The Audit and Governance Committee of West Northamptonshire Council was scheduled to meet to discuss internal audit progress, the strategic risk register, and other governance matters. The committee was also scheduled to receive updates on external audits and consider the terms of reference for the committee.

Internal Audit Progress

Adrian Ward, Head of Audit and Risk Management, was scheduled to present a report summarising the work of the Audit & Risk Service and progress against the Internal Audit Plan for 2024-25.

The report included updates on:

• Amendments to the 2024/25 audit plan, including the postponement of an audit of Adult Social Care – Commissioning & Monitoring of Providers, and the removal of audits of NCT Oversight & Monitoring and Customer Services / Contact Centre / One-Stop-Shop.
• Staffing resources within the internal audit team.
• Final audit reports issued since the last progress update, including limited assurance reports for Out of Area / Independent School Placements and Early Years.
• Implementation status of recommendations made by Internal Audit.
• Counter Fraud Team Progress (2024/25).
• Risk & Internal Controls Team Progress.

The report also included the full reports for ‘Out of Area / Independent School Placements’ and for ‘Early Years’. Representatives from the relevant service management were expected to attend the committee meeting to answer questions and summarise progress being made to address the issues noted in the reports.

The report on Out of Area / Independent School Placements noted that while processes and controls exist to govern, manage and pay for these placements, improvements were needed. The audit highlighted deficiencies in governance, policies, roles and responsibilities, placements, financial monitoring, and billing and payments. The assurance opinion given was therefore Limited.

The report on Early Years noted gaps regarding the council’s ability to effectively monitor and oversee all early years providers and settings. The existing oversight mechanisms are undermined by inadequate scheduling of compliance visits and the absence of documented procedures. The assurance opinion given was therefore Limited.

Strategic Risk Register

Adrian Ward, Head of Audit & Risk Management, was also scheduled to present the updated Strategic Risk Register as at Q4, 31st March 2025 and the updated Risk Management Strategy.

The Risk Management Strategy seeks to establish a clear and logical approach to risk management that can be applied to all the council’s relevant activities, including strategic and operational risks, and programme and project risks. It also recognises that as well as identifying and mitigating threats, good risk management also includes the identification and consideration of potential opportunities, and it seeks to adopt a consistent council-wide approach, including an approach for establishing a ‘risk appetite’.

The Strategic Risk Register includes 14 current high-level significant risks that have been identified which could impact on the council’s abilities to achieve its key corporate objectives. For the Q4 24/25 Strategic Register one risk has been removed and one added:

• Removed: SR17 – Integrated Winter Discharge Plan
• Added: SR19 – Electricity Constraints for Future Developments.

Governance Update

Nicki Agalamanyi, Head of Legal (Corporate & Place), was scheduled to provide an update on governance matters of interest to the Audit and Governance Committee. The report included updates on:

• Records Management Update: A new Information Governance and Data Management Strategy was drafted and is currently in its consultation phase.
• Storafile Document Storage Project: Phase 2 of the document storage project continues, with the current focus on the destruction of as much suitable material as possible to drive down the amount of material stored with the provider Storafile.
• Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) Update: There have been no applications for RIPA authorisations since the last committee meeting. Training for ELT members was delivered by the in-house Legal Service on 18 March 2025 to ensure those named as Authorising Officers have the required understanding and awareness of the law and procedure to be able to be effective upon receipt of an application.
• Annual Governance Statement: The draft AGS is almost complete, with work ongoing to check WNC’s adherence to relevant policies and procedures across the Authority to provide the required assurances of good governance.
• Consultation on the regulation of private prosecutors: The response to the consultation was approved by the Monitoring Officer prior to submission and we await the government update in due course. A link to the consultation is included for information below in section 8.1.

External Audit Plan - Grant Thornton

The committee was scheduled to discuss the External Audit Plan that had been prepared by Grant Thornton.

The plan identified the following significant risks:

• Management override of control
• Valuation of land & buildings and investment properties
• Valuation of council dwellings
• Valuation of the pension fund net liability
• Existence of Short-term Debtors
• Existence of Short-term Creditors
• Existence and Accuracy of Cash
• Implementation of IFRS16

The plan also set out the proposed fee for the audit as £804,026.

Terms of Reference

The committee was scheduled to note the current terms of reference for the Audit and Governance Committee. The terms of reference set out the purpose of the Audit and Governance Committee as:

(a) Provide independent assurance as to the Council’s governance, risk management framework and associated control environment;

(b) Provide independent scrutiny of the Council’s financial and non-financial performance and oversee the Council’s financial reporting process;

(c) Act as an advisory committee to the Council and the Cabinet on audit and governance issues.

The terms of reference also set out the committee's responsibilities in relation to audit, corporate governance and financial reporting.