Community councils in Wales manage significant sums of money and hold significant values of reserves and assets which is likely to increase in future. Some of the issues identified in the report include:

• The need to improve timeliness with which community councils prepare their annual accounts and the quality of the annual returns submitted for audit.
• The need for the sector as a whole to improve its budget setting arrangements.
• The need for community councils to demonstrate that they have an adequate and effective system of internal audit in place and receive full value from that service.

Auditors reported on a number of recurring matters that councils across Wales could learn from. As a result of this, we held a webinar to share examples of learning and good practice, in particular focusing on budgeting and internal audit. The webinar brought together the most up-to-date practices from across Wales and beyond.