Audit and Risk Committee

Summary of Principal Activities

Reviews of the following:

• Annual financial statements for FY18 and interim results for FY19
• Since the year end, approval of the full year annual financial statements for FY19
• Internal controls and the process for the identification and mitigation of principal risks
• IT capitalisation threshold
• Plan to implement the requirements of IFRS 16

External Auditor

• Annual reviews of policy on rotation of external auditor and use of auditors for non-audit work
• Approval of the new statutory audit partner for the FY19 audit onwards

Internal Audit/Compliance

• Internal audit reviews of the leavers process, customer compensation controls, payment controls, compliance with expenses policy, and a follow up of the 2017 review of supplier compliance with stock routines
• Review of new structure of the Information Security function, to address the ever increasing external cyber security threat and GDPR compliance

Principal Duties

 

The principal duties of the Committee are to:

• Oversee the integrity of the Group’s financial statements and public announcements relating to financial performance
• Hold the relationship with the external auditor, agree the audit fee and oversee the external audit process
• Establish formal and transparent arrangements for considering how the Company should apply the corporate reporting, risk management and internal control principles
• Oversee the internal audit process
• Monitor the effectiveness of financial controls and the process for identifying and managing risk throughout the Group
• Monitor the financial reporting process and submit recommendations
• Monitor the statutory audit of the Annual Report and financial statements
• Review and monitor the external auditor’s independence and the provision of additional services

The Committee's full terms of reference is available here:

A copy of our whistleblowing policy is available here:

Our policy on the use of the statutory auditor is available here:

The Company Secretary acts as secretary to the Committee.

The Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and the Chairman of the Board usually attend meetings by invitation, along with a representative from the external auditor. Other Directors attend by invitation as required.