Skip to main content

Agenda item

Information Governance Update & Senior Information Risk Owner (SIRO) Annual Highlight Report 2024/25

Purpose:

To provide the Committee with its first Information Governance & SIRO report, summarising the Council’s key actions and progress in reducing information risk and strengthening data and information management controls during the 2024/25 financial year.

 

Minutes:

The Chair introduced the External Auditor from Bishop Fleming. The External Auditor introduced the report on the 2024/25 financial statements, noting that the previous report brought to the Committee was the Auditor’s Annual Report, which focused on value for money, while this highlights the Auditor’s findings. The Auditor noted that an audit regarding leases was still ongoing and would be subject to final review, but the audit was otherwise nearly complete. One area – readiness for audit - was considered ‘Amber’ on the audit report, due to delays in responding to requests and external factors affecting the Finance team. The Auditor noted that this was also impacted by resourcing issues on behalf of the auditor themselves as well as the budget/audit timing. The audit opinion previously provided to the Committee would be unchanged, similarly reflecting the weakness in procurement arrangements.

The Auditor explained that this report indicated a positive outcome, with no significant issues with financial statements and only two disclosure amendments identified, and commended the Council’s finance officers. As provided to Committee members before the meeting in a Letter of Representation, some items had not been adjusted due to them being of less significant material concern, and the auditor requested that Committee members review the rationale of this decision. The Auditor noted that the audit certificate was not able to be issued immediately due to changes to auditing standards and delays related to Whole of Government Accounts work, and that this meant the audit remained open, but this was a formality.

The Auditor noted that additional fees arising from work to address the Council’s weaknesses in procurement and the implementation of IFRS 16 (Leases) had been submitted to the PSAA for approval; this additional cost needed to be approved as auditing fees were set nationally by the PSAA, not by Bishop Fleming, but the £7,475 figure had been calculated using the appropriate rates for scrutiny by the PSAA.

The Committee queried, regarding the unadjusted items mentioned, at what point the auditors would reconsider the material relevancy of an item. The Auditor advised that it would be for the Council to decide what items they felt were of material concern, based on whether any changes would alter the reader’s understanding of the financial statements as a whole – but that the Auditors used a ‘working materiality’ threshold of approximately 2% of gross revenue expenditure.

The Chair noted the previously discussed delays in responding to requests and voiced concern that the Council’s separation from Publica may have contributed to difficulty in resolving these issues. The Deputy CEO responded that many of the delays listed related to data held within the Property and Assets Team, and often involved time-consuming requests such as verifying property valuations and supporting plans to ensure the accuracy of records. The officer conceded that despite their effectiveness the small size of the Finance team, who reviewed all audit requests, may have contributed to delays – but that it may not be appropriate to dedicate additional resources to address this due to the intermittent nature of audit requirements. The issues in question were reflected in other local authorities’ audit processes due to the nature of long-term property records, but the officer confirmed that the result of this audit experience would be analysed to improve responsiveness in future audit processes.

The Committee also identified that on p.139 a word was missing; the officer confirmed this was ‘influence’ and subsequent copies of the report would be corrected. The Chair queried if the Auditor was satisfied with the narrative report, who confirmed that they had reviewed it and ensured it met CIPFA requirements as well as appropriately represented what their experience of the Council’s governance situation was and were satisfied.

The Committee questioned what continued relevance the listed COVID-related expenses had. The Deputy CEO clarified that they were listed in the report for completeness, but the included figures are nil as the costs are no longer applied to local government entities. Also identified was a small discrepancy between the stated total scale fee compared to the parts totalled up, and it was explained that this is likely due to timing differences between the two external audit firms – Bishop Fleming and KPMG – when agreeing and paying fees: some outstanding fees relating to the 2023/24 audit were agreed and paid during 2024/25, but the figures as listed only related to the 2024/25 audit.

Before moving to the next agenda item, the Chair noted that the Committee had not confirmed their delegation of authority to the Deputy CEO to approve the Council’s statement of accounts subject to the completion of the previously discussed audit work, and requested the Committee vote – the Committee members voted unanimously to delegate the relevant authority to the Deputy CEO.

There were no further questions, and the Chair noted that they were satisfied with the report and comfortable signing the Letter of Representation. The Committee approved the Letter of Representation and authorised the Chair to sign the document on behalf of the Audit and Governance Committee.

Resolved that the Committee:

  1. Noted the Audit Completion Report (Annex A) and revised 2024/25 Statement of Accounts (Annex B). 
  2. Delegated authority to the Deputy Chief Executive and S151 Officer, in consultation with the Chair of the Audit and Governance Committee, to approve the 2024/25 Statement of Accounts subject to completion of outstanding audit work. 
  3. Recommended that the Chair of the audit and Governance Committee and Deputy Chief Executive and S 151 Officer sign the Letter of Representation (Annex C)

 

Supporting documents:

 

Related Pages