The Audit and Governance Committee of Waltham Forest Council met on Wednesday 8 July 2026 to discuss a range of financial and governance matters. Key topics included the external audit plan for 2025-26, the draft statement of accounts for the same year, and the annual treasury management review. The committee also received updates on risk management, the corporate anti-fraud team's progress, and the draft annual governance statement for 2025-26. Several items were scheduled to be taken as read, including compliance with data protection regulations, a review of the whistleblowing policy, and updates to the Planning Committee's terms of reference and code of practice, as well as constitution updates.

External Audit Plan 2025-26

The committee was scheduled to consider the External Audit Plan for 2025-26 for both the Council and the Pensions Fund. This plan outlines the indicative work and timelines for the audit of the Statement of Accounts for the year ending 31 March 2026. The reports identify areas of significant risk and include a statement of audit fees. The Council's audit timeframe had begun with risk assessments in April and May, with year-end fieldwork planned from July to October. Final procedures on financial statements were due to be completed by 31 January 2027. The Pensions Fund audit timetable indicated fieldwork was already underway, due to complete by August 2026, with statutory reporting in late September 2026. The recommendation was for the committee to note the content of these plans.

Draft Statement of Accounts 2025-26

The committee was to review the Draft Statement of Accounts for 2025-26 for both the Council and the Pension Fund. These statements had been published on the Council's website and were subject to a public inspection period from 1 July 2026 to 11 August 2026. The Council's Statement of Accounts comprises four main statements: the Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Statement (CIES), the Movement in Reserves Statement (MiRS), the Balance Sheet, and the Cash Flow Statement, all supported by Notes to the Accounts. Additionally, the Council's 2025-26 actuarial valuation report, detailing retirement pensions assets and liabilities as at 31 March 2026, was included as an appendix. The committee was asked to note the contents of this report and comment as appropriate.

Annual Treasury Management Review 2025-26

This review, prepared in compliance with CIPFA's Code of Practice on Treasury Management, was scheduled for committee scrutiny and subsequent recommendation to Full Council for approval. It covered capital activity during the 2025-26 financial year, its impact on the Council's underlying indebtedness (the Capital Financing Requirement), and the actual prudential and treasury indicators. The report was intended to identify the overall treasury position, detailing how the Council had borrowed and invested, and the impact on investment balances. It also included a summary of interest rate movements during the year, debt activity as at 31 March 2026, and investment activity as at the same date. The Council confirmed compliance with legislative and regulatory requirements, noting that all treasury management activities had been within the approved limits and prudential indicators set out in the Treasury Management Strategy Statement 2025/26.

Risk Management Update and Strategic Risk Register Quarter 1 2026/27

The committee was to receive an update on the Corporate Risk Register, which is reviewed and signed off by the Senior Leadership Team in accordance with the Risk Management Strategy. At the time of the report, there were 13 strategic risks listed. The report indicated that there had been no changes to the residual risk scores since the previous report, and one residual risk remained at a high level. Work was ongoing to implement a new approach to the risk management framework, including identifying cross-cutting strategic risks, agreeing the council's risk appetite and tolerance, and identifying Key Risk Indicators (KRIs).

Corporate Anti-Fraud Team Progress Update Report

This report provided members with an annual update on the work conducted by the Internal Audit and Anti-Fraud Division's Corporate Anti-Fraud Team (CAFT) in 2025-26. It included comparisons of the year's figures against the previous year, highlighting successful prosecutions, employee dismissals and resignations, and property recoveries. The report detailed the prevention of fraudulent Right-To-Buy applications and the total cashable savings identified across all fraud types. CAFT's work in housing investigations, including subletting, tenancy successions, and false housing applications, was also to be presented, along with details of Right to Buy investigations. The report also covered reactive investigations for Housing Benefit, Council Tax Reduction Scheme (CTRS), and Council Tax Single Persons Discount (SPD), as well as corporate fraud investigations involving current/former staff and contractors.

Draft Annual Governance Statement 2025-26

The committee was presented with the draft Annual Governance Statement for 2025-26. This statement is a live document until the audited financial statements are signed. The review process had identified areas for strengthening, including updates to the Council's Constitution for accessibility and legal compliance, and addressing a backlog of Subject Access Requests (SARs) which had resulted in extended response times. While performance in handling Freedom of Information (FOI) requests and complaints had improved, relationships with the Housing Ombudsman and the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman had strengthened. Internal Audit had raised several findings, and the council was working towards ensuring statutory deadlines were met for external audits, aiming for unqualified accounts. The statement also highlighted the importance of governance around the delivery of 'Mission Waltham Forest'.

Compliance with the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR)

This report detailed the Authority's undertakings in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the preceding year. It provided information on suspected data breach incidents reported in the 12-month period. A total of 160 suspected data breach incidents were logged, with four meeting the threshold for reporting to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). The main causes were accidental disclosure, failure to redact, and issues related to records management. Mandatory data protection training completion rates were reported at 95%, with additional cyber security training provided. Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs) had increased significantly, reflecting organisational changes. The report also noted an increase in Subject Access Requests (SARs) and related complaints, with work underway to improve efficiency and monitoring.

Review of Whistleblowing Policy

The committee was asked to approve the revised Whistleblowing Policy. Amendments had been made to ensure compliance with the Employment Rights Act 2025 and to reflect best practice. A key change was the addition of sexual harassment as a qualifying disclosure under whistleblowing law. The policy applies to all employees, former employees, contractors, and elected members, and aims to encourage the raising of serious concerns without fear of victimisation. The report outlined how concerns would be handled, the responsible officer, and avenues for taking matters further externally.

Planning Committee Terms of Reference and Planning Code of Practice

The committee was scheduled to review proposed revisions to the Planning Committee Terms of Reference and the Planning Code of Practice. These changes were necessary to align with a new national scheme of delegation for the determination of planning applications, introduced by the Government through the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 and the Town and Country Planning (Discharge of Local Planning Authority Functions) (England) Regulations 2026. The proposals aimed to clarify which planning functions should be delegated to officers and which should be determined by the Planning Committee, with a presumption towards officer delegation for most applications unless specific criteria related to significant local impact or planning matters were met. The revised Planning Code of Practice also included updates reflecting legislative changes since 2017 and provided additional guidance on technical presentations and voting procedures.

Constitution Updates

The committee was to consider several proposed minor amendments to the Council's Constitution. These included updates to the Employment Procedure Rules and Staffing Committee Terms of Reference to clarify delegation of temporary/interim appointments and reporting lines, and to formalise the quorum for the Staffing Committee. Amendments to the Committee Procedure Rules were proposed to formalise arrangements for Councillor attendance at meetings. Finally, changes to the Overview and Scrutiny Committees' Terms of Reference were proposed, specifically concerning the membership of the Coordinating Scrutiny Committee to readdress political balance following the gifting of Chair roles.