The Governance and Audit Committee of Leicester City Council met on Wednesday 26 November 2025 to review several key reports and policies. The committee noted the Health and Safety Annual Report for 2024/25, received an update on the council's risk management strategy, and reviewed the counter-fraud mid-year update. Crucially, the committee approved updated policies on Anti-Fraud, Bribery and Corruption, and Anti-Money Laundering.

Independent Member Appointments

The committee noted the appointment of Seema Jaffer and Mohammed Chunara as Independent Members of the Governance and Audit Committee for a period of two years. This appointment is in line with good practice recommendations from the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) and an external audit recommendation. The committee thanked Bipon Bhakri for his three-year term of service.

Health and Safety Annual Report 2024/25

Andrew Shilliam, Director of Corporate Services, presented the Health and Safety Annual Report for 2024/25. The report detailed conformance with corporate health and safety management standards, providing performance information from both active and reactive measures, as well as occupational health data. The council achieved an overall Health and Safety Performance Rating of 83%, an improvement of 2% from the previous year. While there were improvements in many areas, the report highlighted that performance in the management of manual handling risk remains an area for improvement across divisions. The report also detailed a decrease in reported incidents, with 1318 incidents reported in the period, down from 1368 in 2023/24. However, reported injuries by employees increased by 12% compared to the previous year. The report recommended that Risk Assessment and Health and Safety Training attendance remain key areas of focus for the coming year.

Risk Management Update

The committee received an update on the Strategic and Operational Risk Registers from Andrew Shilliam, Director of Corporate Services. The report indicated that no new strategic risks had been identified, but one risk score had changed. The report highlighted that a significant proportion of strategic risks are within the red quadrant, indicating they require immediate management and priority attention, reflecting the challenging context in which organisations are operating. Regarding the Operational Risk Register, 27 existing risks were amended, one new risk was added, and two were deleted as their risk scores were no longer considered high. A new risk identified was in the Finance division concerning Unit 4 Finance System Implementation. Two risks were deleted from the Education division: School collapses due to Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete failure and External pressures from migration and Government policies, as their risk scores had reduced.

Counter Fraud Mid-Year Update

Stuart Limb, Corporate Investigation Manager from Veritau, presented the mid-year update on counter-fraud activities for the period of 1st April 2025 to 30th September 2025. The report detailed the work of the Corporate Investigations Team, which included proactive data matching and reactive referrals. Significant financial savings were identified across various categories, including £616,000 from invalid Right to Buy applications and £189,980 from council tax exemptions for empty homes. The team also conducted background checks on school place applications, identifying 14 instances of false addresses being used for secondary school admissions, with notional savings of £274,232. The report noted that all counter-fraud activities from 1st October 2025 onwards would be conducted by Veritau. The committee was asked to note the contents of the report and make any comments to the Director of Finance.

Anti-Fraud, Bribery and Corruption Policy

Daniel Clubb, Assistant Director Corporate Fraud at Veritau, presented an updated Anti-Fraud, Bribery and Corruption Policy for approval. The updated policy reflects the transfer of the council's counter-fraud function to Veritau Public Sector Ltd. Minor amendments were made to improve readability and to reference Veritau's Counter Fraud Team and their contact details. The policy reiterates the council's zero tolerance towards fraud, bribery, and corruption and outlines the responsibilities of staff and management in preventing, detecting, and investigating such activities. The committee was recommended to approve the updated policy.

Anti-Money Laundering Policy

Daniel Clubb also presented an updated Anti-Money Laundering Policy for approval. This policy is reviewed every three years, and the recent review by Veritau has led to several updates. These include clarifying money laundering offences, removing the cash transaction limit, reflecting updated penalties for criminal offences, and updating references to the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. The policy aims to bolster the council's efforts to prevent its services from being used for money laundering purposes. The committee was recommended to approve the updated policy.