The Governance and Audit Committee are scheduled to meet to review risk management, audit activity, and health and safety. They will be presented with reports on internal audit progress, risk management, health and safety, and the work programme for the coming year. The committee will also review correspondence from the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman¹ and the Housing Ombudsman².

Strategic Risk Management

The committee will be asked to consider the outcomes of a review and approve an updated Strategic Risk Register. The register identifies key risks to the council achieving its objectives.

According to the Risk Management Annual Report 2024/25, the Strategic Risk Register has been subject to regular review with the Corporate Management Team, facilitated by Matt Humphrey, Partner, RSM UK Consulting.

The report pack outlines that the council has kept the strategic risk register under review, including the risks, causes and effects, controls, scoring, risk appetite and further actions, using various sources including compare and contrast with other council risks, the RSM Emerging Risk Radar, and the cumulative knowledge and experience of officers, as well as RSM.

The report pack notes that there are now 11 strategic risks, compared with 15 previously reported. Changes include:

• Merging the previous risk of a serious safeguarding failure by the council with a serious health, safety, and wellbeing failure by the council.
• Revising the risk of ineffective financial management to focus on the inability to maintain financial sustainability.
• Removing risks related to maintaining service provision, digital transformation, partnerships, and the council's values, deeming them to be effects of other risks or no longer strategic.

The new strategic risks identified are:

• Societal, demographic and cultural changes impacting on communities within the district.
• Increasing levels of homelessness and meeting the challenges of maintaining quality social housing provision within the district.
• The implications and general uncertainty of Local Government Reorganisation³ on the council.
• Not leveraging the opportunities of Devolution⁴. The committee will also be presented with the RSM Emerging Risk Radar Autumn 2025, which identifies key emerging risks such as geopolitical instability, cyber attacks, and artificial intelligence governance.

Internal Audit Progress

The committee will receive an Internal Audit Progress Report which summarises work done, assessments of systems reviewed, and recommendations made. The report states that the work complies with Public Sector Internal Audit Standards.

The report pack says that good progress has been made in the delivery of the 2025/26 audit plan. The following reports have been presented to previous Governance and Audit Committee meetings:

• Climate Plan
• Payroll Access

The following report is scheduled to be presented to this Governance and Audit Committee meeting:

• Voids Management

Fieldwork is in progress in respect of the following audits:

• Performance Management

Planning is underway in respect of the following audits:

• Treasury Management
• Building Control
• IT Strategy
• Account Payables
• Market Services
• Main Financial Systems

The report also includes a BDO Global Risk Landscape Report. The report examines the attitudes of 500 global risk leaders to a range of emerging and evolving risks such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), cyber-attacks and supply chain, and offers practical takeaways to manage risks. The theme and title of this year's report is The risk rift: why playing safe means losing growth which highlights a big mistake in risk management - focusing too much on compliance rather than the bigger picture of risk.

Voids Management Audit

The report pack includes a summary of the Voids Management Audit. Voids are properties that are empty between tenancies. The scope of the audit included:

• Documented voids management procedures
• A sample of five void properties from 2024/25 and 2025/26
• The Council's performance against internal void targets
• Processes for identifying and recovering tenant recharges at the end of tenancy
• Housing and Technical Services performance dashboards, minutes of management meetings and escalation processes
• The Council's governance arrangements
• The Technical Services Restructure (March 2025) which introduced a dedicated Voids Manager
• A walkthrough of the voids workflow and resources planning (in April 2025)
• Processes to manage contractors for void properties
• Evidence of tenant engagement during tenancy termination and sign-up processes

The report identifies the following areas of good practice:

 There was regular reporting on performance of voids management to the Housing and Scrutiny Committee on the key performance metrics. This supported strong governance and democratic oversight. Performance data, trends, and key challenges are provided to Members, with sufficient scrutiny supporting accountability and informed challenge.

 The Council has strengthened resource planning for voids by structuring the Technical Services team with clear roles, including management, supervision, inspection, planning, and cost-tracking. This approach improves accountability, reduces delays, and supports more consistent void management performance.

