Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Roche and Spring.

Members are requested at a meeting where a disclosable pecuniary interest or personal interest arises, which is not already included in their Register of Members' Interests, todeclare any interests that relate to an item on the agenda.

Where a Member discloses a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest, he/she must withdraw from the meeting room, including from the public gallery, during the whole consideration of any item of business in which he/she has an interest, except where he/she is permitted to remain as a result of a grant of a dispensation.

Where a Member discloses a personal interest he/she must seek advice from the Monitoring Officer or staff member representing the Monitoring Officer to determine whether the Member should withdraw from the meeting room, including from the public gallery, during the whole consideration of any item of business in which he/she has an interest or whether the Member can remain in the meeting or remain in the meeting and vote on the relevant decision.

No declarations of any disclosable pecuniary interests or personal interests were received.

Minutes of the meetings held on 11 December 2024 and 12 February 2025

RESOLVED:

That the Minutes of the meeting held on 11 December 2024 be confirmed as a correct record.

Report of the Executive Director of Corporate Services and Commercial

The Committee considered the report of the Executive Director - Corporate Services and Commercial which sought to obtain approval for the revised security policy documentation relating to the Authority’s ICT estate. The Policy Document was[DC1]  a yearly review of the ICT Acceptable Usage Policy that was reviewed and approved by the Audit and Governance Committee on 20 March 2024.

The Committee queried the use of authenticator applications when accessing Sefton Council systems.

RESOLVED: That

Report of Sefton Council’s External Auditors – Grant Thornton.

The Committee considered the report of the Sefton Council’s External Auditors – Grant Thornton. The report covered:

·       Audit progress report

·       Progress at March 2024

·       Audit deliverables

·       Sector updates

·       Audit Committee Resources

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

Report of the Executive Director of Corporate Services and Commercial

The Committee considered the report of the Executive Director - Corporate Services and Commercial. The Procurement Act 2023 (PA23) was launched on 24 February 2025 after receiving Royal Assent in October 2023. The Act had introduced significant changes in the way in which the Public Sector could do business with suppliers. These changes had been incorporated into Sefton Council’s revised Contract Procedure Rules (CPRs) which were attached as Appendix A. The revisions had been compiled by the Council’s Legal and Procurement Teams, with the support of the External Legal Advisor, DLA Piper.

The Committee asked questions/commented on the following:

·       Any potential impact on schools/academies within the Borough

·       Any potential impact on local businesses / suppliers

RESOLVED: That

Report of the Executive Director of Corporate Services and Commercial

The Committee considered the report of the Executive Director - Corporate Services and Commercial which presented the proposed Internal Audit Charter/Mandate, Audit Strategy, and the Internal Audit Plan 2025/26 for approval.

There had been changes in the regulatory standards which had been developed by the Institute of Internal Auditors and the UK regulatory setter for the Public Sector, the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy. These were due to come into force from 1 April 2025 and the proposed Audit Charter and Audit Strategy complied with the requirements.

The Committee asked questions/commented on the following:

·       Staff recruitment and retainment

·       The benefits of Artificial Intelligence

·       Internal Audit remote work

·       Succession planning and graduate trainee programmes

RESOLVED: That

Report of the Executive Director of Corporate Services and Commercial

The Committee considered the report of the Executive Director - Corporate Resources and Commercial which provided an update on the Council’s activities on Counter Fraud for 2023/24 and actions taken place following the start of the 2024/25 financial year.

The Committee asked questions/commented on the following:

·       The amount of data included in the report

·       Staff restructures

·       The amount of attempted fraud that happened in 2023/24

·       Estimates of financial loss due to fraud

RESOLVED: That

Report of the Executive Director of Corporate Services and Commercial

The Committee considered the report of the Executive Director - Corporate Services and Commercial which set out Internal Audit's and the Risk and Resilience Team’s assessment of the sources of assurance for the Audit and Governance Committee on the management of the Council's strategic risks. The report described the approach to the work and the outcomes, including recommendations for improvement.

The Committee asked questions/commented on the following:

·       Corporate Risk legislation – statutory deadlines

·       Freedom of information requests

·       Residual risk score

·       Risk assessments

RESOLVED: That

Report of the Executive Director of Corporate Services and Commercial

The Committee considered the report of the Executive Director - Corporate Services and Commercial which detailed the performance and key activities of the Risk and Audit Service for the period 1 November 2024 to 31 January 2025.

The report also discussed the resourcing position across the team, in particular the Internal Audit Team, the response and the actions planned for the remainder of the financial year.

The Committee asked questions/commented on the Bootle and Southport Golf courses.

RESOLVED: That

Report of the Executive Director of Corporate Services and Commercial

The Committee considered the report of the Executive Director - Corporate Resources and Commercial which provided an update on the Corporate Risk Register, as detailed in Appendix A to the report.

The report indicated that the ownership of the content of the Corporate Risk Register rested with the Council’s Strategic Leadership Board.

Since the meeting of the Committee held on 11 December 2024, no new risks had been added to the Corporate Risk Register in the current quarter. One risk had been removed from the Corporate Risk Register following re-scoring by the Adult Social Care Department to be de-escalated to the Service Risk Register, as follows:

·       Market Failure of Social Care Provision across Adults and Children’s

The external review of risk management draft report had highlighted a number of recommendations to improve risk management.

