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Winchester City Borough Council
Councillors: 45
Wards: 16
Committees: 67
Meetings (2025): 83
Meetings (2024): 100

Meeting

Audit and Governance Committee - Winchester City

Meeting Times
Scheduled Time
Start:
Thursday, 29th February 2024
6:30 PM
End:
Thursday, 29th February 2024
10:30 PM
Actual Time
Started:
Thursday, 29th February 2024
12:00 AM
Finished:
Thursday, 29th February 2024
12:00 AM
Meeting Status
Status:
Confirmed
Date:
29 Feb 2024
Location:
Walton Suite, Guildhall, Winchester and streamed live on YouTube at www.youtube.com/winchestercc
Meeting Attendees
Councillor Neil Cutler OBE photo
Guest
Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Transformation
Councillor Neil Cutler OBE

Liberal Democrat

In attendance

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Councillor Neil Bolton photo
Deputy
Councillor Neil Bolton

Conservative

Not required

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Councillor Charlie Wise photo
Deputy
Councillor Charlie Wise

Liberal Democrat

Not required

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Councillor Vivian Achwal photo
Committee Member
Councillor Vivian Achwal

Liberal Democrat

Present, as expected

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Councillor Russell Gordon-Smith photo
Committee Member
Councillor Russell Gordon-Smith

Liberal Democrat

Present, as expected

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Councillor Nathan Eve photo
Deputy
Councillor Nathan Eve

Liberal Democrat

Not required

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Councillor Chris Chamberlain photo
Vice-Chair
Councillor Chris Chamberlain

Liberal Democrat

Present, as expected

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Councillor Margot Power photo
Chairperson
Councillor Margot Power

Liberal Democrat

Present, as expected

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Councillor Patrick Cunningham photo
Deputy
Councillor Patrick Cunningham

Conservative

Not required

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Councillor Stephen Godfrey photo
Committee Member
Councillor Stephen Godfrey

Conservative

Present, as expected

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Councillor Steve Miller photo
Committee Member
Councillor Steve Miller

Conservative

Present, as expected

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Councillor Kathleen Becker photo
Guest
Cabinet Member for Healthy Communities
Councillor Kathleen Becker

Liberal Democrat

In attendance

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Agenda
0 Business items
0 Procedural Items
0
Members of the public and visiting councillors may speak at this Committee, provided they have registered to speak three working days in advance.  Please contact Democratic Services by 5pm on 23 February 2024 via democracy@winchester.gov.uk or (01962) 848 264 to register to speak and for further details.
1 Apologies
To record the names of apologies given.
Minutes There were no apologies received.
2 Disclosure of Interests
To receive any disclosure of interests from Members and Officers in matters to be discussed.

Note: Councillors are reminded of their obligations to declare disclosable pecuniary interests, personal and/or prejudicial interests in accordance with legislation and the Council’s Code of Conduct.
Minutes There were no disclosures of interest made.
3 Chairperson's announcements
Minutes There were no announcements made.
4 Minutes of the previous meeting held on 9 November 2023
Minutes RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 9 November 2023 be agreed as a correct record.
5 Public Participation
– To receive and note questions asked and statements made from members of the public on matters which fall within the remit of the Committee..

NB members of the public are required to register with Democratic Services three clear working days before the meeting (see below for further details).
Minutes There were no members of the public present.
6 Auditor Value for Money report 22/23 - AG123
Minutes Kevin Suter (Ernst Young) introduced the interim report, confirming that the auditors had not identified any significant weaknesses in the council’s VFM arrangements and no significant risks had been identified. He summarised that they had nothing to report to the committee by exception.

Mr Suter responded to members’ questions including the implications of the likely issue of a disclaimer opinion on the 2022/23 financial statements, due to limited amount of work EY have undertaken on the financial statements audit, and the knock-on effect on for the current and future years.  The Corporate Head of Finance agreed to provide a response outside of the meeting on the possible impact on local authorities’ credit ratings due to the issuance of disclaimer opinions.

RESOLVED:

1.                         That the Committee look forward to the refund of audit fees in relation to 2022/23 financial statements and express concern about the impact on local authorities as a whole due to widespread  unqualified opinions regardless of the quality of a council’s accounts; in addition to creating possible unnecessary concerns for our residents and suppliers doing business with us.

2.                         That the auditor’s interim report be accepted and it be noted that, due to limited audit work, it is likely that the auditors will issue a disclaimer opinion on the 2022/23 financial statements.
7 Internal audit charter 24/25 - AG128
Minutes Antony Harvey from the Southern Internal Audit Partnership (SIAP) was present at the meeting, introduced the report and confirmed that adequate resources were in place to conduct the required work.