 The SKVQS set out requirements for safety, compliance and tenant-ready standards. We reviewed evidence as part of this audit and confirmed that the framework had been consistently applied in the properties that we sample tested.

 There are monthly meetings with major void contractors, attended by key officers and contractor representatives, to monitor performance, raising issues, and monitoring delivery against expectations. A designated Contract Officer has been appointed to manage the relationship.

 A set of key performance indicators (KPIs) have been established to monitor turnaround times to volumes of voids in progress. These are presented to the Technical Services team meetings, enabling performance monitoring at operational level and ensuring management has visibility of trends.

The report identifies the following areas of concern:

 While void management KPIs are reported, underperformance is not consistently linked to tangible action plans or escalation. KPI data for 2024/25 and 2025/26 highlighted underperformance in re-let turnaround timescales, rent loss and cost per void. Without stronger performance oversight and follow-through actions, there is a risk of continued inefficiency, loss of revenue and financial strain (Finding 1 – Medium).

 There are no formal criteria defining major and minor voids, leaving classification open to interpretation. The Voids Policy is out of date, with two versions (2021-24 and 2022-25) in circulation (we note that management were awaiting the outcome of this review prior to updating the Policy). Roles and responsibilities for Housing and Technical Services are not clearly defined, as there is no overarching procedure document setting out end-to-end responsibilities, resulting in inconsistent practice, weak accountability and longer turnaround times (Finding 2 – Medium).

The report concludes that the council has a moderate design and effectiveness of controls for the management of its voids function.

Internal Audit Follow Up

The committee will also receive an Internal Audit Follow Up Report. The report provides a summary of the status of implementation of recommendations arising from previous reports.

The report pack notes that 15 medium recommendations have been completed from 2024/2025 reviews. One medium recommendation for the Homelessness audit is in progress. Two recommendations (Income Generation and Business Continuity Plan) are not yet due for follow-up.

Health and Safety

The committee will be presented with the Annual Health and Safety Report 2024/25, which provides an overview of South Kesteven District Council's management of health and safety. It summarises progress made, highlights areas for improvements, and identifies accident rates for the period 2024/25.

The report pack notes that the council's overall performance within these areas remains strong with a high level of assurance, these areas have robust policies and procedures with risk mitigation in place.

The number of accidents/incidents reported to the council has seen a significant increase from the previous year. The Health and Safety team provides both operational and technical support to the Council and also undertakes reviews and audits into the use of and adherence to guidance and best practice.

The annual report also provides an update on Business Continuity and Emergency Planning action for 2024-25. For the second year SKDC faced unprecedented and record-breaking river water levels/extremes of weather and the subsequent impact on the fluvial system. The Council again provided support to the affected communities both in response and through recovery.

Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman Annual Review Letter and Housing Ombudsman Landlord Performance Report

The committee will be presented with the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman Annual Review Letter 2024/2025 and the Housing Ombudsman Landlord Performance Report 2024/25.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman Annual Review Letter 2024/25 was issued to the Chief Executive on 21 May 2025, and it was requested by the Ombudsman that the letter be shared with the Chairman of a Scrutiny Committee (or similar).

During the period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 a total of 19 cases were referred to the Local Government Ombudsman. None of the cases were upheld.

The Housing Ombudsman issued its Landlord Performance Report for 2024/25 to the Council on 20 June 2025. During 2024/25 the Housing Ombudsman made determinations on 4 cases, resulting in 11 findings, 18 orders with just 2 recommendations across all cases. The 11 findings are categorised as follows:

• Property condition 4
• Complaints handling 3
• Reimbursement and Payments 2
• Anti-Social Behaviour 1
• Information and data management 1

The 18 orders can be broken down as follows:

• Compensation 7
• Apology 4
• Repairs 2
• Take Specific non-Repair Action 2
• Case Review 1
• Practice Review 1
• Other 1

The key issues related to property condition and handling of complaints. The Council paid £5,150 in compensation and 2 recommendations to review succession planning and contact a tenant to offer the chance to raise a further complaint.

Work Programme

The committee will be asked to consider the Work Programme 2025-2026.