk position and planned activities. ARAC members discussed some of the points raised within the paper.
Current litigation
The General Counsel gave the ARAC members an overview of current litigation involving the FSA including updates received between the papers being issued and the meeting.
Below the line papers received for information:
- audit management actions
- appointment rules
- conflicts of interest
- information security risk update
- programmes and projects
- external assurances
- regulatory audit progress report
Date of next meeting
The next meeting will be 24 November 2026.