Audit and Governance Committee - Wednesday 30 July 2025, 6:00pm - Folkestone & Hythe webcasting

Audit and Governance Committee
Wednesday, 30th July 2025 at 6:00pm 

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Cllr Liz McShane - 0:00:03
Good evening and welcome to the meeting of the Audit and Governance Committee. Just a
warm welcome to Councillor Walker who is new to the committee so I'm sure we'll enjoy her
contributions. This meeting will be webcast live to the internet. For those who do not
wish to be recorded or filmed you will need to leave the Chamber. For members, officers
and others speaking at the meeting it is important that the microphones are used so viewers on
webcast and others in the room may hear you. Would anyone with a mobile phone please switch
it to silent as they can be distracting. I would like to remind members that although
we all have strong opinions on matters under consideration, it is important to treat members,

1 Election of Vice Chair

officers and public speakers with respect. Thank you. So we'll move to the first item
on the agenda, which is election of the Vice Chair.
Any nominations?
If he's willing, I'd like to nominate
Cllr Belinda Walker - 0:01:02
Councillor Rich Holgate.
Okay. Any other nominations?
Cllr Liz McShane - 0:01:06
Okay. Could I have a proposer then?
And a seconder? Lovely.
So, we have someone agreed?
So Councillor Holgate, sorry two votes for Councillor Richard Holgate, that's unanimous.
So Councillor Richard Holgate is the new Vice Chair, that's great.

2 Apologies for Absence

Moving on to Item number 2, apologies for absence.
Can we have apologies for absence please?
Thank you Chair, we've received apologies from Councillors Holgate and Godfrey.
Microphone A - 0:01:41
Cllr Liz McShane - 0:01:43
Any information about Councillor Wimble?
Nothing from Councillor Wimble.

3 Declarations of Interest

Microphone A - 0:01:45
Cllr Liz McShane - 0:01:48
Okay, that's a shame. Moving on to item number three, Declinations of Interest, pages five
to six of the pack. Councillor Llewing.
Cllr John Wing - 0:01:59
Yeah, I'd like to declare as an opportunist, as a director, an opportunist.

4 Minutes

Cllr Liz McShane - 0:02:06
Thank you. Any others? No? Okay. Let's move on to item number four, Minutes of the Last
I think Councillor Wing is probably, you and myself, you're happy with them? Is it an accurate

5 Quarterly Internal Audit Update Report from the Head of East Kent Audit Partnership

reflection of the meeting? Thank you. Can you propose that? Second? That's agreed.
Moving on to item number five, the quarterly internal audit update report from the head
of East Kent Audit Partnership.
So that is, is that Jonathan?
Chris, sorry.
Thank you Chris, over to you.
SPEAKER - 0:02:58
Thank you, Chair. Yes, the report before you on page 15 is the regular
internal audit update report which shows the work completed by the internal audit
section in the previous period since the last committee meeting.
If I can direct you to page 19, this shows the main reports that have been completed
in the period and you will see that there have been 12 reports reported for this cycle.
The assurance levels being 4 came out as substantial and 8 as reasonable so there is no partial
limited assurances for the committee to concern themselves with this time round.
On page 33 this shows the follow -ups that have been completed for the period and there
have been eight follow -ups within this period and the main ones to note for the committee
are the four at the back that have increased from partial limited or limited reports up
to substantial reasonables or reasonables this includes risk management, employee health
and safety, equality and diversity and the high swimming pool. So all of those have moved
in the right direction of trouble for those. On page 38 this shows the audit plan for the
first two months up to the end of May and the completion for that period was 17 % and
just to bring the committee up to date, and on 30 June for the first quarter the percentage
completed is 23%, so just 2 % down on the budgeted 25 % for that quarter. Those are the main highlights
of the report and we'd be pleased to take any questions you may have. Thank you.
Thank you, Chris. Any questions from the committee?
Cllr Liz McShane - 0:04:54
Just noted down a couple that I'll just find on my paper.
Cllr Belinda Walker - 0:04:59
Oh yes, sorry, just page 21, where it says,
an exercise needs to be carried out
to review all the housing policies
and all the website is updated
as and when policies are updated.
Presumably that's all on track at the moment.
I wasn't able to cheque the website myself.
Looking at sorry page 21,
guarding the HRO Business Plan,
which already has substantial assurance.
Thank you, chair. Through you, chair.
Yeah, this snapshot at the time of undertaking
SPEAKER - 0:05:47
the audit of the things that needed to be done.
We won't know if it's done until we go back
and do our follow up report and report back to you.
As obviously we're independent of management
So we will most likely be in a position
to be reporting on that one at the
next committee meeting as it was
a substantial assurance I would
imagine we'll be able to do the
follow up and report that the next
meeting but rest assured those
bullet points in the quarterly update
report generally aligned to the
management actions that management
have agreed to undertake and they
will have an individual due date.
So they're the ones that we will
report on in the follow up stage.
Thank you. Thank you, Chair.
Thank you very much, Chair. Thank you.
Thank you, Councillor Walker, for your first question.
Cllr Belinda Walker - 0:06:30
Cllr Liz McShane - 0:06:30
Councillor Wing, do you have anything? No?
Cllr Liz McShane - 0:06:35
I've got some questions.
Are we on track to complete the 25 -26 audit plan,
given that only 17 % has been delivered by May?
And if so, and if not, what actions do we need to take?
Thank you, Chair.
SPEAKER - 0:06:52
The updated position to the end of the first quarter,
We're at 23 % against the target of 25 % of the first quarter.
The audit plan we're aiming to achieve, I would say 100%, but as you can see from the
next report, it will be very high in 90s by the 31st of March 2026.
We take the four interval measures as we go through the year.
We've had a discussion before on what percentage we are measuring, but we do the same across
the partnership.
So at the first quarter, the target is 25 % at the half year 50, at the third quarter 75,
and obviously 100 % at the end of the year. So the true position to the end of June was 23 %
against the target of 25. You know that the resources tend to be slightly ahead at one
partner and slightly behind as the year rolls out, and also the September quarter with all the
annual leave in there, it sometimes looks slightly behind as well.
So on top of that, there is to note we have had some sickness within the team.
If we will work hard with the Section 151 officers, if we do fall behind, obviously
it would be telling the committee as the year unfolds, but I'm not concerned as we're
sitting at this point in the quarter.
Thank you.
Thank you, and that's good to know.
Cllr Liz McShane - 0:08:05
We've just got a couple more.
What measures are in place to close the control gaps in reasonable assures areas like cyber
security and GDPR?
SPEAKER - 0:08:15
Thank you again, and touching on the point we just made with the management
action plans that we have agreed as part of the initial audits management will be
working to deliver those control improvements. Then we will go back and
independently test those control improvements and then we will come back
to the committee with the outcome of that testing. Members you'll see from the
next item on the agenda if we get to the year end position and we have escalated
risks during the year that we are concerned about, we report again on those at the summing
up of the year. So it is the opportunity for the members if we are highlighting risks that
are outstanding after their intended due date. It's within the committee's gift to invite
the manager to a future meeting to give a progress update on how it's going, but you
can rely on the reports that we bring to you to kind of take you in the direction of which
are becoming overdue or we don't see if there's any progress.
But clearly that's not the case when we come to the next
item will go through that. Thank you and my last one for
Cllr Liz McShane - 0:09:21
this section. Any audit recommendations, select standing
or delay beyond the green dates and do they require escalation?
If so, did they require escalation?
Thank you, there's one in this committee in this report that
was a medium recommendation.
SPEAKER - 0:09:38
recommendation and the revised due date for that,
I've written down and cannot see,
it was only a few months then, so everybody.
It was originally April, it's now October I think,
isn't it?
Yeah, October.
So again, we can do a wrap up of that
when we come to the UN to make sure that
that has been implemented and has become embedded.
And then if you don't mind me answering the question
on behalf of the next item.
There are six in the next item, which is the annual report, where they have gone beyond
their original implementation date.
Two for the contract standing orders and contract management review.
They were originally April, sorry, they were originally reported to the December committee,
and the now revised implementation date for those is April 26.
some of those rely on the financial procedure rules being rewritten,
so they're slightly further ahead in view.
So they're not completely gone
and they're well documented within the report.
There are three for the counter -fraud actions,
one to do with the fraud risk register,
the resources for investigations
and making sure the transparency code is complied with.
Again, they are all on track.
In fact, we are currently undertaking another piece of work on counter -fraud,
so they definitely won't fall out of view.
They will stay alive there.
And there was one for the independent living
recommendation that was outstanding,
all was put back.
And again, similarly to the end of the year,
where the review of the service charges
was something that needed to be undertaken
to ensure the costs were being covered.
So there were slightly longer term actions.
But yeah, to answer your question, six.
That's pretty good.
Thank you.
Any other questions on this item?
No, that's...
Oh, Councillor Pritchard.
Cllr Liz McShane - 0:11:28
Just going to comment on this report.
Cllr Tim Prater - 0:11:31
I first came into the Audit and Government's Committee in 2007, so that's somewhere before
the dawn of time.
And I'd never seen a set of eight follow -up reports before with no critical, no high outstanding
and one medium.
The fact that all of those have been done, various levels of assurance, various recommendations
made all while one recommendation already actioned and the last one that has been explained
with the timeline in place is an exceptional performance both in terms of the audit itself
and the follow up to that audit but also the organisation's response I think to that audit.
That's what's meant to happen, meant to go in, cheque stuff, see if there are things you
can improve, say here's the list of things we've improved and come back a period of time
and it's happened. And as I said, I think that's the cleanest follow -up audit I have
seen since the dawn of time. So thank you for that.
Cllr Liz McShane - 0:12:32
Thank you for that and well done everybody. So if we go to the recommendations for item
5, it's to receive and note the report and to note the results of the work carried out
by the East Kent Audit Partnership. Are we agreed? Can I have a proposer? And a seconder?
That's agreed unanimously. Thank you.
So moving on to item 6, it's the internal audit annual report.
Back to you, Christine. Thank you.

