Agenda and minutes

To note any apologies for absence from Members.

Apologies were received from Councillor Brian Drake and Mrs Jennifer Clark.

To provide an opportunity for Members and Officers to declare any disclosable pecuniary interests, other registerable interests, and non-registerable interests in any item on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 5 December 2024.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 5 December 2024 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

In accordance with paragraphs 2.24 of the Council’s Committee Procedure Rules and Appendix on Public Speaking a total period of 15 minutes is allocated for members of the public to put questions to the committee on any matter relating to this agenda. Each member of the public will be allowed up to two minutes each to speak, and the Chair will have discretion to vary this where they consider it appropriate.

Members of the public wishing to speak are required to provide notice of this at least three clear working days’ in advance of the meeting and should include the question with that notice.

There were no registered speakers.

To receive an update on the committee action log.

The committee received an update on the action log, summarised below:

-       Audited Statement of Accounts and Annual Governance Statement Training: A briefing session had taken place with committee members on Tuesday 18 February 2025. Presentation slides had been circulated by email and would be added to the Audit and Governance Committee Teams Channel.

-       S106 Update: a written response was being prepared and would be circulated to the committee as soon as possible.

-       School Catering report to the Children and Families Committee: this matter was being investigated, and an update would be provided at the next committee meeting. The Monitoring Officer confirmed that the Constitution now made provision for dealing with cross-cutting issues however officers would need to further investigate this particular matter to understand what had gone wrong.

-       Training Strategy for Members: a draft strategy had been developed and would be considered by the committee at its next meeting in March. The committee requested that the delivery method of e-learning be further considered as a number of members had issues completing mandatory training via the Learning Lounge. Democratic Services Officers would be present at the Full Council meeting on 26 February who would be able to assist members with any issues.

-       A question was raised in relation to the action relating to good practice briefing notes. It was confirmed that a Teams Channel had been developed for the committee which contained a number of resources (guidance documents, presentations etc) to assist the committee. Officers asked members to review the content of the channel and feedback any areas/gaps they felt needed to be addressed.

Paper to follow.

The committee considered the report which set out the latest draft Statement of Accounts 2023-24, an update on the Audit of Accounts 2023-24 and the Interim Completion Report from Ernst and Young (EY), the council’s external auditors. The committee noted that legislation had been introduced relating to back-stop dates for local authorities to publish audited accounts (28 February 2025 for 2023-24). EY confirmed that they had not been in a position to obtain sufficient evidence to be able to conclude that the financial statements of the council were free from material and pervasive misstatement before the backstop date and had therefore anticipated issuing a disclaimed 2023-24 audit opinion. However, EY had also received four objections, from a local elector, on the 2023-24 financial statement and until these had been considered by EY, the final external audit opinion could not be given.

It was noted that the appointment of EY as the council’s external auditor had been a late appointment and that the 2023-24 audit did not commence until October 2024.

EY presented their interim findings to committee. Significant weaknesses were identified in the council’s arrangements relating to the financial sustainability. The council’s Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) was not sustainable without central government support and therefore, the council was at risk of issuing a S114 notice in the future.

Further significant weaknesses in arrangements for 2023-24 were noted in the following areas:

-       Ofsted Inspection Report: the findings of the Ofsted and improvement notice issued by the Secretary of State was evidence of significant weaknesses in arrangements.

-       Corporate Challenge Peer Review: the Peer Review identified a number of significant issues and proposed a series of recommendations. The council’s subsequent action plan identified 73 actions and whilst the council was responding positively to the issues identified, the findings of the peer review represented significant weaknesses in arrangements for 2023-24.

-       Head of Internal Audit Opinion: During 2023-24, the Head of Internal Audit concluded that the overall opinion on the council’s framework of risk management, governance and internal control was ‘Limited’. The findings of the report provided evidence of significant weakness in arrangements.

-       Annual Governance Statement 2023-24: The AGS identified that there were arrangements in place for the council to identify governance issues and to establish plans to address relevant areas. However, the AGS identified weakness in arrangements for 2023-24 in respect of partnership working.

The committee noted the 2024-25 backstop date (28 February 2026) and were pleased that colleagues from EY would be meeting the council’s finance team to ensure that both EY and the council were prepared for the 24-25 audit. This preparation will include reviewing the data and information required by the new auditors, and how it is extracted and shared in a format that best meet the needs of EY.

The committee raised concerns in relation to bank reconciliations which had not been prepared on a regular basis during 2023-24 and agreed that timely complete of bank reconciliations was a fundamental control measure that should be completed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 59.

To receive a verbal update on the Annual Governance Statement 2023-24.

The committee considered the draft Annual Governance Statement 2023-24 and the updates that had been made since the last update to the committee in December 2024. The Chair requested that, should any member of the committee have any further comments on the 2023-24 AGS, that these are shared with officers as soon as possible.

RESOLVED:

That the committee noted the draft Annual Governance Statement 2023-24.

To receive an update on the Internal Audit Plan 2024-25.

The committee considered the report which provided an update on the work undertaken by Internal Audit between April and December 2024, along with an overview of planned work for the remainder of the financial year and how this would contribute to the Annual Internal Audit Opinion.

It was highlighted the positive progress was being made in relation to the implementation of agreed audit actions. 75% of all actions due have now been implemented compared to 49% at the end of the previous financial year. The committee welcomed this positive progress which provided assurance that the follow-up process was becoming more established. Since the publication of the report, a further 10 actions had been completed.

It was requested that the tables/RAG ratings used within the report provide a more detailed breakdown, highlighting those actions identified as high/medium/low priority.

The committee welcomed the report and were pleased to note the support received by the council’s Corporate Leadership Team.

RESOLVED:

That the Audit and Governance Committee note the report and the update provided.

To considered the Work Programme.

The committee considered the Work Programme. It was noted that the 6 March 2025 meeting had been moved to 31 March 2025.

It was agreed that a date for the Member Working Group: Whistleblowing Policy, would be scheduled once feedback had been received from the Brighter Futures Champions Group.