Agenda

To receive any apologies for absence from Councillors.

To receive information on any changes in the membership of the Committee.

Note – When a member of a Committee is unable to attend a meeting of a Committee or Sub-Committee, the relevant Political Group Leader (or their nominated representative) may, by notice to the Monitoring Officer (or their nominated representative) prior to the meeting, appoint a substitute member from within the same Political Group. The contact details on the front of this agenda should be used for notifications.

Councillors are requested to declare any interests on items included in this agenda. Please refer to the workflow on the preceding page for guidance.

Declarations received will be reported at the meeting.

To confirm and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 24 July 2025.

To consider any outstanding actions from previous meetings.

To receive any public questions, statements or petitions submitted in accordance with the Constitution. Further information on the requirements for submitting these is available to view at the following link:-

https://democracy.bcpcouncil.gov.uk/ieListMeetings.aspx?CommitteeID=151&Info=1&bcr=1

The deadline for the submission of public questions is midday on Friday 10 October 2025 [midday 3 clear working days before the meeting].

The deadline for the submission of a statement is midday on Wednesday 15 October 2025 [midday the working day before the meeting].

The deadline for the submission of a petition is Thursday 2 October 2025 [10 working days before the meeting].

Grant Thornton, as the Council’s appointed External Auditors, have produced a report (Appendix A) which provides an update to Audit & Governance Committee on their progress to date in delivering their responsibilities.

The report includes an update on their 2024/25 audit work. Key points of note are:

·     Financial Statements Audit 2024/25 – Grant Thornton aims to present their Audit Findings Report for 2024/25 to the November meeting of the Audit & Governance Committee.

·     Value for Money – Grant Thornton plan to report their Value for Money arrangements findings in their interim Auditor’s Annual Report at the November Audit & Governance Committee.

The report also includes a summary of emerging national issues and developments that may be relevant to the Council.

The report sets out the quarter two position for 2025/26 which forecasts an underspend of £0.3m due to the Council’s ability to borrow in the local authority market at lower than budgeted interest rates.

BCP Council’s Head of Procurement and Contract Management has produced a presentation (Appendix A) which provides an update to Audit & Governance Committee on progress to date in delivering BCP’s Procurement and Contract Management Strategy 2024 - 2028.

The presentation includes an update on progress made during the first year of delivery of BCP’s Procurement and Contract Management Strategy. Key points of note are:

·     Commitments – 29 of the 57 commitments described in the BCP’s Procurement and Contract Management Strategy 2024 – 2028 are marked as completed

·     Performance against (9) measures – the presentation includes slides for 7 of the 9 measures described in Section 5.5 of BCP’s Procurement & Contract Management Strategy 2024-2028.

The presentation also includes a summary of further reforms to public procurement that are expected to become relevant to the Council.

This report updates councillors on the position of the Council’s Corporate Risk Register. The main updates are as follows:

·     The net score for CR02 – We may fail to achieve appropriate outcomes and quality of service for children and young people including potential inadequate safeguarding, has reduced from 12 to 8.

·     The risk CR09 – We may fail to maintain a safe and balanced budget for the delivery of services, and managing the MTFP, the target risk score has increased from 8 to 12.

·     Risk CR24 – We may fail to adequately address concerns around community safety, this risk has been extended to include risks around the Prevent Duty.

·     Risk CR28 – We may fail to adopt a Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole Local Plan. This is a new risk added for this quarter.

Material updates for this quarter are outlined in section 11.

This report details the progress made on the delivery of the Health and Safety governance arrangements for BCP Council and highlights:

·        The implementation of the Governance Framework continues to be embedded and is working effectively.

·        The framework includes the Health and Safety and Fire Safety Board and other meetings at the agreed frequency with generally good attendance.

Emergency planning and business continuity are statutory duties for BCP Council.  This annual monitoring report gives an overview of key activity in relation to these duties over the period concerned and provides assurance to Audit and Governance Committee with regard to these statutory duties.

This report details progress made on delivery of the 2025/26 Audit Plan for the 2^nd quarter (July to September 2025 inclusive). The report highlights that:

·       18 audit assignments have been finalised, including 16 ‘Reasonable’ and two ‘Partial’ audit opinions;

·       25 audit assignments arein progress, including 3 at draft report stage;

·       Progress against the audit plan is on track and will be materially delivered to support the Chief Internal Auditor’s annual audit opinion;

·       10 ‘High’ priority auditrecommendations have not been fully implemented by the original target date and 3 ‘Medium’ priority recommendations have (or will) not be implemented within 18 months of the original target date. Explanations from respective services have been provided and revised target dates have been agreed.

The Revenues Compliance Team continue to identify and recover Single Person Discount errors and have so far achieved an additional council tax yield of £306,425 since December 2024 (both 2023/24 and 2024/25 NFI matches).

This report details counter fraud work carried out by Internal Audit during 2024/25 to provide assurance on the Council’s response to combating fraud and corruption. 

Internal Audit have investigated all allegations of suspected fraud or financial irregularity in a proportionate manner. 

Two formal whistleblowing referrals were received and investigated during 2024/25.

The BCP Anti-Fraud & Corruption Policy has been revised to incorporate the new corporate offence introduced by the Economic Crime & Corporate Transparency Act 2023. Under this legislation, organisations may face prosecution if a fraud is committed by an employee, agent, or subsidiary with the intent to benefit the organisation, and the organisation has failed to implement reasonable fraud prevention.

NOTE: In relation to this item of business, the Committee is asked to consider the following resolution in relation to any discussion on the exempt appendix A to the report:

“That under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 1, 2 and 7 in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Act and that the public interest in withholding the information outweighs such interest in disclosing the information.”

This report sets out the refreshed list of reports to be considered by the Audit & Governance Committee for the 2025/26 municipal year in order to enable it to fulfil its terms of reference.