The Audit and Governance Committee of Lewes District Council met to discuss a range of topics, including an update on external audits, treasury management, and internal audit and counter fraud activities. The committee was also scheduled to review the strategic risk register and consider updates to several internal audit documents.

External Audit Update

The committee was scheduled to receive an update on the progress of the external audit of the draft financial statements for 2024/25. The report pack included an action plan addressing recommendations from previous annual auditor reports by Deloitte and Grant Thornton.

The action plan contained 24 recommendations, categorised by theme:

• Value for Money
• Internal Control
• Governance
• Improving economy, efficiency and effectiveness
• Financial sustainability

According to the report pack, as of the meeting date:

• 19 recommendations were complete
• 4 were in progress
• 1 was paused

Appendix 2 LDC External Audit Action Plan Status of Outstanding Recommendations provided further details on the recommendations that were 'in place' or 'paused', and the actions required to mark them as 'complete'.

The report pack noted key dates for future audits, with draft and final audited financial statements due as follows:

Treasury Management

The committee was scheduled to discuss treasury management activities for the first quarter of 2025/26. The report pack included an economic update from MUFG, the council's treasury management advisors, covering GDP, growth, employment, inflation and borrowing rates.

According to the Treasury Management 202526 Quarter 1 report:

The Council will aim to achieve the optimum return (yield) on its investments commensurate with proper levels of security and liquidity, aligned with the Council's risk appetite.

The report pack stated that the council manages all investments internally and does not use external fund managers. It also noted that officers are exploring opportunities for premature repayment of long-dated PWLB borrowing, and are monitoring ESG investment opportunities.

Appendix 2 Short Term Borrowing 30625 detailed the short-term borrowing held by the council as of 30 June 2025, including loans from Gwent Police, City & County of Swansea, Middlesborough Teeside Pension Fund, and Kingston upon Hull City Council.

Internal Audit and Counter Fraud

The committee was scheduled to receive a report on the activities of Internal Audit and Counter Fraud for the first quarter of the financial year 2025-2026. According to the Internal Audit and Counter Fraud report, during this period, ten follow up reports and seven final reports had been issued, with a further four reports in draft awaiting responses.

The report pack highlighted two specific audits:

• Payroll: Honoraria and Acting-Up Payments - the assurance level was reduced to Partial due to a number of honoraria payments not being awarded in line with the Honorarium Policy.
• Arts and Artefacts - this review was given Minimal assurance due to a lack of overall oversight and responsibility for arts and artefacts, and one collection on loan outside the council not being insured.

Appendix 3 i Recommendations outstanding from operational audit review after follow-ups listed all outstanding recommendations from operational audit reviews, including the most recent follow up information and responses from managers.

The report pack also detailed the work of the Counter Fraud team, including investigations into housing tenancy fraud, Right to Buy applications, and Council Tax Reduction. Appendix 4 Counter Fraud savings provided a breakdown of the savings made by the team in 2025/26.

The committee was also scheduled to consider and approve the Internal Audit Charter, Code of Ethics for Internal Auditors, Quality Assurance and Improvement Programme for Internal Audit, and the Internal Audit Strategy 2025-2028.

Strategic Risk Register Quarterly Review

The committee was scheduled to review the Strategic Risk Register, a high-level document that records the key risks facing the council. According to the Strategic Risk Register Quarterly Review, the register is overseen by the Corporate Management Team, who review it on a quarterly basis.

The report pack stated that the Corporate Management Team considered the Strategic Risk Register on 6 August 2025 and determined that no changes to wording or scoring were required. Appendix 1 Strategic Risk Register contained the updated register.