RESOLVED:

That the Internal Audit Charter 2024/25 be approved as attached as Appendix A to the report.
8 Internal audit plan 24/25 - AG127
Minutes Antony Harvey (SIAP) introduced the report and responded to members’ questions including confirming that the council’s overall risk register together with operational risk registers were referred to in the internal auditors planning and work.

Members requested that information on progress against the council’s current transformation challenge (TC25) be provided to the committee.  In particular,  SIAP’s experience of transformation and digitisation projects at other councils should be utilised.  The Corporate Head of Finance agreed to give further consideration to how best this could be achieved.

RESOLVED:

1.                         That the Internal Audit Plan for 2024-25 be approved as attached as Appendix A to the report.
9 Q3 governance monitoring 23/24 - AG120
Attachments:
Minutes The Senior Policy and Programme Manager introduced the report and responded to members’ questions thereon.

Councillor Becker also responded to questions regarding the likely revised timetable for completion of the review of the code of conduct.

The Corporate Head of Finance provided an update from the Corporate Head of Asset Management regarding progress since the internal audit of the council’s arrangement for the maintenance and repair of non-housing corporate assets. The committee agreed that a light-touch update review in the 2024/25 audit plan be scheduled to provide progress assurance.

RESOLVED:

That the content of the report, including the progress against the internal audit management actions, be noted.
10 Risk Management Policy 24/25 - AG122
Minutes The Corporate Head of Finance introduced the report, advising there were no material changes proposed to the policy, risk appetite or process.  Paragraph 7 of the report summarised the changes since the previous year.

The Corporate Head of Finance and the Cabinet Member for Finance and Performance responded to members’ questions on the report.  The following points were raised for further review by Cabinet:

a)    Risks considered when acquiring properties as part of the new homes programme should include the build quality of the home; with quality assurance measures put in place to mitigate this.

b)    In connection with risk CR011, reference should be to ‘district’ paths and car parks, not ‘city’.

c)    The consideration of opportunities as well as risks should continue.

RESOLVED:

That the Cabinet Member for Finance and Performance have regard to the discussion of this committee on the policy and the points outlined above in his presentation of report CAB3453 which would be considered by Cabinet at its meeting on 14 March 2024.
11 Local Code of Corporate Governance - AG121
Attachments:
Minutes The Senior Policy and Programme Manager introduced the report explaining it was largely unchanged since previous versions.

RESOLVED:

That the Local Code of Corporate Governance 2024 as set out in Appendix 1 of the report be approved.
12 Recruitment of Independent Persons - AG129
Attachments:
Minutes The Service Lead: Legal & Governance (Interim) introduced the report and responded to Members’ questions including on the recommended term of office for Independent Persons and the likely quantity of work.  Nominations were sought from the committee to the interview panel and three councillors were appointed, as detailed under resolution 2 below.

RESOLVED:

1.         That the recruitment, via advertisement, selection, and interview, of three Independent Persons be commenced in accordance with the process outlined in Appendix 2 of the report.

2.         That the interview panel to consist of four Councillors, including three members of this committee (agreed to be Councillors Power, Chamberlain and Godfrey) and the Cabinet Member for Community and Engagement, due to her Cabinet Member responsibilities, with the Monitoring Officer and/or Deputy Monitoring Officer to be present as adviser to the panel.

3.         That the interview panel should subsequently recommend to Council the appointment of up to three Independent Persons.
Previous Meetings
Meeting

25th Feb 2025

Audit and Governance Committee

Meeting

9th Jan 2025

Audit and Governance Committee

Meeting

28th Nov 2024

Audit and Governance Committee

Meeting

26th Sep 2024

Audit and Governance Committee

Meeting

18th Jul 2024

Audit and Governance Committee

Meeting

29th Feb 2024

Audit and Governance Committee

Meeting

9th Nov 2023

Audit and Governance Committee

Meeting

11th Oct 2023

Audit and Governance Committee

Meeting

28th Sep 2023

Audit and Governance Committee

Meeting

20th Jul 2023

Audit and Governance Committee

Future Meetings
Meeting

17th Jul 2025

Audit and Governance Committee

Meeting

25th Sep 2025

Audit and Governance Committee

Meeting

27th Nov 2025

Audit and Governance Committee

Meeting

5th Mar 2026

Audit and Governance Committee

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