Eastleigh Borough Council Audit and Resources Committee Meeting

There were no declarations of interest in relation to items of business on the agenda.

The Service Director for Governance and Support advised the committee that an email would be circulated to summarise the results of the whistleblowing scanner.

Councillor Tidridge requested that an update on One Horton Heath be added to the agenda. Officers advised that the next update will be given to the Committee in June and it was agreed that an email update would be provided shortly.

RESOLVED –

That the Minutes of the meeting held on 20 February 2024 be confirmed and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

There was no public participation on this occasion.

The Head of Human Resources introduced the report and highlighted the launch of the 3-year People Strategy.

A discussion took place with regards to staff retention and the difficulties of recruitment.

RESOLVED –

That the Audit and Resources Committee considered the contents of this report.

The representative from Eastleigh Unison introduced the report.

The Chief Internal Auditor introduced the report and explained this is reviewed annually and reflects how the team complies with the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards to the Committee. The Standards are being updated and details of this will come to Audit and Resources when it comes into force.

RESOLVED –

That the Internal Audit Charter 2024/25 was approved.

The Chief Internal Auditor introduced the report.

Officers confirmed that the options for building team resilience was being considered following the agreement to increase resources by £55,000. Councillor Tidridge requested that the Committee be updated on a plan regarding audit resource.

RESOLVED –

That the Annual Internal Audit Plan for 2024/25 was approved.

Janet Dawson, EY Partner, introduced the report and provided the Committee with an update on their current position. Councillors agreed to extend Janet’s appointment as Audit Engagement Partner for an additional year.

The Chair read the following statement:

“As chair of A&R I would like to have it recorded in the minutes that I have found the gradual failure of local government Auditing in England over the last 5-6 years disturbing, frustrating and upsetting. I would like to our thank officers for their dedication and continued excellent work during a difficult time.

There is much evidence publicly available. A public sector audit appointments (PSAA) report indicated that only 1% of local government bodies received an auditor’s opinion on their 2022/23 accounts by the publishing deadline. While new research indicated that only 5 out of 467 were able to publish their accounts by this date. Earlier reports available online indicate that as many as 91% of audits 20/21 were not completed by the due date. Audit for 2021/22 highlighted a similar failing, only 12%. Sadly, some councils have outstanding audits going even back further.

This level of uncertainty in the audit system is unsustainable.

The failure of the system is down to a whole range of issues, with increased pressure falling on external and internal Auditors, and it is clear that government intervention was inevitable to ease the backlog and move forward.

A recent webinar session put on by CIPFRA/PSAA highlighted the issues and the extent of the problem and the plans for dealing with them over the next few years. The EY report this evening very much falls in line with the approach adopted for dealing with the backlog of audits by government and will hopefully, if followed take councils and external auditors forward over the next few years. However, the same session brought to light many questions from attendees and there is still uncertainty over the impact and process.

This is an evolving process all be it temporary and will be taxing and challenging for all involved.  I am confident that at EBC, our internal audit team supported by this committee will continue to work with our external auditors on the way forward. As a committee we find the independent opinion of the external auditor crucial to our assurance process, especially given their more recent reports, and it is very disappointing that our accounts, which were produced in line with deadlines, will now not now be fully audited.”

(a)  Strategic Risk Management Group (SRMG)

On behalf of the Chair, the Service Director for Governance and Support read the following statement:

“The group reviewed the corporate risk register and discussed the updates that had been made following the review by Corporate Leadership Board. Updates included the removal of the corporate risk in relation to 5-year housing supply not being maintained as the Council has an adopted Local Plan and no longer needs to demonstrate a 5 year housing supply so the risk is no longer current and no further mitigation is necessary. The group also noted the change in score in relation to the risk that the Council is unable to deliver services due to an increased pressure on staff and being unable to recruit to vacancies and noted that the staff survey currently underway will look at the morale and mood of the workforce and the Corporate Leadership Board is closely monitoring service performance.

An update was received from 3 service areas in relation to their operational risks;

1.  Planning Policy

2.  Planning and Environment

3.  Corporate Strategy

The service leads provided an update, and the risks were discussed and debated.

The Insurance Officer provided a summary of claims in 23/24 compared to 22/23. There had been a reduction in motor claims but an increase in combined liability claims and property. The group discussed whether there were opportunities for lesson learnt and Insurance Officer advised that nothing was noticeable, but she would continue to monitor and report back.

The Service Director for Governance and Support asked Councillors present for feedback on the recent Risk Management training provided to this Committee and Cabinet. It was felt that the training was useful and that more time should have been spent looking at case studies. It was suggested that Risk Management Training is included as a regular development topic for councillors.

With regards to future agenda items, it was confirmed that the Annual Risk Report, Risk Management Framework and Risk Appetite Statement will be presented to SRMG, Audit and Resources Committee and Cabinet in July for adoption.”

The Committee considered the current Forward Plan of Key Decisions.

It was AGREED -

That the EY VFM report update and One Horton Heath updated be added to the Forward Plan and for it to be noted.

The Committee considered its current Work Programme.

It was AGREED -

That the Work Programme be noted.

The Service Director for Finance, Improvement and Strategic Housing introduced the report.

RESOLVED –

That Audit and Resources Committee noted the positive outcome of the Housing Benefits subsidy audit of 2022/23.

Councillors indicated that they did not wish to discuss the confidential appendix so it was not necessary to move into exempt session.