6 Internal Audit Annual Report 2024-25

Thank you, Chair.
SPEAKER - 0:13:04
Yes, members, page 42, if I could just explain paragraph 1 .1 there.
This sets out the purpose of the report.
The headlines of the report are the 99 .4 days of the audit days
we promised you last March have been delivered,
therefore we've met our targets,
and overall it's a reasonable assurance.
I then go on to give you a very, very lengthy report
to comply with the audit standards,
so that's why it's such a long report
to deliver that headline,
but we've just had the introduction to the fact
that it is an exceptionally good year,
and if you'll indulge me, I'll just present the rest of that,
the way that we run this report
to give you the view of that summary.
So the report itself, whilst lengthy, is in two parts.
And the first part focuses very much on the performance of the internal audit team.
So page three, paragraph four point... Sorry, yes.
Page 45, paragraph three, is all about the targets,
the quality assurance, our independence and our compliance with professional standards
and how the East Kent Audit Partnership has performed.
Again, I don't feel there's anything there to highlight any concerns
to members at this time.
So the most important part of the report to me
is the so what, and the next three paragraphs
give you three different views.
Everything in this report, members,
is only what you've seen in the last four meetings
of this committee, so we're not adding anything new.
All of the reports have come to this committee
and all of the risks we have discussed.
But page 48 in paragraph 4 .1, the first view
is that we have raised 133 recommendations
throughout the audits that we've undertaken.
And you can see the split between critical high,
medium and low risks.
So across there, whilst 33 % were in the critical high risk
categories, you'll see as we go through that none of those
now need further escalation to the committee.
The second view in paragraph 4 .2 is the assurances.
And 90 % of the assurances that we've completed this year
are in the substantial and reasonable arena.
Again, with only 10 % reviews receiving the lower levels of assurance.
So, significant progress here.
For each of those areas where a recommendation
or a management action is agreed,
an implementation date is agreed with the manager.
Understandably, we try to time the follow -up.
We encourage managers to kind of stretch themselves,
but at the same time allow themselves enough time,
because clearly we will be back and we will be asking,
Is it done? Is it implemented? Is it effective?
So we tried to time those progress reports
on a kind of a balance of the due dates
and when things are likely to have happened.
And there's the final view there in 4 .3
of the follow -up results of the follow -up work.
And as has been said, there are no reviews
that remain on the lower levels of assurance after follow -up.
Another really important part of what we do
in terms of raising these recommendations.
You see 133 have been raised in the years to track the recommendations.
So paragraph 4 .4 is firstly listing the ones we haven't yet followed up.
So again, they won't go out of review.
These are all in the schedule to be undertaken.
And of course this report goes to the 31st of March
and you'll see that three of those in there,
including high swimming pool equality and diversity
and risk management I think, have now been undertaken
and have been reported to in the item that we've just heard.
The other aspect of follow -up that I thought was really important
and is the point we were just making,
if we've escalated, so in East End internal audit
we'll undertake one follow -up.
If there are matters outstanding at the time of follow -up
that are high or critical risk, we escalate them to the committee.
So it's really important when we come to the annual report
to tell you how many we've escalated and give you an updated position.
We thought it was useful to just follow through those that were left for the 22 -23 annual
report.
So that's the first table.
And there we have the fact that the two homelessness ones are completed and the CSO's contract
management partially implemented with this revised date of April 26, largely to do with
the rewrite of the FPRs there.
And then throughout the 24 -5 year, we have escalated 13 management actions to the committee
and they appear in the table in 5 .2, but I thought it's important to highlight them here
in this part of the report.
And the update there was to have revised due dates for the implementation if all of the
of those 13 have now been completed.
Moving through the report just to remind members unusually,
we also had seven recommendations made within the contract
arrangements for Waste Management Review,
which we highlighted to the committee enough to put the link
in there back to the July 24 meeting,
where they were not to be progressed further,
the management would tolerate the risks.
So again, internal audit has completed its duty of care
of bringing those to you.
It's you as a committee to agree with management
what the risk appetite is and what action you'll be taking.
It can be quite healthy to disagree with internal audit
on our perception of risk,
but it's our duty to highlight them to you.
We haven't undertaken any fraud work for you this year,
and that leads us nicely to page 53
where we form the opinion.
When we had the external quality assurance assessment
last year, the assessor liked the fact
that we split the opinion into corporate governance,
risk management and internal control,
but it also wanted to see the overall opinion,
the one sentence, the one word, whatever it is.
I've done a fair bit of benchmarking
and have added paragraph 5 .4 back into this year's report.
Under the new standards, it won't be an opinion anymore,
which I think is a great shame,
because I've always enjoyed being finally paid to have an opinion in life.
But in the future, it will be called a conclusion.
It will do the same job, which is a very important part of the assurances that this committee
relies upon to be in a position at the next meeting to sign off your annual governance
statement.
So here we are for the last time, I'm opinion.
So within the corporate governance arena, the three reviews in that area have produced
substantial and reasonable assurances, very strong governance arrangements there.
And within the internal control, we've already covered those things that are yet to be done.
we've highlighted them before,
but we feel very confident they are in
the process of being undertaken.
And those three follow -ups that are
listed at the time of the 31st of March
have now been also all completed,
resulting in substantial
or reasonable assurance.
The Council therefore has a very good
track record in responding to internal
audit recommendations and I'm satisfied
that you can rely on these aspects
of system control.
Overall then members,
It is an absolutely positive report,
and we are providing a strong reasonable assurance.
I will tell you, when this was presented
at management team, I was challenged
and asked if I had considered splitting it
to substantial stroke reasonable.
I think all of us in this room would be surprised
to see an overall substantial assurance.
I think it was a good challenge.
I have reflected.
I will continue to reflect,
but I'm very confident in a strong reason for Sean's
and I commend the report to you. Thank you.
Thank you, Christine. Any questions from the committee?
