Agenda and draft minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

No declarations of interest were received at this point in proceedings.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the Audit Committee meeting held on 13 November 2023 be agreed and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

(To receive a report from Claire Goodenough, Head of Audit and Risk Management, which provides an overview of the risk profile of the Council. The Chief Executive, Executive Directors and Chief Fire Officer will be present to respond to any questions relating to key risks)

Consideration was given to a report from Mandy Knowlton-Rayner, Insurance and Risk Lead, which presented the Combined Risk Report for 2024.

Members of the Council’s Corporate Leadership Team were invited to present their directorate’s progress.

Debbie Barnes, Chief Executive, gave the following update:

·   Risks identified as more significant existed in areas largely outside of the Council’s control, such as inflationary pressures, market management national policy.

·   There had been an increase in demand for social care across the county as well as SEND support

·   Recruitment and retention were improving, with less reliance on agency staff. However, further work was needed to improve this issue in Childrens Services and Legal Services and other hard to recruit areas .

·   Cyber security was an ongoing risk, with further work to mitigate underway.

The Committee considered the update and the following comments were received:

·   Regarding social and health care, Lincolnshire was fortunate that the boundaries of the local authority matched those of the care system, which helped make joint working more efficient. The Care Quality Commission had also found the Council to be delivering a good service. However, winter pressures on the NHS and care system had presented a risk, as resources had to be diverted away from strategy and joint working towards service delivery.

·   Action was being taken to mitigate the impacts of inflation. However, the national living wage rise was higher than anticipated and social care markets continued to be significantly impacted, all of which contributed to increased risk. To manage market pressures, more in house service arrangements had been pursued and additional service business cases were being carefully evaluated.

·   The Council was investing in apprenticeships and maintained a focus on growing its own professionals, especially within Adult Care and Childrens.

·   Lessons had been learnt from recent flood events and the proposed devolution deal sought to establish a water management partnership across Greater Lincolnshire to help improve the Council’s response. Risks were continuously evaluated, and greater weight may be placed on environmental matters in future modelling.

·   The Council maintained a stable workforce and good leadership to help it continue to deliver through any significant political change.

Heather Sandy, Executive Director - Childrens Services, gave the following update:

·   Childrens Services had demonstrated substantial levels of assurance and compliance.

·   There was an increased demand for child social care and special educational needs placements, nationally.

·   School exclusions had risen; however, the service was working hard to minimise exclusions where possible.

·   The was a growing reliance on external market providers; however, targeted work was looking to reduce this and the associated risks, especially concerning temporary accommodation for children in care.

·   The Council’s SEND transformation programme was underway to help address many of the pressures outlined above.

The Committee considered the update and the following comments were received:

·   There were varying levels SEND facilitation across schools.

·   In terms of risk, there was a need to minimise exclusions in order to reduces pressures laced on the Council. Regular meetings took place between the Council and schools with high exclusion  ...  view the full minutes text for item 39.

(To receive a report from Claire Goodenough, Head of Audit and Risk Management, which provides the Committee with details of the audit work completed up to 1 January 2024, information on delivery progress and raise any matters of relevance)

Consideration was given to a report from Claire Goodenough, Head of Audit and Risk Management, which presented the Internal Audit progress update for 2023/24. The following matters were highlighted:

·   Progress had continued on a positive trajectory since the report was written, and it was anticipated that all audits would have concluded by March 2024, supporting 100% delivery of the plan

·   Focus and resource had increase for quality aspects of all areas including schools and district councils.

·   Resources were under pressure and staff had been deployed for maximum impact.

The Committee considered the report, and the following comments were received:

·   Staff vacancies had contributed to resource pressures.

·   Of the audits that had not yet commenced, preparation and field work was underway.

·   Inexperienced staff had been deployed to less complex audits in order to provide  the greatest impact to the right areas to inform of the risks in place, as more complex audits required more experienced staff to be sourced.

·   Deadlines and improved planning oversight and skill has been delivered  throughout the year to improve  issues identified previously. High-risk rated issues are assigned a period of 3 months for implementation and these are evidence through follow-up reviews to inform of progress.

RESOLVED

1. That the report and discussion be noted.

2. That the Committee note the progress made.

(To receive a report from Claire Goodenough, Head of Audit and Risk Management, which enables the Committee to review its final report to Council on the activities undertaken by the Committee in the calendar year 2023 and how it discharged its responsibilities)

Consideration was given to a report from Claire Goodenough, Head of Audit and Risk Management, which presented the final draft of the Audit Committee Annual Report, following amendments agreed at the November meeting.

The Committee considered the report and agreed the changes.

RESOLVED

That the Committee approve the Audit Annual Report 2023 for submission to Council.

(To receive a report from Claire Goodenough, Head of Audit and Risk Management, which invites the Committee to consider its work programme)

The Committee considered its work programme and noted that a report concerning constitutional review had been scheduled for the next meeting in March 2023.

RESOLVED

That the work programme be agreed.

In accordance with Section 100 (A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the following agenda item has not been circulated to the press and public on the grounds that it is considered to contain exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12 A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended. The press and public may be excluded from the meeting for the consideration of this item of business.

RESOLVED

That under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it is considered to contain exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended.

(To receive an exempt report from David Mathewman, Chief Information Officer (Interim), which provides an update to the Committee on the current position in relation to IT Infrastructure)

Consideration was given to an exempt report from David Matthewman, Chief Information Officer (Interim), on the Council’s IT infrastructure, as requested by the Committee for their deep dive review.

A number of questions were asked, and comments received.

RESOLVED

That the exempt report and discussion be noted.