River Arun: annual governance statement 2024 to 2025 - section 3
Updated 30 September 2025
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2025
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In respect of River Arun internal drainage board - DB0086.
1. Respective responsibilities of the auditor and the authority
Our responsibility as auditors to complete a limited assurance review is set out by the National Audit Office (NAO). A limited assurance review is not a full statutory audit, it does not constitute an audit carried out in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK and Ireland) and hence it does not provide the same level of assurance that such an audit would. The UK government has determined that a lower level of assurance than that provided by a full statutory audit is appropriate for those local public bodies with the lowest levels of spending.
Under a limited assurance review, the auditor is responsible for reviewing Sections 1 and 2 of the Annual Governance and Accountability Return in accordance with NAO Auditor Guidance Note 02 (AGN/02) as issued by the NAO on behalf of the Comptroller and Auditor General. The AGN is available from the NAO website.
This authority is responsible for ensuring that its financial management is adequate and effective and that it has a sound system of internal control. The authority prepares an annual governance and accountability return in accordance with proper practices which:
- summarises the accounting records for the year ended 31 March 2025
- confirms and provides assurances on those matters that are relevant to our duties and responsibilities as external auditors
2. External auditor’s limited assurance opinion 2024 to 2025
On the basis of our review of Sections 1 and 2 of the annual governance and Accountability Return (AGAR), in our opinion the information in Sections 1 and 2 of the AGAR is in accordance with proper practices and no other matters have come to our attention giving cause for concern that relevant legislation and regulatory requirements have not been met.
2.1 Other matters not affecting our opinion which we draw to the attention of the authority
We note that the smaller authority did not comply with the regulation 15 of the Accounts and Audit regulations 2015 as it failed to make proper provision during the year 2025 to 2026 for the exercise of public rights, since notice regarding the period for the exercise of public rights was not published before the start period, As a result, the smaller authority must answer ‘No’ to Assertion 4 of the annual Governance Statement for 2025 to 2026 and ensure that it makes proper provision for the exercise of public rights during 2026 to 2027.
The smaller authority has not provided a year end bank reconciliation in support of Section 2, Box 8, or confirmation of the balance held on behalf of the smaller authority.
3. External auditor certificate 2024 to 2025
We certify that we have completed our review of Sections 1 and 2 of the Annual Governance and Accountability Return, and discharged our responsibilities under the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014, for the year ended 31 March 2025.
External Auditor Name: PKF LITTLEJOHN LLP
Signed and dated: 1 September 2025. You can access a PDF document of section 3 with the signature.