Agenda and draft minutes

To confirm the minutes of 28 July 2025.

The minutes of the meeting held 28 July 2025 were approved and signed, subject to the following amendment ARMC 6/25 it makes reference on a couple of instances to the ‘quality policy, however, that should state equality policy.

To receive the draft Auditor’s Annual Report on the 2024/25 external audit.

Members received a presentation from Debbie Hanson of Ernst Young (EY), the Councils’ external auditors.

Members asked the following questions:

·       Councillor Booth asked for clarification with regards to the timescales associated with the delays in the working papers being provided. Debbie Hanson explained that generally there is a three-day response time to audit queries which is agreed with the Finance Team and the delay would have been beyond that agreed timescale. She added that she does have detailed records which are held on the portal which is shared with the Council and that is where the requests are logged along with a due date and that is then monitored when information is received. Debbie Hanson stated that the audit results report, that will come forward to the committee in the new year once the audit has been concluded, will include some more information on that. She explained that some of the areas were outstanding longer than others and where she has highlighted the audit on leases it was decided that the work on that subject was not going to be competed because the working papers were not complete. Debbie Hanson stated that she can provide the committee with more statistics and data if they would find that to be helpful. Councillor Booth stated that in the past he has made criticism against Ernst Young about them failing to meet deadlines with regards to audits having not taken place, however, it now appears that the criticism lies with the Council because we have not provided the requested information. He made the point that he is aware that there are instances when certain data is requested it is not freely available and it has to be obtained from the management information suite in order to try and obtain the information and quite often that delay can be caused by just creating the queries in order to get the information. Councillor Booth questioned whether there is more that can be done to be proactive by giving more advanced guidance with regards to what is going to be required and he would anticipate that the information which is being requested is extra to what has been provided already. Debbie Hanson stated that an audit has not been undertaken for two years and there have also been changes within the Council’s Finance Team and officers were undertaking new roles and responsibilities which meant that a learning process was also being undertaken for both the Council’s Finance Team and members of the EY team. She expressed the view that this year was more about learning and getting to know each other and next year there should be a better understanding in advance of exactly what audit evidence is required for the individual areas as well as undertaking a split visit so that the information requests can be sent out earlier. Debbie Hanson explained that there have definitely been improvements this year and she expressed the opinion that it was always going to be a challenging year,  ...  view the full minutes text for item ARMC13/25

To review the activity for first six months of the year and to provide members with an update on matters pertinent to the Council’s Treasury Management Strategy.

Sian Warren presented the report.

Members asked the following questions:

·       Councillor Benney stated that the report states that the Council borrowed £5 million pounds last May and he asked for confirmation as to whether the Council will need to undertake further borrowing in May 2026 and if so, will that be higher than £5 million pounds. Sian Warren stated that the Council will be looking to undertake some short-term borrowing in February for cash flow purposes to get the Council to 1 April 2026, which is when several Government grants are received and then the loan will be repaid.

·       Councillor Booth referred to the loss of capital from the property fund, and added that he has raised is concerns on numerous occasions with regards to investing in property funds and it appears that he was correct to have those concerns.

·       Councillor Booth stated that it was £362,000 capital loss and he asked whether because of the investment returns did the Council reach anywhere near that figure or was it all completely lost? He added that normally with investments there is a period of 5 to 10 years to recover funds. Sian Warren explained that through interest it was possible to raise £260,000 over the period of time and ideally it would have been invested for 5 to 10 years but in this case that did not happen.

·       Councillor Booth asked whether the Council is likely to be in a similar situation with the other property fund which he has noted in the officer’s report. Sian Warren explained that following a recent meeting that she has attended it has been confirmed that a merger is going to take place and local authorities will be transferred across in this case whereas the other fund did not do that and they just wanted the pension funds.

·       Councillor Booth asked whether there are any other investments in place with similar portfolios where the Council could be at risk of having capital loss and has an assessment been undertaken. Sian Warren confirmed that the property fund that the Council still has is the only one of the investments that is held and all of the other investments are with the local bank and Central Government.

Members AGREED to note the report.

To approve the updated internal audit plan and resources for the year; to consider and note the activity and performance of the Internal Audit function, and to consider the implementation of audit actions.

Deborah Moss presented the report.

