The Minutes of the meeting held on 21 January 2025 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

Further to Minute 24 (2) of the previous meeting and the recommendations of the Audit Report regarding employee gifts, hospitality and declarations of interest, it was reported that the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.

A representative from KPMG will present the final version of their 2023/24 ISA 260 year-end report and provide a verbal update on the current process for 2024/25.

The Committee received a covering report on behalf of the Council’s External Auditor, KPMG, which had attached the final version of KPMG’s ISA 260 report for 2023/24.  Edward Mills from KPMG presented the ISA 260 year-end report and provided an update on the current process for 2024/25.

The ISA  ...  view the full minutes text for item 33.

This report provides an update on key findings emanating from Internal Audit reports issued since the last quarterly progress report.

The Committee considered a report providing an update on the key findings emanating from the Internal Audit reports issued for the period 1 January to 31 March 2025 (Quarter 4).

The report summarised the findings, recommendations and management actions that had been put forward for each audit review and stated  ...  view the full minutes text for item 34.

The Internal Audit Strategic Plan sets out the work Internal Audit plans to undertake during 2025-26. It is underpinned by the Internal Audit Charter, which is attached at Appendix 1 to the report and defines the purpose, role, mission, responsibility and position of the Internal Audit function.

The Committee considered a report setting out the work Internal Audit was planning to undertake during the financial year 2025/2026.  The report explained that internal audit was responsible for providing an annual formal opinion on the Council’s control environment.  The Audit Plan, which was attached at Appendix 1 to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35.

This report provides an update on the actions in progress to improve the Council’s policies, systems and processes around Information Governance.

The Committee considered a report outlining the action under way to improve the Council’s policies, systems and processes for Information Governance, following several limited assurance reports in this area.

The report provided an update on: the action being taken to address the backlog of Subject Access Requests; the on-time responses  ...  view the full minutes text for item 36.

This report provides an update on the measures put in place to improve the timeliness of completion of responses to FOI requests by Brighter Futures for Children.

Further to Minute 31 of the meeting held on 21 January 2025, the Committee received a report on the measures put in place to improve the timeliness of completion of responses to FOI requests by Brighter Futures for Children (BFfC).  The report stated that there had been challenges  ...  view the full minutes text for item 37.

To receive a report about the implementation of the Action Plan to rectify irregularities in relation to certain historic Traffic Regulation Orders and to monitor its effectiveness.

The Committee received a report that provided an update on progress and decision making in respect of the Traffic Regulation Orders (TRO) rectification process.  The report explained that at Council on 15 October 2024 a summary of issues that related to certain TROs had been reported which meant that there  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38.

A report on the Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy Financial Management Code, which sets out the standards of financial management for local authorities to assess themselves against.

The Committee received a report on the Financial Management Code 2019 (FM Code) (Appendix 1), which had been introduced by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy (CIPFA).  The Code set out the standards of financial management for local authorities.  Local authorities had been expected to comply fully with the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 39.

This report updates Members on the activity of the Treasury Management function.

The Committee received a report on the activity of the Treasury Management function during the second quarter of the year for the period 1 October 2024 to 31 December 2024.  The report stated that the CIPFA Code of Practice for Treasury Management 2021 recommended that the Committee should be updated  ...  view the full minutes text for item 40.

This report seeks endorsement of the continued use of the Council’s Risk Based Verification (RBV) process for the financial year 2025/26 and affirms the use of the policy during the past financial year 2024/25.

The Committee received a report stating that the Council intended to continue to use its Risk Based Verification (RBV) process in 2025/26 following the annual review of the Policy and that it was considered good practice for the Policy to be examined by the Audit and Governance Committee.  The process  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41.