The Audit Scrutiny Committee will receive an update on the Council’s finances and progress on a range of audits. Councillors will also be asked to approve the proposed council tax base for 2025/26 and receive an update on the implementation of recommendations made in a Corporate Peer Review earlier in the year.

The Council Tax Base

A report will be provided asking the Committee to approve a council tax base of 51,562 for 2025-26. The council tax base is the estimated number of Band D equivalent properties that will exist in the district in the next financial year. It is used by the council, and by other preceptors of council tax like town and parish councils, Devon & Cornwall Police and Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue, to calculate their annual budget. It is calculated by adjusting the number of band D properties in the district at November 2024 to reflect anticipated growth and an allowance for non-collection of council tax. For Teignbridge, this base means that at the current council tax level of £196.41 just over £10.1 million of income would be generated next year. This is 1.2% or £122,000 more than in the current year.

Corporate Risks

A report will be provided detailing the current status of the council’s corporate and strategic risks.

The report notes that

There are currently 24 risks in the Strategic Risk register which are the risks we consider could impact heavily on our ability to deliver essential services and meet important objectives. In addition, there are 12 corporate risks, ‘common risks’, which apply to many sections of the council, and we have corporate processes in place to deal with them. (Strategic Corporate Risk report for Audit Scrutiny)

The report states that three corporate risks have been identified as having a ‘high’ risk score:

• Attacks on Staff
• Breach of Code of Conduct by Members
• Failure to maintain sufficient management capacity and capability.

The report notes that the risk of attacks on staff remains high due to a number of factors. In particular:

The provision of suitable and sufficient resources (Persons & tools) at the place and time of any need remains the primary concern.

(Strategic Corporate Risk report for Audit Scrutiny)

The report will be accompanied by a risk status report giving more details of each corporate risk.

Grant Thornton - Audit Progress Report & Sector Update

The committee will receive a verbal report from Grant Thornton on the progress of their audit of the council’s accounts. The previous meeting of the committee in October heard that the auditors were experiencing problems completing their audit of previous financial years. At that meeting

It was noted that there would be a lot of work required to ensure that the 2023-24 Audit would be completed on time due to the priority of presenting the next budget as well as staff vacancies.

(Minutes Public Pack 09102024 Audit Scrutiny Committee)

The Committee will also receive a written sector update from Grant Thornton.

Governance Action Plan Monitoring Report

The committee will receive an update on the implementation of recommendations made by the Local Government Association (LGA) following a Corporate Peer Review in January 2024. The Peer Review made a number of recommendations across a range of themes, including:

• Relationships
• Constitution
• Council Strategy and Partnerships
• Functioning authority

The recommendations included a call for more engagement with town and parish councils in the district and the appointment of opposition councillors to Chair and Vice-Chair the council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

The report to the committee provides an update on each of the recommendations made in the peer review and will note that the LGA are due to revisit the council in February 2025 to review progress on their recommendations.

Internal Audit Progress Report

The committee will receive an update on the council’s internal audit function. The report will note that recent audits of the council’s Partnership and Funding Arrangements and Purchasing Card arrangements returned ‘Good’ assurance ratings. The report will also provide an update on the implementation of recommendations from previous audits, including an update on the progress in addressing concerns raised about health and safety arrangements. The previous meeting of the committee in October heard that

managers were being reminded that they were responsible for health and safety within their teams, and that new guidance documents were being written for approval by Strategic Leadership Team.

(Minutes Public Pack 09102024 Audit Scrutiny Committee)

The committee will hear from Charles Perryman, the Corporate Health & Safety Manager, on the progress being made in addressing the concerns raised in the recent audit of Health and Safety arrangements.

Councillor Questions

A question from Councillor Chris Jeffries will be considered. It asks:

Given the importance of robust decision-making and the need for equitable access to training for councillors, particularly concerning their ability to act as substitutes on the Planning Committee, can the committee review the council's current training policy to assess the following:

1. Whether all councillors are provided with sufficient and equal opportunities to undertake relevant training for committee participation and governance oversight;
2. How the current approach align with best practices in fostering inclusive and informed decision-making within the council; and
3. What measures can be introduced to ensure that all councillors, irrespective of their committee assignments, are adequately prepared to contribute effectively when required?

Additionally, could the committee examine how the lack of universal training opportunities impacts the council's ability to meet its statutory and governance responsibilities, particularly in areas such as transparency, accountability, and proportionality?

(Public Questions)

Councillor Jeffries submitted his question after observing a debate at a recent meeting of the Full Council:

I observed the last full council meeting where there was a small debate surrounding seat allocation, a member raised an issue regarding attendance, which I thought was an interesting point to raise and I was surprised that it had become common for such meetings to run on low attendance.

(Public Questions)