Members asked the following questions:

·       Councillor Benney stated that he notes from the report that there is a report concerning port management still to be completed, with over the past few months there have been several incidents concerning vessels, including collisions, two ships getting stuck on the sandbar and in the River Nene. He added that as the Council is the Statutory Harbour Authority, there are a very high number of incidents which are happening the port and made the point that it is listed in the Audit Plan as a high risk but, in his view, the port has the highest risk to the Council for anything that it does. Councillor Benney added that a great deal of the operation of the port side of the Harbour Authority the Council has no control over and once the Pilot steps onto a boat then that makes them responsible for that ship which costs millions of pounds. He made the point that when considering the number of incidents that have taken place over a comparatively short time, he would be interested to see what the report states and, in his opinion, the Statutory Harbour Authority is nothing but a drain on the Council but it is a legal obligation which the Council must fulfil. Councillor Benney added that there appears to be several incidents taking place when manoeuvring the ships in and out and it could be something that could potentially be a big risk to the Council. He asked whether that is something that will be reviewed as part of the audit plan? Deborah Moss stated that the reason it was added to the audit plan was at the suggestion of the Corporate Director as it was felt that there should be more compliance auditing undertaken in that area to get a general assurance of how things are operating due to the staff turnover, issues and incidents. She added that she can consider adjusting the terms of reference to incorporate health and safety, resourcing and training.

·       Councillor Benney stated that he is aware that there is a new Harbour Master in post and the Pilots who are responsible for the ships once they board them. He added that it is the biggest risk to a Council because it is not their business, but he feels that it is something that needs to be looked at to ensure processes are in place to make them as safe as possible.

·       Councillor Booth expressed the opinion that the harbour appears to be a very specialist area and he questioned whether the Audit Team have the skills to undertake an audit or whether it is an area where the Council should be looking for somebody with some external expertise to help in undertaking a review. He added that the compliance can be carried out with regards to the legislation but, in his view, it is more of the operational day to day review where an external specialist maybe required.  ...  view the full minutes text for item ARMC15/25

To provide an update to the Audit and Risk Management Committee on the Council’s Corporate Risk Register.

Members considered the report and made comments as follows:

·       Councillor Benney stated that LGR is listed on the plan and, in his opinion, the cost implication to the proposed changes have not been fully thought through and asked that, due to the amount of money which is going to have to be spent to dissolve the Council as well as the large amount of work which is going to have to be undertaken to prepare for LGR, whether the risk rating shown is sufficient. Deborah Moss stated that when LGR was added to the risk register she recalls that there was quite a deal of discussion whether or not it should be its own risk or whether it just automatically impacts on the other risks that are already present on the register but it was felt that due to its own importance that it needed its own entry. She added that every time that there is something that is discussed with links with LGR, they have been added as a sub risk under the LGR table.

·       Councillor Booth referred to page 79 which refers to the issue of no purchase order and no payment, and he questioned whether there are instances where the Council is asking for payment to suppliers without there being a purchase order. He added that if that is the case what is the impact especially if there are local tradespeople who will be effected? Sian Warren explained that the Council should be raising purchase orders for any required service and supply, but it has never been enforced. She added that with the Council moving the Agresso system to the cloud, it has been used as an opportunity to ensure that everybody is completing a purchase order. Sian Warren stated that with LGR, other local authorities have adopted that regime and it was felt that the Council should also be working in the same way going forward. Councillor Booth stated that it is likely to be a cultural issue where some departments have not raised purchase orders in the past and by changing that culture it should not really impact suppliers if the correct process is being followed. Sian Warren agreed.

·       Councillor Benney stated that every business and every organisation is open to fraud where there is money involved and fraud can be instances such as people claiming 25% single person discount for Council Tax when they are not entitled to it and even though reports are made to alert the Council that fraudulent claims are taking place there does not appear to be any follow up and that is quite serious fraud. He added that Anglia Revenues Partnership (ARP) deal with Council Tax and they need to be dealing with the instances of fraudulent claims, but it is having a financial impact on the Council, and he questioned whether there are steps that can be taken to address the instances of fraud which are taking place. Deborah Moss advised members that if there are any individual  ...  view the full minutes text for item ARMC16/25

For information purposes.

Members considered the Audit and Risk Management Committee Workplan.

The Chairman confirmed that the February meeting has been moved to Tuesday 17 February at 4pm and a further discussion will be held with regards to the date of the March meeting.

Councillor Christy asked whether the subject of cyber security will come to the next committee and whether it will need to be discussed in a confidential session.  Deborah Moss explained that it will form part of her progress report and will come to the February meeting, and she does not feel that it would need to be a confidential report.

Members AGREED to note the workplan.

There were no items of topical interest.