Cllr Liz McShane - 0:20:54
No? I've got a couple.
I'm not sure the first one's for Mike Piffle and Jonathan,
or it's for you, but...
Are we happy that the overall control environment is robust,
considering the number of reasonable rather than substantial opinions?
SPEAKER - 0:21:15
I'm happy to help there, Chair. I think for any district council to set its sights on
having a substantial assurance across the board at all times, across all areas of risk,
is probably too gold standard and is very unlikely. It's very acceptable. It's for this
committee to determine where its risk appetite sits, but I think aiming at a reasonable assurance
is a very high bar in itself. Thank you.
Cllr Liz McShane - 0:21:39
I understand. Sorry, I didn't put your mic on.
Hyper -PED is the Council for Ophelia to Prevent Fraud.
Offence in September.
Has fraud risk assessment and training role -light been completed?
Thank you, Chair.
SPEAKER - 0:21:58
So we are just completing another review of Council for Award work.
Are we sure? I think it's just completing.
It's just completing, but I can reveal to the committee
in terms of work. The annual training that staff here have always undertaken has been
enhanced this year to include all of the new measures to meet the Failing to Prevent Fraud
requirements. There's a new eLearning module and all staff, it's just been released, and
all staff are being encouraged to complete that by the 31st of August. I know it's holiday
season but I know Management Team will be ensuring that that's completed in line for
the 1st of September when the arrangements come into play.
I will probably like to add some assurance to the committee
that we haven't undertaken any fraud investigations
for the council.
I haven't heard of any others being reported to you.
The likelihood for a district council to be in a position
where there is a fraud, where these rules come into play,
are probably remote.
However, it's very good to have those due diligence
issues in process. So obviously the training, the tone from the top, the policies, the procedures,
and the control feedback loop, making sure that all works and is appropriate is what we're looking
to test and management have obviously got good plans in place. Thank you. Thank you. And the last
Cllr Liz McShane - 0:23:22
one I have. What steps are being taken to align performance measures with the corporate plan
following concerns in the performance management audit? I don't know if management want to step in
but there was a six monthly report being.
Do you want to take it?
SPEAKER - 0:23:39
Thank you chat as this in relation
to the action around.
Mr Jonathan Hicks - 0:23:46
Performance indicators being
related to the corporate plan.
I think this was a point where we
perhaps contested what the recommendations
are they know what it suggested that
there weren't key performance indicators
attached to every action in the corporate
plan and I explained that the intention wasn't to have a KPI linked to every action in the
corporate plan and since then the new corporate plan has been passed through cabinet and we're
measuring them in a separate way.
Thank you for that Jonathan.
Cllr Liz McShane - 0:24:23
Any other questions or comments?
Comments for Peter?
Cllr Tim Prater - 0:24:28
Sorry, again as Relick at this stage, the joy of having an East Kent audit partnership
that you're doing this for a number of councils across East Kent and therefore we can do some
benchmarking without naming anyone else. Obviously your overall opinion here is providing reasonable
assurance and I think you said good reasonable assurance. We won't cut hairs on that. Where
does that sit within the other councils which you benchmark? Are we performing above average
or below average in terms of the number of councils you work with?
SPEAKER - 0:25:09
Thank you, Chair. Thank you for the question. I have issued a limited assurance this round
of annual reports, which are very unusual. And I think if we were to benchmark it in
another way, if we look at the assurances split, the substantial stroke reasonable 90 %
Here at Boakston, 71 at another site.
I think we had another 70,
and then a lower number at the other site.
So an outlier there for sure.
And of course, it may depend on the type of audits
that were in your plan.
If we have spent an awful lot of time up at the depots
in grounds maintenance and health and safety,
we may be finding a lot more areas of risk
and having different opinions.
but it's, as you say, it's an exceptional year
and a very good report to be able to present this evening.
Thank you.
Thank you for that, that's really encouraging.
So well done again.
Cllr Liz McShane - 0:26:06
No more questions for this item, I take it?
No, okay.
Let's go to recommendations then.
So they are to receive and note the opinion
of the head of the Audit Partnership in report August 2502.
To receive and note the annual report
detailing the work of VCAP and its performance to underpin 2425 opinion. Can I have a proposal
please? Councillor Wing, thank you very much. Seconder, Councillor Walker. And happy to
agree this. That's unanimous too. Thank you. Moving on to item 7, which is Grant Thornton
audit plan for the year ended 31st March. Is this Councillor Prater or somebody? Oh
Thank you Sir.
Jonathan Smith - 0:26:55
So this report presents the Grant Thornton
audit plan which focuses on the proposed work on auditing the statement of accounts for
2024 -25 as well as providing an update on audit fees.
There are four recommendations and as members will be aware the 2024 -25 statement draught
statement of accounts were published on time on the 30th of June 2025.
Section 3 of this report before you
notes and seeks agreement for the
proposed fees for 2425 and seeks
approval for the fee variations
for the 2022 -23 audit which was
signed in December 24 and the 2324
audit which was signed in February 25.
Section 4 of the report and
Appendix 1 provides management
responses to the general inquiries.
These responses will inform the
audit risk assessment for Grant
Thornton's planning purpose and
and will feed into their audit plan,
which is attached to this report at Appendix 2.
The report recommends approval of these
responses and you'll note that section
five of this report it deals with
an update on prior findings.
And of course we have with us Sophia
and Kieran from Grant Thornton who
will be able to talk you through
their audit plan and I'll be happy
to take any questions that may arise
from this report after obviously they've
presented their elements of the plan.
SPEAKER - 0:28:22
Thank you, good evening members. So as Jonathan said, this is our audit plan for 2425. We
named it an indicative plan because we issued it in April at the time to management and
it's only now that we were able to present it and share it with you as the charge of
governance. So at the time we issued the plan, we completed sufficient work to be able to
issue the plan, hence the indicative nature. But what I can say now is we have complete
broadly completed our planning work.
One other additional risk would go into the plan
and it's an other risk, not a significant risk,
and that's around the introduction of IFRS 16.
So when we were pulling together the plan,
I don't think we were too certain on the impact
on the Council 24 -25 financial statement.
We understand it's not material for this year,
so we have now identified it as an other risk
because it is the introduction of a new accounting standard.
