The Audit, Risk and Governance Group provides representation and a series of regular events for audit professionals in the North West.
Forthcoming events
Annual training event 7-9 March 2025
The 2025 annual development and training event will be held at the Old England Hotel and Spa, Bowness-on-Windermere from 7 to 9 March 2025.
For details of the programme download the flyer.
Past events
Annual Training event 1-3 March 2024
This event was held at the Old England Hotel & Spa, Bowness-on-Windermere from 1-3 March 2024.
The event returned to the Lake District for 2024, and featured a packed programme with speakers on topics such as AI, Cyber Attacks, Procurement, Mindfulness, and Report Writing.
The details of the programme are in the attached flyer.
Annual Training event 3-4 March 2023
This event was held at the Double Tree by Hilton from 3-4 March 2023.
Annual Training and Development event 1–3 March 2019
This event was held at the Crowe Plaza in Chester from 1–3 March 2019.
Friday 1 March
- Getting to the truth in fraud/financial investigations – Cliff Lansley, Director, EIA Group (pdf, 8,524KB)
Saturday 2 March
- Audit is cool – Sally Clark, Chief Internal Auditor, Barclays (PowerPoint, 4,310KB)
- System change and integration in health and care – Simon Banks, Chief Officer, NHS Wirral CCG and Wirral Health and Care Commissioning (PowerPoint, 1,904KB)
- A battleground in the war on fraud – Suzanne Milne, Partner, Weightmans (PowerPoint, 4,829KB)
- Providing assurance across integrated systems – Sarah Dowbekin, Senior Audit Manager, Mersey Internal Audit Agency (PowerPoint 1,160KB)
Sunday 3 March
- Walk the line – Stephanie Donaldson, Group CIA, Government Internal Audit Agency (PowerPoint 1,975KB)
Annual Training and Development event, 2–4 March 2018
This event was held at the Low Wood Hotel, Windermere from 2–4 March 2018.
Friday 2 March
- Opportunity Auditing – Phil Griffiths, CEO, Business Risk Management Ltd (PDF, 443KB)
- Don't Be Shy – Be Assured – Gemma Smith, Head of Internal Audit and Risk Assurance, Progress Housing Group (PDF, 1,381KB)
Saturday 3 March
- Maximising Procurement Opportunities – Mohamed Hans, Solicitor, CIPFA Procurement and Commissioning Network (PDF, 1,154KB)
- Hiding in the Dark – Jon Blake, Director, On Line Operations Ltd (PDF, 1,011KB)
- Commercialisation in Action – Shaer Halewood, Director and Finance and Investment, Wirral MBC (PDF, 209KB)
- Auditing Workplace Ethics Workshop – Shaer Halewood, Director and Finance and Investment, Wirral MBC (PDF, 321KB)
- Procurement Fraud Workshop – Tom Powell, Head of Audit and Risk, GMCA, Bolton Council and Manchester City Council (PDF, 1,152KB)
Sunday 4 March
- Getting the Best out of Client Relationships – Arnie Skelton, Managing Director, Effective Training and Development Ltd (PDF, 200KB)
- Digital Transformation, Audit and Collaborative Working – Mat Tanner, Principal Audit and Assurance Team Leader, Trafford Council (PDF, 403KB)
Autumn Seminar, 6 October 2017
This event was held at the Hotel Football, Manchester on 6 October 2017.
- Ethics and Internal Auditors – Shaer Halewood, Assistant Director Finance, Oldham Council (PDF, 328KB)
- Reform of IR35 in the Public Sector – Gary Hull, Associate Partner, EY (PDF, 145KB)
- Counter Fraud Centre Update (PDF, 3,611KB)
- St Helens Cares – Caroline Barlow, Assistant Director, Adult Social Care, St Helens Council (PDF, 1,127KB)
- Technology, Change and Sustainability – Jenny McArdle, Director, iMPOWER (PDF, 1,108KB)
- The New General Data Protection Regulation – Suzanne Crutchley, Senior Information Governance Associate, Mersey Internal Audit Agency (PDF, 504KB)
Direct Payments Workshop, 22 September 2017
This workshop was held at the Gateway, Warrington on 22 September 2017.
- Direct Payments Workshop Slides (Powerpoint, 166KB)
- Direct Payments Knowsley Appproach – Lynn Anders, Knowsley MBC (Powerpoint, 60KB)
Annual Training and Development Event, 10–12 March 2017
The Annual Training and Development Event was held from 10–12 March 2017 at the Queens Hotel, Chester.
Friday 10 March
- Mutual Benefit? The Audit Committee and Internal Audit – Diana Melville, Lead Governance Advisor, CIPFA Better Governance Forum (Powerpoint, 677KB)
Saturday 11 March
- How to Take the 'Geek Factor' out of IT Auditing – Gary Marland, IT Audit Client Manager, Salford City Council (Powerpoint, 701KB)
- Stay Relevant: Key Challenges and Some Ideas on What to Do About Them – James Paterson, Managing Director, Risk and Assurance Insights (PDF, 2,094KB)
Sunday 12 March
- The Governance of Change – Ellie Acton, Managing Consultant, RSM UK Consulting LLP (Powerpoint, 879KB)
- Key Changes: Anti-money Laundering, Fraud Trends and Protection Tools – Karen Lowe, Senior Fraud Prevention and Detection Manager, International Personal Finance (Powerpoint, 801KB) Additional Documents Gap Analysis (Word, 23KB) IRM Risk Appetite Exec Summary (PDF, 1,005KB) ERM Understanding Risk Appetite (PDF, 2,518KB)
