The Audit and Governance Committee convened to review several key areas of the council's operations, including risk management, cybersecurity, data protection, and financial performance. The committee approved the Corporate Assurance (Internal Audit) Mandate and Charter & Strategy, and noted a number of reports, including updates on the Annual Governance Statement Action Plan, the Corporate Assurance Team's anti-fraud efforts, the Health and Safety Report, and the Annual Customer Complaints and Compliments Report. Members also received an update on the Constitution Review.

Safety and Quality Programme

Matt O'Neill, Executive Director – Growth and Sustainability, presented an update on the Safety and Quality Programme, which aims to reduce risk and improve the quality of waste collection services. He noted that the rate of fatal injury in the waste sector is nine times higher than the all-industry average.

Members heard that the council had 3,500 residents requiring assisted collections, who were considered the most vulnerable in the borough. Between January and June 2025, the council received 90 complaints, with 81 formal investigations and over half of the complaints being upheld. The council undertakes up to 8 million bin lifts per year.

Mr O'Neill noted that Cabinet had approved an additional investment of £2.3m, which had enabled additional vehicles and crews to clear a backlog of bins by 12 March 2025 and stabilise the service.

Mr R Hindley, Independent Member, queried the work undertaken to mitigate the risk of industrial action¹. Mr P Castle said that engagement had been made with many local authorities at the outset of the programme and that a third party provider was in place as a contingency plan.

Dr R Adams raised questions regarding employee engagement surveys and investigations. Members noted that engagement had been made with all 120 members of staff prior to the commencement of the programme, and there was a programme of frontline meetings once per quarter.

Mr O'Neill responded to a question from Mr G Bandy, Audit and Governance Committee - Co-opted Member, as to why there was a strategic risk for the programme. He noted that the level of accidents could add to the level of complaints and the general feel around quality, which could compound with other issues on a safety level and result in the team being unable to operate. Members noted that 25 snapshots of CCTV had been collated, which had resulted in the identification of 54 hazards. Key issues from the CCTV audit were reversing vehicles and staff not following training, slips, trips and falls due to crews running to complete jobs, and operatives failing to isolate the dustbin lift mechanisms.

Mr S Wragg, Audit and Governance Committee - Co-opted Member, suggested that the risk be addressed at a future workshop to provide an understanding of the way it had been written and to provide assurance. He suggested that the risk of vicarious liability should be described within the risk.

Councillor Phillip Lofts noted that numerous members of staff had been subject to HR processes, following which some had been dismissed. He also noted that the domestic waste and recycling collection vehicles displayed messages of the 'Be Safe, Work Safe, Target Zero' with a particular call to action to ensure resident's bins were in a safe condition to empty and also to request residents to park considerately to enable access onto the streets.

Strategic Risk Register

The committee reviewed the Strategic Risk Register report, which included updates to strategic risks and introduced two risks for consideration: the Safety and Quality Programme (discussed above) and changes to Integrated Care Board arrangements.

Members noted that on 8 July 2025, the Senior Management Team (SMT) had reviewed the register and identified a new risk related to Skyline, which would be presented at a future meeting.

Dr R Adams raised questions about the Zero Carbon and Wider Environmental Commitments Risk, saying that the risk description was very internally focused regarding the failure of the council to meet its zero carbon ambition by 2040, but that the risk assessment related to the national Government's problem for global warming and not the council.

Following a suggestion from Mr Wragg, Sharon Bradley, Head of Corporate Assurance, said that a future member briefing session would refresh members' knowledge of the council's approach to managing risks.

Councillor Martin O'Donoghue referred to instances where the risk status had changed over several reporting periods, and he queried the mechanism to share that those mitigations were not working. Ms Bradley said that discussions were undertaken at SMT level as to whether risks were working effectively and to determine whether the categorisation of the risks should remain or change.

Changes to Integrated Care Board Arrangements

Matt O'Neill also provided an update on the Change in Integrated Care Board Arrangements, noting changes from central government that had resulted in a 50% funding reduction in health in South Yorkshire, which would have implications for the council, including a challenging landscape with likely job losses. He considered that this would be linked with childcare, capacity across South Yorkshire and primary care which fed into adult social care. A request had been made to pause the consultation period, which was likely to recommence in Autumn 2025.

Mr Wragg queried the risk to the council, and Mr O'Neill confirmed that this would be detailed in a report to be presented to a future committee meeting.

The committee noted the changes made to the strategic risks by the SMT and the updates from the two risks presented at the meeting.

Procurement Compliance Overview

D Hollingsworth, Strategic Purchasing and Compliance Manager, presented a procurement compliance overview, noting that compliance was monitored on all service-led procurements across all business units and reported to the Governance and Assurance Board on a quarterly basis.