And we do need to complete some work around the implementation and how the council has
arrived or how management has arrived at their numbers and we need to undertake work to confirm
the completeness of management's assessment.
So I'll take the planners read but pick up a few points for you.
In section one of the plan, we've got some key developments and the main points I would
draw your attention to are in respect of LGR.
So that's pages 88 and 89 of the PAC.
Page 89 has some points for audit committees in general to consider as the LGR process
is worked through.
So as things develop, we can be having discussions with you and with management on some of those
areas.
And then I think I'll draw your attention to page 96 of the PAC, which really summarises
our approach in a nutshell.
We have there our significant risks for this year's audit of management override of controls,
evaluation of plant property and equipment, council dwellings and investment properties,
the evaluation of the pension liability and also the valuation of level 3 assets liabilities.
All of those significant risks are detailed on pages 98 to 103 of the pack.
And then also in terms of materiality, we do have a materiality level that has increased
from the prior year, but due to the change in the methodology we are using at Grant Thornton,
it has increased.
Proportionately we've applied to the top of the benchmark as we did in the prior year,
so replying the same approach, but that number has gone up because the benchmark has increased
on our firm -wide level.
In terms of clearly trivial there, that's the level at which we will report findings
and errors to you in our audit findings report at the end of the audit.
And there is the lower specific materiality of £20 ,000 per individual officer, and that's
in relation to senior officer remuneration disclosures, because we consider those to
be of a sensitive nature, so it has a lower level of materiality.
And the materiality and how we determine it and how it's set out is detailed on pages
108 and 109 of the pack. In relation to our value for money work, that work is underway
and we haven't at this point identified any risks of significant weakness and we are on
track to report our value for money findings in the auditor's annual report in December.
So the audit fee for the year is £193 ,000 and that's £184 ,000 in relation to the PSAA
scale fee for the year and then also £8 ,000 for the work that we need to do in relation
to the council's group accounts and that was missed out of the scale fee so we've added
that on.
The work that we are going to do in relation to IFRS 16 isn't included at the moment in
plan because we weren't aware of the scale. It will be on the more minimal side compared
to other authorities, but we'll be able to update you after we've completed that work
as to how much time it has taken. As Jonathan mentioned, I think we do have some prior
recommendations from, I think it's the last two years of audit and progress with those
prior recommendations is on page 111 onwards. And then lastly, we have a logistics and timings
page on 121 of the pack and it sets out that we're aiming to report to you at the meeting
on the 17th of December.
And I'll stop there for any questions.
Thank you Sophia Lott for her to go through.
Any comments, questions, clarifications from the committee on this item?
Councillor Wing?
Cllr Liz McShane - 0:33:22
Councillor Walker, have you got something ready to ask?
Cllr Belinda Walker - 0:33:30
This was 2425 being the first to your adoption of the IFRS 16. You mention on page 125 additional
audit fees for this work and further details on page 136. I wondered if the council was
on utilising any local advisory services
to assist with this new work,
possibly to mitigate some fees?
I'll take that question.
Thank you. Thank you for the question.
Jonathan Smith - 0:33:58
So we haven't decided to take any
additional advisory work in relation to that.
Obviously we have qualified accountants
within the authority and we obviously
are OK but ourselves the breast of
any changes to the policy and the
and then implement those when we prepare the statement of accounts.
So we prepared them using our finance team,
using the skills and qualifications within the organisation.
Thank you.
Any other questions from the committee?
Cllr Belinda Walker - 0:34:31
Cllr Liz McShane - 0:34:32
I've got a few.
I mean obviously last year was a really good year,
we're continuing that track record of on time and getting things to a really good level and place.
I just want to be aware or ask are there any anticipated timing issues that could delay external audit or opinion
for 24, 25 that we need to be made aware of, that you might know of I think?
SPEAKER - 0:35:03
So as it stands, no, we are on track in terms of starting the audit on the 29th of September.
We have, which we haven't done in previous years, tried to get a head start on that.
So the team was out last week to start collecting samples so that we, when we get here at the
end of September, we can have things ready for us.
So that's an improvement we've made from the prior year,
hoping that we can not have a lag at the beginning
where we're waiting for samples to be returned to us.
So hopefully this year's audit will be more efficient
and we are aiming to report to you by December,
which is a couple of months earlier than the 23 -24 audit.
Thank you.
That's good to hear.
Cllr Liz McShane - 0:35:49
And on that note, are there any,
has the audit scope changed or widened this year
or is it slightly different to previous years or more complex?
SPEAKER - 0:36:01
So very much the only change will be in relation to IFRS 16.
Everything else broadly remains the same
in terms of the areas that we're looking at.
It's just IFRS 16 is new for all local authorities this year,
so we will be doing a piece of work around that.
Cllr Liz McShane - 0:36:16
Thank you. And just really a note on page 63 of the appendix.
Just the column on the right hand side.
They're blank.
I just wondering are those responses
included elsewhere in the audit plan?
Just the Grant Thornton consideration
of impact on this on risk assessment.
That column is blank,
but it's just to know.
SPEAKER - 0:36:40
So that's for us on receipt of the
responses from management,
whether or not we think it triggers
or identifies an additional risk,
and we haven't identified anything that we
we didn't already have on our radar.
Cllr Liz McShane - 0:36:54
And lastly, just a minor, minor detail,
it's just the numbering, where was it?
On page 67, so from 14 then it goes to four,
five and six, onwards, it's just a minor thing,
but I thought it'd be useful, good to point it out.
Jonathan Smith - 0:37:11
Yes, oh yeah, thanks, yeah, I think that's the template
that maybe the numbering, the auto numbering
in office has gone slightly awry there.
templates do that sometimes.
Cllr Liz McShane - 0:37:19
So is that any other questions, comments?
OK, so we're good to go to the recommendations which are to
receive a note report to approve the management representations
attached in Appendix 1. To note Grand Thornton's audit plan for
the year ended 31st of March 25 and audit fees as outlined
within Appendix 2. And to agree and note the audit fees as
outlined in section 3 of this report. Can I have a proposal
please Councillor Walker thank you.
Seconder Councillor Wayne lovely.
Can we agree this?
That's unanimous 24.
Thank you so item 8.

