The Governance and Audit Committee of South Holland District Council met on 11 September 2025 to discuss risk management, treasury performance, and audit reports. The committee was scheduled to review the annual report, consider the work programme, and discuss internal audit activity. They were also set to review the Internal Audit Charter.

Q1 Risk Report 2025/26

The committee was scheduled to receive an update on risk management as of the end of June 2025. The report included summaries of strategic risks, partnership risks, fraud risks and Housing Revenue Account (HRA) risks. The report detailed the council's use of the '4Ts of risk control':

Terminate rarely, we may be able to stop doing the activity altogether and thereby remove the risk altogether Tolerate accept the risk and live with it because it is within our risk appetite and the cost of mitigating action would outweigh the benefits Transfer move all or part of the risk to a third party or through insurance; however, sometimes accountability remains, particularly with a Council, so caution is advised Treat take action to control the likelihood and/or impact and set a target to move the risk to within the risk appetite once the action has been implemented

The strategic risk register included risks such as failure to meet statutory requirements, external communication, retention of staff, service delivery, technology infrastructure failure, internal communications, cyber incidents, general fund assets, economic growth, introduction of extended producer responsibility, implementation of the Environment Act 2021¹, waste collection round pressures, the local plan being considered out of date, budget, capacity, third party service delivery, net zero target, civil contingency risks, information, capital programme, health, local government reform in Greater Lincolnshire, and health and safety. The partnership risk register included risks to the South and East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership (SELCP) ² vision, trust, sovereignty, culture, local government reform, funding, staffing and PSPS. The fraud risk register included risks relating to asset equipment, assets, land and property, procurement contracts, procurement contract payments, council tax credit refund and income fraud, council tax fraud, council tax support scheme, national non-domestic rate fraud, and housing benefit fraud.

The HRA risk register included risks relating to business continuity, health and safety, risk oversight, management of health and safety, management of health and safety of direct labour organisation, data, listening to tenants, tenant engagement resource, qualification requirements, HRA business plan, failure to meet regulatory consumer standards, failure to self-refer to the regulator, and the impact of Awaab's law³.

Q1 Treasury Report 2025/26

The committee was scheduled to receive an update on treasury management performance and activity for the first quarter of the 2025/26 financial year. The report included an economic update, interest rate forecasts, a review of the Treasury Management Strategy Statement and Annual Investment Strategy, capital expenditure details, investment portfolio and borrowing strategy reviews, and compliance with treasury and prudential limits. The report noted that the investments achieved an average rate of 4.983%, and interest on Welland Homes loans achieved an average rate of 4.286%.

Internal Audit Progress Report - August 2025

The committee was scheduled to receive a summary of internal audit activity as of August 2025. The report included a performance dashboard, analysis of live audit reviews, and information on planning and resourcing. The report detailed internal audits in progress relating to capital budget monitoring, administration of grants, section 106 agreements, and PSPS contract management. The report also summarised the findings of completed internal audit reports relating to identification and monitoring of savings, risk register review, ICT cyber security, and values.

Internal Audit Charter

The committee was scheduled to consider and approve the revised Internal Audit Charter. The charter sets out the role, responsibilities, access, and support for the internal audit service, and was amended to reflect the changes from 2024 Global Internal Audit Standards.

Governance and Audit Annual Report 2024/25

The committee was scheduled to note the Governance and Audit Annual Report 2024/2025 prior to its presentation at council. The report provided an overview of the committee's role and function, membership, meeting dates, summary of work undertaken, internal audit, external audit, governance, treasury and accounts, risk management, and training and development. Councillor Allan Beal, Chairman of the Governance and Audit Committee introduced the report.

Governance and Audit Committee Work Programme

The committee was scheduled to review its work programme, which sets out the meeting dates for the 2025/26 municipal year and the issues to be considered at each meeting. The work programme also included a schedule of training undertaken by committee members since 2023 and suggested future topics for training. Councillor Jim Astill, Portfolio Holder for Corporate and Environmental Services, and Councillor Paul Redgate, Portfolio Holder for Finance, were listed as relevant portfolio holders.