⭕ FOI: Internal Audit - Inverness & Cromarty Firth Green Freeport.
Request to the Highland Council.
Sent: 31 May 2026
Due: 30 June 2026
FS-Case-842714061
31 May 2026
Please provide the following information regarding the Inverness and Cromarty Firth Green Freeport project:
1. Copies of all formal letters of assurance, compliance certificates, or annual written assurance statements submitted by the Highland Council’s Section 95 Officer (Chief Financial Officer) to the UK Government (including the UK Treasury and the Scotland Office) and/or the Scottish Government for 2024/2025 and 2025/2026. This refers specifically to the mandatory annual assurance requirements regarding the Freeport’s processes for the proper administration of financial affairs.
2. A copy of the complete log of the specific steps and checks or internal control reviews that the Section 95 Officer undertook and recorded to justify the signing and submission of those letters of assurance.
3. The exact names of the specific government departments, units, or central oversight teams to which each of these Section 95 assurance statements were officially provided and need to be provided to in future.
4. Any formal correspondence or briefing notes sent by the Section 95 Officer to the Chief Executive or the Leader of the Council between January 1, 2026, and May 31, 2026, concerning legal, data compliance, or financial “contingency risks” that could impact the validity of these signed letters of assurance.
5. Any correspondence, notes or other paperwork exchanged between the Section 95 Officer and the Chief Audit Executive regarding the required assurance statements in paragraph 1.
6. All internal background papers and correspondence, working files, and risk assessment documentation utilised by the Internal Audit team to assign the high-priority risk score of 37 to the Freeport project in the 2026/27 internal audit plan; this request specifically encompasses all raw risk scoring matrices and evaluation worksheets, the overarching audit planning memorandums, any dedicated service risk register entries or “gaps in control” logs tracking the Council’s vulnerabilities as the project’s Accountable Body, and all internal minutes or regulatory alert files concerning external compliance pressures or audit liaison warnings linked to this specific risk escalation.
7. The name & position of the individual(s) who will be conducting the planned audit of the Freeport on the audit plan.
Thank you for your time & attention.
Kind regards.