Members noted that the volume of waivers had reduced from 71 in 2023-24 to 32 in 2024-25, which was a positive sign that a strategic contract approach had had an impact.

Mr Hindley sought clarification regarding who signed off waivers, how often they were not signed off, and whether there was a possibility that they may not be signed off. Mr Hollingsworth said that J Lockwood, Head of Procurement, had oversight of all the waivers, but the Head of Service for Procurement was no longer a signature on waivers.

Wendy Popplewell referred to occasions when the waivers were refused by management. In such instances, the waivers could be amended and resubmitted to management, or alternative procurement processes adopted to comply with Contract Procedure Rules (CPR). She would ascertain how often the waivers were reviewed and inform members in due course.

Councillor Robert Barnard raised questions about the cost of the procurement process as opposed to a waiver, the cost of the exercise to taxpayers, and whether a quote would be ascertained from one company and used to secure the lowest figure with another company. Mr Hollingsworth referred to the ongoing work to ensure the procurement process was as easy to follow as possible. S Loach added that practices referred to by Councillor Barnard were not in compliance with Public Sector procurement rules and would not be used. Ms Bradley confirmed that all quotes would be opened at the same time to ensure transparency, and this was a system control.

In response to a question from Councillor O'Donoghue, Mr Hollingsworth commented that social value was covered as part of procurement.

Dr Adams referred to the competitive dialogue to use best value, as used previously by many local authorities in terms of skills and employment outcomes to increase social value. She queried whether any analysis had been undertaken with small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) and what business had been achieved from their input to be on the framework. She also queried whether any best value had been undertaken with SME as a sector in their engagement with the council. Mr Hollingsworth would provide members with a response on the number of frameworks outside of the meeting.

The committee noted the report.

Corporate Assurance (Internal Audit) Mandate and Charter & Strategy

The committee approved the Corporate Assurance (Internal Audit) Mandate and Charter & Strategy, presented by Ms Bradley. The report sought approval in accordance with the requirements of the Global Internal Audit Standards UK Public Sector (GIAS).

Mr Bandy queried whether the mandate and charter would form part of the constitution if it was agreed by the committee. Ms Bradley said that it would not form part of the constitution but would be published on the council's intranet site. The committee would be provided with various reports throughout the year to provide assurance that the service was compliant with the GIAS and fulfilling its roles and responsibilities.

The committee approved the Corporate Assurance (Internal Audit) Mandate and Charter & Strategy and were consequently assured that the Corporate Assurance function operated in accordance with the relevant standards.

Corporate Assurance (Internal Audit) Progress Report

Ms Bradley presented the Corporate Assurance (Internal Audit) Progress Report 2025/26, which covered the period 1 April 2025 to 29 June 2025.

A discussion followed regarding work undertaken on procurement cards and samples that had shown non-compliance with procedures. Mr Hollingsworth confirmed that dip sampling to challenge spend on the procurement cards would continue to be undertaken by Strategic Procurement, and a policy was in place to ensure individuals were only permitted to use their own procurement cards. S Loach reassured members of the formal governance and approval process in place before a procurement card was issued to ensure that it would meet the actual business needs.

Mr Bandy referred to the reasonable/limited assurance and whether this was based on any significant areas of non-compliance. Ms Bradley confirmed that the type of spend on procurement cards results in low-level values of spend per transaction, but based on a small sample of transactions, the number of instances of non-compliance was high, which had resulted in the limited assurance for compliance. However, a lot of work had been undertaken to strengthen the framework, hence the reasonable assurance opinion, and it may be that the review was undertaken prior to this being embedded. A follow-up review will be undertaken in due course.

The committee:

• Considered the issues arising from completed assurance work in the period, along with the responses received from management.
• Noted the assurance opinion on the adequacy and effectiveness of the authority's internal control framework based on the work in the period.
• Noted the progress against the plan for 2025/26 in the period.

Draft Statement of Accounts

S Loach, Head of Corporate Finance, informed members that the Draft Statement of Accounts 2024/25 had been submitted by the statutory deadline of 30 June 2025, and that the External Audit had been issued by the same date. Members were referred to the significant change this year in terms of the implementation of IFRS 16 Leases² on 1 April 2024. A significant amount of work had been undertaken to identify all leases across the council, which had led to a total of 350 assets coming onto the balance sheet at an approximate cost of £55m. Grant Thornton was undertaking the annual overall assessment, which would be presented with the overall Statement of Accounts later in the year.