8 Corporate Risk Register

Which is the corporate risk register
at Jonathan. Thank you.
Mr Jonathan Hicks - 0:38:04
Thank you chair. Good evening members.
And this report provides an update
to the corporate risk register,
last considered by the audit and
governance committee on the 19th March.
It identifies the current risks facing the Council, giving the Committee oversight of
changing and emerging risks as appropriate.
For the benefit of any new Committee members, as part of the Council's constitution of governance
arrangements, an update to the Corporate Risk Register is due to be presented to this Committee
every quarter and a full review undertaken once a year alongside the policy and strategy.
That review has already been undertaken
and was presented to this committee
on the 90th of March and subsequently
approved by cabinet on the 26th of March.
No significant changes to the register
have been made since the committee
last viewed it where it was given
the top to bottom refresh and
reordering so that the risks were
ordered in priority or at least the
highest risks were placed at the top.
One risk has been removed and which
which is change of governance,
you'll see it in the report crossed out.
This was in relation to the potential move
to a committee system.
Since we didn't move to committee system,
the risk has been removed.
The cyber threat remains the highest risk
and according to the way we calculate risks
set out in our strategy,
we consider this to be extreme risk.
A number of new and ongoing actions are in place to minimise the impact of a cyber attack,
which I am reminded by our head of IT is not if, but when, and this risk is about our preparedness
to deal with those threats.
Further eight risks we are treating as high risk, which are listed in section 2 .2 of the
covering report.
Actions to mitigate all these risks are continuous,
but the definitions, impacts and actions are reviewed by
Chief Officers and our Corporate Governance Board
before coming to CLT and here at committee.
On section 2 .4 of the report, I've presented a table
which in the facts is on page 143,
which will show you some new actions
which have been noted against our highest risk.
The report concludes with the corporate risk register overview matrix and dashboard provided
in this appendix on page 145.
This will show you where each risk is placed and how it is scored.
We are presenting the corporate risk register to committee for consideration and approval
and I'm happy to take any questions.
Cllr Liz McShane - 0:40:58
Thank you for that succinct summary.
Any questions from the committee or comments?
Councillor Walker. There's more of a comment that I'm
Cllr Belinda Walker - 0:41:08
really pleased to see the high awareness of the cyber security.
I know that's been a huge problem for lots of people, so
it's really good that we're onto that. Hopefully it won't
happen, but it probably will.
It's good that we're ready.
Cllr Liz McShane - 0:41:22
Cllr John Wing - 0:41:27
Councillor Wayne. Thank you chair. On the table on 2 .4, I noticed
the focusing on brighter future project is still on target.
I'm very concerned that the amount of negative feedback we get in the moment,
because I know the work is ongoing, there's not much we can do about it,
but the council has received a lot of negative feedback,
obviously because of traffic and things at the standstill.
I know we can't do nothing about it, but this is why this is so important.
It gets completed on time and hopefully within budget
because this is causing a lot of traction from the general public,
basically because they won't be moving around in Fokse anymore
because of the boat work that's going on, so as long as you're aware of that.
And the temporary accommodation, I'm very pleased to hear that the Councillor,
through the HRA, are buying quite a bit of accommodation
and I know even in HIVE there's new social housing going up,
which hasn't happened for years.
So we are one of the case and it's good to see that.
Thank you, Councillor Wynne.
Cllr Liz McShane - 0:42:31
Cllr Liz McShane - 0:42:41
I'll say that again.
How are cyber security and fraud risks being coordinated across departments and the Council to avoid duplication and oversight gaps?
Thank you chair.
Mr Jonathan Hicks - 0:42:57
I think you'll see in the register they we've got cyber threat and forward listed separately
and they are treated separately in here.
We do recognise that there is a link between cyber security and forward because cyber attacks
such as phishing and malware often serve as the entry point for sophisticated Ford schemes.
Technical security incidents as and when they occur should be reported to ICT and any suspected
fraud including cyber enabled payment scams must also be reported to the Finance Director.
This forms part of the Council's recently updated Compliance Essentials mandatory training
module which was mentioned earlier this evening that all staff have been asked to complete
and having done it recently, I know you have to get 100 % to pass the test, which I didn't the first time round.
So yeah, that's the link there.
So they're treated separately, but actually there's the mechanism there,
the incidents as they happen should be reported to IT
and the council staff are well practised in reporting issues and incidents through IT.
mechanism for that, but anything to do with fraud must also be reported to the finance director.
Cllr Liz McShane - 0:44:23
Thank you for that. Anything else from the committee? No. Let's go to the recommendations then, which are
to receive a note of the report, the Audit and Governance Committee reviews the corporate risk register overview,
Appendix 1, and makes any necessary recommendations regarding the council's management of risk.
Can I have a proposal please?
Councillor Wing -Lovely, seconder.
Councillor Walker, thank you.
And can I have a vote?
Do we agree?
Agree, that's unanimous, thank you.
Moving on to agenda item nine,

