Here is a summary of the upcoming Audit and Accounts Committee meeting. The meeting will cover the internal audit progress, a review of the corporate risk register, and the treasury management activity. The committee will also be asked to review its work programme for the coming months.

Review of the Corporate Risk Register

The committee will be asked to review the corporate risk register, which was last reviewed by the Senior Leadership Team on 3 September 2025. The Public reports pack includes a summary of the register, as well as a risk matrix taken from the risk management policy. The report pack highlights that one risk score has changed since the last time the Audit and Accounts Committee saw the register on 30 September 2024. The risk score for 'RR7 – Cyber' has increased from medium to high, which the Director of Customers, Digital and Improvement attributed to:

Due to the recent attacks on local government organisations and ever increasing sophistication of cyber threats

The report pack also notes that 'local government reorganisation' has been added to the register as risk 'RR12' following a request at the committee meeting on 31 March 2025. This refers to the English Devolution White Paper, which set out the government's intention to restructure all two-tier areas¹.

The committee will also be asked to approve changes to the council's Risk Management Policy. According to the report pack, these changes are minor and include updating the version number and dates, changing 'Strategic Leadership Team' to 'Senior Leadership Team' and including agency staff and contractors in the policy.

Internal Audit Progress Report

The Audit and Accounts Committee will be presented with the Internal Audit Progress Report, which details the work completed by the Internal Audit Team between July and September 2025. The report pack includes definitions for the different 'levels of assurance' and 'categories of recommendations' used by the Internal Audit Team. It notes that no audit reports issued in this period gave either a 'Reasonable' or 'Limited' assurance. The report pack summarises the key points of interest from audit reports that gave either 'Full' or 'Substantial' assurance:

• Bank Reconciliation
• Complaints
• Creditors
• Equality, Diversity & Inclusion
• Performance Management (KPI's)
• Planning Fees & Enforcement
• Treasury Management

The report pack also includes details of overdue and not overdue 'fundamental' and 'significant' recommendations.

Treasury Management

The committee will be presented with a report showing the activity within the council's treasury management function from 1 April 2025 to 30 June 2025. The report pack notes that the income for treasury management for 2025/26 is forecast to be £5.13 million and that the income rate of return from treasury management investments is expected to be 4.22%. The report pack also includes a glossary of terms used in treasury management, including bond funds, gilts² and supranational bonds³.

Audit and Accounts Work Programme

The committee will be asked to note and review its work programme. The Public reports pack includes a list of items that are scheduled to be discussed at future meetings, including the approval of the 2024/25 financial statements, the annual property plan and treasury management updates. The report pack also includes an action tracking log, which details the progress of actions agreed at previous meetings.