There were other on-going initiatives to embed risk management within the Council, including assurance mapping and horizon scanning.

Substantial work had been undertaken to attempt to embed risk management across the Council over the past six years through designing a risk framework, providing training, and facilitating the Service and Operational Risk Registers using resources across the Risk and Audit Team to facilitate improvements. Recent work had included drafting the Sefton Assurance Framework and undertaking Assurance Mapping to inform the Annual Chief Internal Auditor’s Opinion and the Annual Internal Audit Plan.

There was clear evidence of engagement by the leadership team in terms of regularly reviewing the CRR. To demonstrate that risk management was embedded at this level, engagement should be universal and consistent over time as highlighted in the update. Improvements required include the consistent regular updating of SRRs, considering the outcome of the ORR’s when looking at SRR and sharing the SRR with the relevant Cabinet Member and the Risk team, when requested.

ORRs remained an area to be improved across the Council and the Risk and Audit service were continuing to work with teams to facilitate this across the organisation.

The implementation of the Council’s risk appetite would help to further embed risk management within the Council and should improve corporate decision making. The risk management training would assist staff and Members to understand the principles of risk management in a consistent manner.

There was further work planned to improve risk management within the organisation through the roll-out of Key Risk Indicators.

The initial findings from the external review of the Council’s risk management review had highlighted areas to improve which the team would set out in an action plan for the next meeting to consider.

RESOLVED:

That the updated Corporate Risk Register, the nature of the major risks facing the Council and the planned actions in place to mitigate these risks, be noted.

Report of the Executive Director of Corporate Services and Commercial

The Committee considered the report of the Executive Director - Corporate Services and Commercial which provided Members with an update on the Council’s Anti-Money Laundering Policy.

RESOLVED:

It be noted that no contraventions of the Anti-Money Laundering policy have occurred since the policy was approved on 16 December 2020 and that no updates to the Council’s Anti-Money Laundering Policy are required.

Report of the Executive Director of Corporate Services and Commercial

The Committee considered the report of the Executive Director - Corporate Services and Commercial which provided Members with a review of the Treasury Management activities undertaken to 31 January 2025. This document was the third report of the ongoing quarterly monitoring provided to the Audit and Governance Committee whose role it was to carry out scrutiny of treasury management policies and practices.

The Committee asked questions/commented on the High Needs Deficit and the impact of that on cash balances and borrowing.

RESOLVED:

That the Treasury Management update to 31 January 2025, the effects of decisions taken in pursuit of the Treasury Management Strategy and the implications of changes resulting from regulatory, economic and market factors affecting the Council’s treasury management activities, be noted.

Report of the Executive Director of Corporate Services and Commercial

The Committee considered the report of the Executive Director - Corporate Services and Commercial which provided:

·       An update on the programme of briefings held for Audit and Governance Committee Members and Substitutes in 2024/25, as detailed in Appendix 1 to the report.

·       Proposals for the 2025/26 programme of briefing sessions, based on the recommended Core Areas of Knowledge for Audit and Governance Committee Members outlined by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accounting (CIPFA), as set out in Appendix 2 to the report.

·       An update on the Treasury Management course which in accordance with the CIPFA Treasury Management code, would be provided annually with a required attendance by Members and Substitute Members of Audit and Governance Committee

·       A proposal for the Treasury Management course to continue to be offered to all Councillors in accordance with the CIPFA Treasury Management Code and included in the Member Development Handbook, as part of the Council’s Member Development Programme 2025-2026

RESOLVED: That

Report of the Executive Director of Corporate Services and Commercial

The Committee considered the report of the Executive Director – Corporate Resources and Commercial which set out the proposed Work Programme for the Audit and Governance Committee for the 2025-2026 Municipal Year.

The Audit and Governance Committee Work Programme had been developed to help ensure that all of the responsibilities of the Committee set out in the Audit and Governance Committee’s Terms of Reference were discharged during the Municipal Year. The report set out the proposed Work Programme for the Audit and Governance Committee for the 2025-2026 Municipal Year.

RESOLVED:

That the Audit and Governance Committee Work Programme for 2025-2026, as set out in Appendix 2 to the report, be approved.

Report of the Executive Director of Corporate Services and Commercial

The Committee considered the report of the Executive Director - Corporate Resources and Customer Services which provided an update on reports listed for submission at the meeting of the Audit and Governance Committee held on 11 December 2024 and reasons for non-submission of some of the reports listed.

The report also provided an update on reports listed for submission that had been deferred. The reports considered at the meeting on 11 December 2024 were listed in the Work Programme for the 2024-2025 Municipal Year, which had been approved by Audit and Governance Committee on 20 March 2024.

The Audit and Governance Work Programme had been developed to help ensure that all of the responsibilities of the Committee set out in the Audit and Governance Committee’s Terms of Reference were discharged during the Municipal Year.

RESOLVED:

That the Work Programme update on reports listed for submission to the meeting held on 11 December 2024 be noted.