9 Quarterly Code of Conduct Complaints update report

which is the quarterly code of conduct
complaints update report.
Is that you, Anne?
Thank you.
Over to you.
Mr Ewan Green - 0:45:01
Thank you, Chair.
This is the regular report we bring before you,
members, just reporting to you in relation
into the number of code of conduct complaints received.
This one is a six monthly update,
so we're covering quarter four of the previous financial year
and quarter one of this year.
And you can see in the report,
it's a fairly straightforward report,
where we in total have been 11 complaints made
and very pleased to say that throughout that process
we haven't moved into the investigation
of any complaints at all.
So I think the report as it is,
I'm happy to take any questions.
Cllr Liz McShane - 0:45:40
Any questions from the committee?
Cllr John Wing - 0:45:46
More of a comment. This always comes up and it always says there's no investigation.
I presume there's a procedure in place to see if the investigation is necessary in the first place.
Mr Ewan Green - 0:46:04
Yes, there is, there definitely is and actually I just made a presentation on Code of Conduct
complaints to the Town of Parrish councils this week, just outlining the process. The
first part of the process is that something will come into the council to the morning
officer. It's always the first step to look and see if there's any informal resolution
or what can be done without going through a formal process.
But thereafter the process that kicks in is that
we assess the complaint
and to make sure that it is a proper and reasonable complaint.
And so that is called going through what we call
a legal jurisdiction test and a local assessment criteria.
So essentially a set of criteria that you have to meet
to be... for any potential complaint, to be taken formally as a complaint.
We also work with an independent person who takes a view as well, independently of myself,
and we come together to form a view.
I'd be very happy to send members a copy of the presentation which outlines the process for you in all of that.
But certainly I feel that first step is always informal resolution.
if we can, then we go into the more formal process of assessing. And I think from my
perspective looking at the number of complaints that we do have, not moving to investigation,
to a formal investigation, I think is quite a good barometer of where we are at in governance
terms across our members here and members of Tynan Parish Council as well.
Cllr Liz McShane - 0:47:46
Councillor Walker.
That's a bit of a newbie question.
Cllr Belinda Walker - 0:47:52
I just wondered how this quarter compares to last year and other quarters.
Are we having particularly lots of complaints at the moment or is it low?
Mr Ewan Green - 0:48:04
That's a very good question in terms of the actual detail, which I don't have but I was
certainly weak in the end.
but I'm not aware that we have an increase in the number of
components based on previous years and there's no rhyme or
reason for the time of year components come in as well.
So you can see there's a bit of a spike between the quarter one
and quarter two in this report but there is no real basis for
that.
So I'm not concerned but I will follow up with perhaps just a
bit of analysis on last year compared to this year.
Happy to do so.
Good question, thank you.
Thanks very much.
Cllr Liz McShane - 0:48:37
Cllr Belinda Walker - 0:48:41
Cllr Liz McShane - 0:48:45
There was one instance of unacceptable conduct
of the council committee,
but there's no investigation necessary.
Page 150.
Just why was it deemed, it was unacceptable, why did we not need it, why was it investigation
not needed, just be curious to know.
Mr Ewan Green - 0:49:13
Because in the process before we go to investigation we make an assessment as I explained as to
whether it is actually a complaint to progress or not.
And in these instances, the decision was
what didn't merit going to full investigation.
It may be that there's been an informal resolution
in the court to get to that point,
or it may be that, quite honestly,
a member of public making a complaint
because they are disagreeing on something
may not act about the code of conduct of a Councillor
or a viewer committee is a subjective point of view
and may not actually be a complaint of that nature.
Cllr Liz McShane - 0:49:56
Just on members' complaints, or complaints about members,
is there a current trend that you see
or is it kind of other kind of varied?
And if there is a trend that's coming through,
do we need to do some pressure training?
Not a trend that I could point to per se.
Mr Ewan Green - 0:50:13
The majority of complaints,
so you see it there under other miscellaneous generally relate to a disagreement on the application of policy
or local decision that's being made.
So I think internally to our council we have a member training programme which I think is very robust,
so I'm not concerned about that.
And in terms of town and parish councils, I was very happy to present earlier this week
and have a conversation there with some of the members of that group
but also there's a really important role for CALC, the Association of Local Councils,
who do offer governance training.
The point I made at the meeting was that particularly if there's quite a churn
in new members coming to town of the parish council,
it's appropriate to reach out to CALC and pursue the governance training.
Okay, that's good to know.
Cllr Liz McShane - 0:51:10
So if that's anything else on this agenda? No, item?
So the recommendation is to receive and note the report.
So I'd like a proposer please, Councillor Walker, thank you, and Councillor Wing's seconder.
And are we agreed?
It's unanimous too.
And just before we move on to Agenda Item 10, I forgot to ask a question, a further
question on Agenda Item 8.
It was more of an action really.
Can we get a report on cybersecurity and what preparations the Council's putting in place
for that?
I think I've to forgive me, I've closed down my notes.
Mr Jonathan Hicks - 0:51:45
Hang on.
I can keep that one to you, yes, absolutely.
I'm very pleased to bring a report back to you and indeed I think officers were keen
to do that at the next meeting of the committee in September.
Thank you.