Mr Wragg referred to three different revenue position figures within the Statement of Accounts, and he queried whether there was a timescale for the figures to be written down. Mr Loach would provide a response in due course.

The committee noted the Draft Statement of Accounts 2024/25.

Corporate Finance and Performance Management Report

S Loach presented the Corporate Finance and Performance Management Report 31 March 2025. The purpose of the report was to provide details of the 2024/25 draft revenue final accounts position for the General Fund (including Schools) and the Housing Revenue Account. It was noted that the accounts were draft and subject to external audit scrutiny. Adjustments would be made to the final accounts due to the implementation of IFRS 16 Leases on 1 April 2024. This would not affect the council's outturn position.

Members noted the final position for the General Fund and the cumulative cost pressures for the year of £4.2m, to which specific reserves had been set aside.

The committee noted the report.

Capital Programme Performance

S Loach presented the Capital Programme Performance Year Ended 31 March 2025 report. The report covered the 2024/25 outturn position, details of any in-quarter variances, and an update on the council's indicative programme for future years.

The position on the 2024/25 Capital Programme as at 31 March 2025 showed an overall lower-than-expected spend of approximately £34.3m against the approved capital programme budget. The variance was primarily a result of scheme slippage across the programme, with the majority relating to schemes delivered by the Growth and Sustainability Directorate.

Of the total variation in expenditure against approved plans, £30.5m related to scheme slippage (where expenditure plans were expected to be utilised in a future year rather than the current year, due to events largely outside of the council's control). The position was reviewed constantly by lead officers to ensure schemes progressed as planned, and that there were no adverse implications in terms of funding and/or additional costs.

The committee noted the report.

Annual Report on Treasury Management Activities

S Loach presented the Annual Report on Treasury Management Activities for the year ended 31 March 2025.

The Treasury Management Strategy Statement (TMSS) for 2024/25 had been approved by Full Council on 29 February 2024, which had identified the key risks associated with the council's borrowing and investment activities and set out how those risks would be managed. The council operated within a Treasury Framework which facilitated flexibility for treasury strategy. The need to adopt an agile approach to Treasury Management had never been as important following volatility within the UK economy and major global events which impacted on economies worldwide. A key driver of the council's Treasury Management activities were interest rates, which were closely monitored by officers.

The committee noted the report.

External Audit Progress Report and Sector Update

T De Zoysa, Senior Manager Public Sector Audit at Grant Thornton³, provided an update on the External Audit Progress Report and sector update. Members were referred to the External Audit Plan 2024/25, which had been issued at the committee meeting held on 28 May 2025, and the statutory deadline of accounts to June 2025, which had been received. Work had commenced on the audit in early July 2025, which was undertaken by a minimum of four members of staff each day. Weekly telephone calls continued with the council for approval of any issues arising. Matters progressed well in terms of other reporting targets, and no changes had been made from the Audit Plan presented in late June 2025. It was envisaged to complete on-site work in late September 2025, substantive work would be completed by September 2025 with a view to sharing reports with management in October 2025, reports to be presented to the committee meeting in November 2025, and sign-off of the accounts in either November/December 2025.

The committee noted the update.

Constitution Review

Peter Clark, Head of Governance, Elections and Registration, presented a report as the first tranche of reports on the Constitution Review, which provided members with an update on the progress made to date.

Members recalled a report presented to the committee meeting held in September 2024 regarding a proposed review of the constitution, which was unable to progress at that time due to some uncertainty that the recommendations of the review could be implemented. In December 2024, a new Monitoring Officer had been appointed who had received the necessary support to allow the review to commence. A Constitution Review Working Group had been established, consisting of ten councillors, which would regularly report progress and proposed constitutional changes to the committee for comments.

The committee noted the report.

Complaint Report

M Dyson presented the Complaint Report, which advised members of a complaint relating to Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) that resulted in financial remedy and informed of the actions taken and future service planning for improvement.

In response to questions from Mr Wragg and Councillor Lofts regarding the child referred to within the report, M Dyson commented that the child had been offered a home tutor, which had been declined by the parents due to the child's mental health. The child now accessed a more specialist provision and was doing very well. A report would be brought back to the committee in due course regarding children accessing wider support and the need for children to return to education.

The committee noted the report.

DSG Grant/SEND Update

B Bradley, SEND Improvement Manager, presented the DSG Grant/SEND Update Quarter 4 2024/25.

Members were asked to note the progress made to date and the actions taken to ensure system-wide improvements to support children and young people with special educational needs, including a disability (SEND).

In response to a series of questions raised by Councillor Barnard, B Bradley commented that the rise in SEND support was a positive move, which enabled support to be provided within schools. It was envisaged for more children to receive SEND support at an early stage, which would remove the need for Educational Health Care Plans (EHCP) in the future. A variety of systems and processes were in place within schools, and there was now a greater level of recognition by the Government for SEND support.

