Dr Ian Rees, Chair of the Wales Audit Office

2025-26 at Audit Wales was a year particularly focused on preparing for the future. A number of noteworthy steps were taken, including:

• We established a new Audit Modernisation and Impact Directorate and gave special focus to themes identified as crucial in shaping our longer-term culture and operating model. These included digital developments and the skills and shape of our workforce.
• From March 2025, we began introducing Microsoft Copilot, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool, to support how our work is planned and delivered and to support personal productivity. The project initially engaged a diverse cohort of 50 colleagues in a structured pilot to test AI capabilities in audit and corporate contexts.
• As part of this work, strong safeguards were put in place to ensure AI is used appropriately. Clear guidance was approved by the Auditor General and Board that covers data protection, confidentiality, ethical use and the importance of outputs being carefully reviewed by staff. Conclusions and judgements must always remain with our people. By adopting AI in a controlled and ethical way, Audit Wales is enhancing and modernising our working practices and helping build digital capability across the organisation.
• The Board and Executive Leadership Team also monitored an expanded range of actions and performance measures to ensure we deliver a holistic and robust workforce strategy and plan for attracting, retaining and developing staff across the whole organisation.

In November 2025, we were delighted to see the results of our 2025 annual Audit Wales staff survey.Scores increased across nearly all survey themes, continuing the trend observed in 2024. Our Engagement Index reached 73%; our highest score since we began recording this measure in 2017. We take great pride in the positive organisational culture these results describe. The results also tell us that we have been successful in addressing many of the issues raised through equivalent surveys in previous years.

However, we strive to continuously improve, and the survey pointed to a few areas where some improvement is still required, including through refining our approach to recruitment. As a result, some specific improvement projects are now underway in these areas.

In December 2025, we published our third report on compliance with the Biodiversity and Resilience of Ecosystems Duty, alongside our forward plan for performing the Duty over the next three years. Similarly, in April 2026, we published our new Strategic Equality Plan (SEP) for 2026-2030. In both plans, we commit to new objectives to help us best perform our statutory duties in these areas in the coming years.

For the SEP, our new objectives were developed with input from Pawb, our staff equality interest group, and a public consultation where we sought views from a wide range of relevant stakeholders. I am grateful for all the feedback received, which was carefully considered before finalising the plan.

During the year, strategic risks were well managed, including in relation to our workforce strategy and the timing of the pre-election period and its potential impact on Adrian’s audit and legacy messaging. The Board was also satisfied with the quality of the management information it received. I would like to pay tribute to the staff of Audit Wales for all their hard work and commitment throughout the year.

And, of course, in light of his imminent departure, on behalf of us all at Audit Wales, I would like to say a big thank you Adrian. Over the last eight years, he has brought authority, commitment dedicated and thoughtful leadership, strengthening the post of Auditor General and helping position Audit Wales as an even more respected and influential organisation. We wish him well for the future.