10 Health and Safety Annual Report

Cllr Liz McShane - 0:52:02
So moving on to item 10, it's the health and safety annual report.
Rebecca.
Cllr Liz McShane - 0:52:10
That's why I won't put Rebecca on the spot the first time.
Mr Jonathan Hicks - 0:52:12
My first to introduce the committee to our corporate health and safety officer Rebecca
Cross who's been with us since September.
So a lot of the work that you'll see in this report is down to her efforts.
So this report provides a summary of health and safety activity for the whole of the last
year.
It includes details of training, fire safety, first aid, site visits and inspections that
are undertaken, procedure reviews and performance highlights, as well as a look ahead to future
work.
As with the risk item, this is a constitutional arrangement that we need to report this to
you once a year.
We've had more informally agreed that we would bring an update partway through the year.
We did a half yearly report last year and so we were intending to supply the committee
with a half yearly report around December.
Ongoing monitoring of health and safety activities done through a staff health and safety committee
which is part of the staff forum and a portfolio holder for health and safety.
So this report is a retrospective look and only a summary of the work that's been undertaken.
There are some key points I think are worthy of note.
One is the amount of training that we've undertaken in the last year, section 3 .1 of the cover
report and we've also drawn attention to new fire warden training, so that means developing
training package, delivering it and new fire wardens for this building.
Improvement to the staff inductions and mandatory training, including new modules developed
and fire awareness, workplace hazards, manual handling, remote working and display screen
equipment.
The induction is a really important part and it's come up as a question before in committee
meetings.
We can't cover every aspect of health and safety in a staff induction but what we can
do is highlight people to where they can go to find relevant information, where they can
where the relevant procedures are for health and safety in relation to their work area.
Fire safety has also been another big key work area for us this year and a lot of work has been
done to ensure our compliance with fire safety regulations which is including inspections of
the civic centre as well as refreshed risk assessments of key sites and depots which
include high pool and all our grounds maintenance depots.
Rebecca has been working hard to refresh and update all of our health and safety procedures.
The committee and cabinet have approved our health and safety policy which will set out,
which does set out our, the council's position and obligations in relation to health and
safety but the procedures contain the working details.
We're working through a role in two year programme of those and significant progress has been
made already.
The report details what we did last year and also looks at what we've approved already
this year.
The format for doing that is that we'll review a procedure with relevant staff.
It gets approved by the Health and Safety Committee and Ewan as the Director of Strategy
and Resources.
The report also includes information about accidents and incidents that have occurred
during the year and also highlights other activity that we've recorded.
Key improvement being the last year is around reporting and recording of information and
statistics so we can accurately measure year on year what's happening.
We've also successfully completed all the audit actions which was noted in a report
earlier this evening giving us reasonable assurance for employee health and safety.
The report includes, with a look ahead to the current years, this one we're in at the
moment where we will be completing our review and centralisation of all health and safety
documentation procedures, also looking at the high -poor fire plan and doing fire warden
training there.
Bex is doing some toolbox talks and working with the engineering and buildings team to
complete a gap analysis for corporate assets.
But the properties and that the Council owns to ensure that their health and safety
compliant and have the appropriate procedures in place.
The report is presented to the committee for information, but I am happy to take any questions.
Cllr Liz McShane - 0:56:59
Thank you Jonathan. Any questions from the committee?
Ms. Lleweyn.
Cllr Liz McShane - 0:57:04
Cllr John Wing - 0:57:05
Thank you for that and thank you for presenting this on the understanding.
and for our information. I think health and safety is very, very important.
I mean, there's an element people say, oh, health and safety.
Well, a load of rubbish that is, but it's important for people's safety.
I'd like to bring your attention to table two, which is the performance highlights on page 159.
The instance of which verbal abuse, I'm not pleased to see there is,
but I'm pleased to see the data has now been collected
last year with no data and I'm sure there was incidents of verbal abuse within the council.
I wonder whether what you call verbal abuse, I know sometimes people come in and they are in a stressful situation
and they might swear or something, I mean is a like if they say a couple of swears and some people swear words are part of their normal language.
It's just how they talk.
I don't mean it, it's just how people talk.
I mean, there must be a sort of fresh,
are we talking threatening language or, you know, abusive?
Cllr Liz McShane - 0:58:13
Thank you for that question.
Mr Jonathan Hicks - 0:58:15
Generally speaking, yes.
But the mechanism we have is where an officer or a council member
is experiencing any verbal abuse, they can report it and it gets logged.
So we'll log any cases that are reported to us,
and so they'll be varying in severity.
But you're right around the importance of recording this.
And of course, it looks like that we've had an increase,
but I think partly it is around educating our members
of staff to report this, which has led to us developing
new procedures around managing aggression and verbal abuse which we cover with and gone
through with our Health and Safety Committee but also it's led us to reshape and design
our customers of concern register so we can flag any issues. But yes, I think the most
important thing is that we can record this and if there's any trends, if this is something
consistent then we can alert our corporate leadership team and the
committee to any issues that we're coming up against.
Cllr John Wing - 0:59:41
Just quickly following on, I don't really know is health and safety. Do staff
receive any sort of help or guidance after receiving perhaps physical...
It doesn't make anything about physical abuse I presume. It's nobody has
but hopefully Nubbie has been physically abused.
Do they receive some sort of HR? I suppose it's more human resources.
Do they get always referred to HR so they can support the individual?
Because I understand.
And I presume this also includes online and trolling as well.
Mr Ewan Green - 1:00:24
A very good point to raise, thank you. A short answer, yes. We have a number of supports in place for staff and we're very mindful of our duty of care and from our chief sector down throughout the organisation.
And that doesn't just stop at managers, we encourage all staff to look out for each other through that duty of care throughout the workplace.
A number of different measures we have in place, including we have mental health first -aiders across the staff.
We have the opportunity for other specialists to come in, our staff be referred to supports.
So everything in the spectrum from informal peer support through to more formal support.
Cllr Liz McShane - 1:01:05
Thank you. Anything else? Thanks to the walker.
Along the same lines we'd asked, pleased to see the near misses are now being recorded
Cllr Belinda Walker - 1:01:13
and that's quite important. I'm from the NHS background and there are lessons to learn
from near misses and they stop them from being actual events. I'm pleased to see that being
recorded as well.
Cllr Liz McShane - 1:01:27
What do you see as mean risks for 25, 26 and what are we doing if there are some too? So
Mr Jonathan Hicks - 1:01:38
So yeah, we've highlighted a few things that we're looking at next year.
Something that isn't in the report is around driving at work, so we're looking into that
at the moment.
So we need to revise a procedure and risk assessment, which is currently being looked
at in the moment, and we'll be rolling that out shortly.
And training need has been identified on this and is due to be rolled out next month, and
staff to complete this on an annual basis.
Thank you. OK, should we go to the recommendations which are to
Cllr Liz McShane - 1:02:15
receive and note the report?
Who would like to propose this one? Councillor Walker lovely
thank you and Councillor Wing seconded. Great and we agreed
agreed that's unanimous. OK, so moving on to agenda item 11.