B Bradley referred to a question raised by Mr Wragg as to whether the council was reactive or ready for the increase in SEND support. Members were referred to the recent development of the Section 23 process. This included notifications from health colleagues which enabled earlier consideration of inclusion grants and enabled the need to be recognised from health professionals to mitigate and forecast the high need coming through the system.

In response to a question raised by Councillor Lofts, B Bradley assured members of the partnership work underway across education and social care, to mitigate the number of children that were not in education and to support every child to be in school each day.

M Dyson referred to the recognition of mental health concerns in young people within education and access to support services. Measures would be implemented to assist the numerous children who had school avoidance issues, with a view to enabling them to make good progress whilst working towards aspirational outcomes.

The committee noted the report.

Informing the Audit Questionnaire

S Loach presented the Informing the Audit Questionnaire for the year ended 31 March 2025. The questionnaire was a two-way response for the council and Grant Thornton, which focused on six key areas as outlined within the document.

The committee noted the Informing the Audit Questionnaire.

Audit and Governance Committee Work Plan

Gillian Martin, Corporate Assurance Manager, presented the Audit and Governance Committee Work Plan 2025-26.

The work plan had been populated for the 2025/26 municipal year and included suggestions put forward by members for the Briefing Sessions. A schedule of current strategic risks had also been included, for a 'deep dive' by the Committee at each meeting.

The following subject areas had been tabled for future Briefing/Training Sessions:

• Accountability Framework (September 2025)
• Asset Management Strategy (November 2025)
• Great Childhood Ambitions (January 2026)
• Strategic Housing (March 2026)

The committee noted the Work Plan for 2025/26.

Annual Report

Sharon Bradley, Head of Corporate Assurance, presented the Audit and Governance Committee's Annual Report for 2024/25.

The Annual Report had been prepared in accordance with recommended guidance and sought to demonstrate the council's commitment to operating the highest standards of governance. The report set out the role of the Audit and Governance Committee and how it had discharged its responsibilities during 2024/25.

Subject to the committee's approval, the Annual Report would be included as a link document in the Annual Governance Statement and would also be published as a standalone document on the council's website.

Councillor Lofts commented that the report would be presented to the Full Council meeting scheduled to be held in November 2025.

Mr Bandy highlighted a typographical error within the Members' Attendance section on page 4 of the report. Ms Bradley would update the report to ensure that it referred to the March 2025 meeting.

The committee considered the draft Annual Report 2024/25 and subsequently recommended it for Full Council in November 2025.

Annual Governance Statement Action Plan Update

The committee considered the Annual Governance Statement Action Plan Update, relating to issues identified following the Annual Governance Review (AGR) for 2023/24. The action plan captures issues identified in the 2023/24 Annual Governance Statement and provides the latest position in terms of those that remain ongoing and carried forward to the 2024/25 AGS action plan.

The committee noted the report and progress made against each item listed in the Action Plan.

Corporate Assurance Team (Anti-Fraud) Progress Report

The committee considered the Corporate Assurance Team (Anti-fraud) Progress Report, which provided an account of the work of the Corporate Assurance (Anti-Fraud) Team from 1 April to 31 July 2025.

The committee noted the progress report covering the period 1 April 2025 to 31 July 2025 and agreed to continue to receive regular progress reports on internal and external fraud investigated by the Corporate Assurance Team.

Cyber Security Strategy

The committee considered the Cyber Security Strategy 2025-2028.

Data Protection Officer Assurance Report

The committee considered the Data Protection Officer Assurance Report, which highlighted the key areas of work of the council's Data Protection Officer (DPO) to provide the committee with information and assurances regarding the council's compliance with the Data Protection Act 2018⁴ and UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)⁵.

The committee considered the report and the information and assurances within it and agreed to receive a further update in six months' time to contribute to wider and continuous assurances as part of the Annual Governance Review process.

Health and Safety Report

The committee considered the Health and Safety Report 2024/2025, which provided an overview of the council's health and safety performance in 2024/2025 and outlined an action plan for improvement in 2025/2026.

The committee noted the report and priorities and targets for 2025/2026.

Annual Customer Complaints and Compliments Report

The committee considered the Annual Customer Complaints and Compliments Report April 2024 to March 2025, which presented the council's annual customer complaints and compliments report for 2024/25 for compliments and complaints handled under the council's management of customer feedback procedures.

The committee noted and discussed the information contained in the report, which was produced in line with the complaint's legislation for Children and Adult Social Care.