The Audit and Governance Committee of Tunbridge Wells Council met on Tuesday 15 September 2026, with Councillor Birch chairing in the absence of Councillor Monday. The committee noted updates on member complaints, approved changes to the planning committee's procedures in line with new national legislation, and reviewed the strategic risk register. Significant progress was also reported on the council's financial performance, with an unqualified audit opinion for the 2025/26 financial year being a key highlight.

Update on Member Complaints

Claudette Valmond, Monitoring Officer and Head of Mid-Kent Legal Partnership, presented an update on member complaints. Since the last meeting on 10 March 2026, two complaints had been considered. The first, received in May 2026, alleged that a borough councillor had made offensive social media posts towards a political party representative. Following an investigation, it was concluded that a breach of the code of conduct had not been established due to insufficient evidence. The second complaint, made in June 2026 against a parish councillor, alleged unfair allocation of parish councillors to parish committees. The Monitoring Officer concluded that this was a matter of dissatisfaction with council policies and priorities, rather than a breach of conduct standards, and therefore no further action was taken. There were no outstanding complaints.

Changes to Planning Committee

Councillor Matt Lowe, Cabinet Member for Planning, introduced a report detailing necessary changes to the council's planning committee procedures to comply with the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 and associated regulations, which were due to come into effect on 31 October 2026. Lucinda Roach, Development Manager, explained that the new legislation introduces a national scheme of delegation, dividing planning applications into two tiers: Schedule 1 applications, which must be decided by officers, and Schedule 2 applications, which are typically delegated to officers but can be referred to committee if they meet specific statutory referral tests. The call-in process, where ward members could refer applications to committee, will be removed. Referrals to committee will now be governed by a national gateway process, requiring agreement from both a nominated officer and a nominated member if an application raises significant economic, social, environmental, or planning issues. Councillor Lowe highlighted that these reforms are largely mandatory.

Despite acknowledging the statutory nature of these changes, Councillor Digby expressed concerns about the removal of the call-in process and the potential for decisions to be made by a single member, which he felt was unfair and could lead to political bias. He also raised concerns about the potential lack of relevant knowledge for decisions impacting rural versus urban areas.

Following a recorded vote, the motion to approve the changes to the constitution, the agenda setting protocol, and the nominated member and officer designations was carried.

Strategic Risk Register Update

Katherine Woodward, Head of Mid Kent Audit Partnership, presented the strategic risk register update, with William Benson, Chief Executive, and Nick Dufton, Head of HR, providing details on specific risks.

Mr. Benson discussed Risk 1: Unable to effectively influence new unitary structure and lack of capacity to balance change programme with delivery of existing services. He noted the government's recent decision to pause local government reorganisation (LGR) in Kent. While this pause offers an additional year for planning, it has also created uncertainty and potentially damaged trust. The restoration of district elections across Kent may also present challenges if newly elected councillors do not support LGR. Mr. Benson confirmed that there were no direct financial costs to the council at this stage, as initial LGR funding was provided by the government, and the council's £150,000 reserve for LGR had not been touched.

Risk 11, Lack of effective response to and recovery from a major incident, was discussed in the context of recent water outages. While the council's arrangements were considered to have stood up pretty well, the integration of emergency planning into future LGR was noted as an area for consideration. The risk of cyber-related incidents was also highlighted due to geopolitical factors.

Mr. Dufton presented information on Risk 13: Recruitment and retention challenges leading to lack of capacity. He detailed efforts to review pay and reward, enhance non-pay rewards, and improve employee engagement and well-being, particularly in light of LGR uncertainty. Recruitment campaigns have been successful, with a turnover rate of 6.9%, significantly lower than previous years.

Audit and Governance Annual Report

Katherine Woodward presented the Audit and Governance Committee Annual Report for 2025/26. The report outlined how the committee had discharged its duties, including monitoring audit activity, reviewing the regulatory framework, and scrutinising accounts. The report noted that while the committee generally complied with CIPFA best practice, there were areas for development, including reviewing the terms of reference and assessing member knowledge and skills. A typo in the report was noted and corrected. The committee agreed to the annual report and its presentation to Full Council.

Draft Annual Financial Report and Audit Findings Report for 2025/26

Jane Fineman, Head of Finance, Procurement and Parking, introduced the draft annual financial report and audit findings report for 2025/26. She highlighted that the council had achieved an underspend of £1.624 million in the cost of services, mainly due to increased parking income and staff cost savings. Usable reserves decreased by £4 million to £23.4 million, but the capital programme was fully financed without further borrowing.

Parris Williams and Ghufran Ahmed from Grant Thornton, the appointed auditors, presented their findings. They confirmed that they expected to issue an unqualified audit opinion, meaning a clean bill of health, for the 17th consecutive year. This was described as a significant achievement for the finance team. Lee Colyer, Director of Finance, Growth and Delivery, presented the value for money report, which assessed the council's decision-making across financial sustainability, governance, and economy, efficiency, and effectiveness, all of which received a green rating.

The committee considered and agreed the audit findings report, the auditor's annual report, and approved the draft statement of accounts and annual governance statement. The Chairman and Director of Finance, Growth and Delivery were authorised to sign the letter of representation.

There was no urgent business, and the date of the next meeting was set for Tuesday, 24 November 2026.