11 Annual Governance Statement 2024-25

Which is annual governance statement plus you again.
Mr Ewan Green - 1:02:40
It is, thank you chair. Members, this is the annual, well the draught annual governance statement before you which comes to you for approval.
And somebody at the approval tonight then is signed off by our chief executive and Councillor Prater as the portfolio holder and responsibility for corporate governance.
I guess it's quite a comprehensive document and I think we're very pleased to present a comprehensive document to you
which I hope demonstrates the level of work that goes into our approach to corporate governance across the Council.
This is really about demonstrating how the Council achieves its statutory obligations to its service delivery
within what we feel is a robust and effective governance framework.
The format of the statement itself gives examples
of how we adhere to governance commitments
set out in the local code of corporate governance,
which underpins how we operate as a council.
Throughout the document you'll see in the tables
that we give examples of how we meet the various criteria
and give hyperlinks into more information.
Because we're conscious this is also a published document for public reporting as well.
So anybody who wants to go further into understanding how we're meeting the Code of Government
can find further information there.
As part of the statement there is also an appendix 1 to the statement which is the action plan for the coming year
where we highlight a number of areas of focus for us.
On the basis of continuous improvement,
I'm very pleased to say we're not coming with an action plan
which is highlighting a number of significant weaknesses.
This is more saying there are some areas of focus we want
on the basis of continuous improvement
and how we take our approach to governance
and continue to look for excellence in our overall approach.
I'll stop there, chair.
It's a comprehensive document. There will be some questions.
Cllr Liz McShane - 1:04:49
On that note, any questions?
Councillor Walker.
Cllr Belinda Walker - 1:04:57
I have a slight comment. It's on page 179 on the table.
It mentions social media and Facebook.
Reference made to Twitter, which is now known as X.
That's just a change there.
Sadly, no longer known as Twitter.
We've got some.
Any questions or comments from points in the ring?
No?
Cllr Liz McShane - 1:05:17
Just page 175 on the management structure,
just the last bullet point.
Interim Director of Governments and Finance.
Fixed term until July 25.
Is that post an advocate, and...
That is...
And is there a full -time person being recruited,
and what would the timing or not be?
Mr Ewan Green - 1:05:42
That post does not exist anymore.
It was interim actually until today.
So this was Lydia Morrison who was our previous section 1 .5 .1 expert.
That was an interim basis and her last day was actually today.
Cllr Liz McShane - 1:05:56
Any other requests?
Cllr Liz McShane - 1:06:04
Yes, oh, sorry.
No, sorry.
Cllr Liz McShane - 1:06:17
Let's go to the recommendations then.
Can I have a proposer?
I think it's probably Councillor Wingstone.
And seconder, Councillor Walker.
Lovely.
The recommendations are to receive and note the report, to approve the draught annual governance
for 24 -25 an action plan for improvement.
Following review of effectiveness of
government's arrangements for 25 -26,
as set out in Appendix 1.
3, to note the end of year progress updates
against the Council's corporate action plan for 24 -25,
set out in Appendix 2.
Can we have a proposer?
Councillor Walker, a seconder?
Councillor Wayne, are we agreed?
Agreed, that was unanimous.
2, in favour?
and moving on to the last item,

12 Council Contracts Variation Update

Cllr Liz McShane - 1:07:02
item agenda item 12.
Procurement Council contracts variation
update Jonathan. Thank you.
Thank you chair.
Jonathan Smith - 1:07:11
The report before you presents to the
Audit and Governance Committee with an
updated overview of the Council's
procurement activities focusing on
contract management and contract
variations since the last update in
July 2024. It highlights key developments,
including implementation of the procurement
Act 2020.
which came into force in February 2025 and its impact on the Council's procurement processes.
The report builds on information provided in previous update and presents fresh insights
and data covering the 2024 -2025 financial year period.
There are four recommendations as set out on page 211 of the Agenda Pack.
As highlighted in paragraph 1 .3, the Procurement Act 2023 has now come into effect.
The financial procedurals and contract standing orders have been updated to reflect the legislative
changes brought about through the act.
Paragraph 2 .4 highlights that no procurement
irregularities or legal challenges related
to contract variations have been reported.
An additional type of training has
been provided to procurement staff
focused on the practical application
of the Procurement Act 2023 and
section four of the report deals
with the implementation of the act.
As you will note from paragraph 4 .3,
practically the Council's established
variation request and approval process,
including this evolving sign offs from the chief officers, procurement team,
monitoring officer and section 1 .1 officer continues to align with the new legal requirements.
Section 5 of the report deals with the waiver strategy and monitoring along with appendix B.
And the proposals in this section are around being proactive with better forward planning,
scrutiny of waivers and comparisons to other comparable authorities with recommendation to
endorse strategy attached to Appendix B.
Appendix A also contains a summary of the contract
variations for 2024 -25 and I'm happy to take any
questions you may have.
Cllr Liz McShane - 1:09:10
Thank you Jonathan. Any questions?
Okay I've got some. Are we sure that all the
significant contract variations since July 24
follow proper governance procedures?
Jonathan Smith - 1:09:28
Thank you, Chair. Yes, as I heard in the introduction, just a paragraph 2 .4 of the
report should deal with that point. There's no reported procurement of regularities or
legal challenges.
Cllr Liz McShane - 1:09:42
What steps has the Council taken to comply with the new Procurement Act and how is compliance
being monitored?
Jonathan Smith - 1:09:49
So yes, obviously the contract standing orders financial
procedures were updated and to bring into effect the provisions
of the Act. Of course they will be further advised. I think the
financial procedural contract standing orders will again be
updated by April 2026 as we've already heard. And in terms of
the second part of your questions, apologies.
Jonathan Smith - 1:10:22
In terms of compliance, obviously any report or any irregularities could be brought to
the attention of the auditing governance committee, so we would bring forward any issues that
do arise.
Thank you.
Cllr Liz McShane - 1:10:41
Are contract changes being published for transparency as required?
Jonathan Smith - 1:10:48
So certainly we've got a summary that's attached to this report for 24 -25 in terms of the contract variations
and I believe there are additional reporting requirements, however I may need to defer to my colleague Mary for more detail.
FHDC Officer - 1:11:06
Yes, so where there's a requirement to publish new notices regarding modifications under
the new procurement Act 2023 that is being done. For some of our existing contracts which
were awarded under the procurement contract regulations 2015, they're still governed by
those regulations. So the correct notices for those contracts under those regs are also
Cllr Liz McShane - 1:11:34
being done. Thank you very much. I've also got a question that was, well it's the previous
item shall leave that. It was a straightforward question I think but shall I leave it after
we finish this agenda item? It's really just on the finance system, just any time scales,
Jonathan Smith - 1:11:56
any updates, cost, what's the status of that is please? Yes, thank you chair, the new finance
system continues to be worked on this project and still would be a more
steep 1st of April 2026 in terms of the rollout of that new system so it's
currently on track as expected. Thank you.
Cllr Liz McShane - 1:12:11
Cllr Liz McShane - 1:12:15
Any questions from the committee? Nope, okay we'll go to recommendations then. So to note the continued
robust governance of procurement activities and adherence to contract
variation protocols. Recognise the Council's proactive transition to full
compliance with the Procurement Act 2023, integrating new legislative requirements into
operational practise, support ongoing efforts to embed and refine procurement processes
in line with evolving statutory obligations and market dynamics, with a view to receiving
further progress reports in the coming cycle, endorse the Council's waiver strategy, Appendix
B, to minimise waiver use and ensure transparency, with ongoing annual reporting to monitor progress
and impact. So have we got a proposer? Councillor W
nt, thank you and a seconder, Councillor Walker. Are we agree to accept the recommendations?
Thank you, agreed, that's unanimous. Two in favour?
Cllr Liz McShane - 1:13:08
The last item on the agenda for tonight's meeting, so thank you everyone for all your
contributions and updates and the committee.