The Audit and Governance Committee of Windsor and Maidenhead Council were scheduled to meet on 8 September 2025 to discuss internal audit progress, risk management, treasury management, and external audit reports. The committee, including Councillor Julian Tisi, Chair, and Councillor Gurch Singh, Vice-Chair, was also scheduled to review its work programme for the municipal year. Councillors were expected to declare any interests related to the agenda items, as outlined in the Declaring Interests at Meetings Oct 2022 guidance.

External Audit Annual Report

The committee was scheduled to consider the interim annual audit report from Grant Thornton. The report summarised all work undertaken by Grant Thornton for the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead during 2024/25 as the appointed external auditor. The report noted that local government has remained under significant pressure, with funding not meeting need, workforce and governance challenges, and financial sustainability concerns. The report stated that Grant Thornton's audit is risk-based and focused on providing a commentary assessment of the council's value for money arrangements. The report was scheduled to provide commentary on the council's arrangements for:

• financial sustainability
• governance
• improving economy, efficiency and effectiveness.

The report stated that since the 2023/24 audit, the council has made rapid progress to establish corporate grip and align the organisation behind its improvement and recovery. The report noted that the council took effective action to resolve historical accounting errors and clarify its financial position, using external support to present a credible case for Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) from the government. The report stated that the council's officer and political leadership has been open and transparent about the challenges it faces, and that stronger financial leadership has helped to increase the pace of improvement. The report was scheduled to identify six significant weaknesses, a reduction from the nine significant weaknesses reported in December 2024.

The report was scheduled to include key recommendations relating to:

• replenishing reserves
• strengthening the focus on savings
• reviewing the internal audit plan and resourcing
• ensuring historical financial accounting errors and weaknesses have been resolved
• assessing and monitoring the financial risks and anticipated outcomes from key development projects
• producing a contract management framework and guidance.

The report was also scheduled to include improvement recommendations relating to:

• developing a detailed workforce strategy
• improving reporting processes
• improving data quality
• improving responsiveness to the Local Government Ombudsman
• considering key partnership performance in formal Cabinet reports.

Internal Audit Progress

The committee was to note the RBWM Internal Audit Progress Report August 2025, presented by the South West Audit Partnership (SWAP). The report summarised progress against the approved plan and any updates in scope and coverage. It also provided details of any significant risks identified, along with progress on mitigating significant risks previously identified through audit activity.

The report stated that two remaining audits from the 2024/25 internal audit plan have now been finalised, both with limited assurance. It also noted reasonable progress on the 2025/26 audit plan, with one report finalised and several others in progress.

The report stated that SWAP continues to track agreed audit actions and work with management to ensure progress and implementation dates are up to date. It noted that the council has 36 priority 1 actions outstanding from previous years' limited assurance work.

The report was scheduled to identify new high organisational risks for the two remaining audits of the 2024/25 plan:

• temporary accommodation
• governance and oversight of Optalis ¹

The report also stated that high organisational risks relating to contract management, business continuity and health and safety of premises remain in place.

Risk Management

The committee was scheduled to consider the 2025 risk management strategy - accessible and web version report, presented by Steve Mapley, Insurance and Risk Manager. The report set out how adequate risk management is in place for RBWM as a fundamental element of its governance arrangements. It included the council's Approach to Management of Risk 1 April 2025 – 31 March 2026 , which describes the risk management techniques used by RBWM to identify and mitigate the threats to achieving the council's strategic aims as detailed in the Council Plan 2024-28. The report also included the status of the key strategic risks to the council.

The report stated that making good use of risk management processes supports strategy setting, operational performance, and effective service delivery to residents. It also noted that the purpose of risk analysis is to help all decision-makers get a better understanding of a realistic array of possibilities, what drives the associated uncertainty and hence where efforts can be best concentrated to manage this uncertainty.

The report stated that risks that carry the most damaging potential impacts as defined by the council's measurement scale are classified as key risks. It also noted that the inclusion of risks of any impact level does not mean there is an immediate problem, but signifies that officers are aware of potential risks and have devised strategies for the implementation of any relevant mitigation measures.

Treasury Management Outturn Report

The committee was scheduled to consider the 2024-25 Treasury Outturn Report, which sets out the outturn on Treasury Management activities for 2024/25. The report stated that the council has adopted the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy's Treasury Management in the Public Services: Code of Practice (the CIPFA Code), which requires treasury management semiannual and annual outturn reports.

The report noted that the council has borrowed and invested substantial sums of money and is therefore exposed to financial risks including the loss of invested funds and the revenue effect of changing interest rates. It also stated that the successful identification, monitoring and control of risk remains central to the council's treasury management strategy.

The report stated that the council received Exceptional Financial Support of £62m for 2024/25 and previous years, which allows the council to make up for the shortfall in funding through borrowing. However, it noted that this borrowing is notional rather than actual, and that actual borrowing is only taken out when cash flow requires and can be avoided if the council can instead rely on internal borrowing .

The report also noted that the council was in breach of the counterparty limit for investments in local authorities, and that total debt was above both the operational boundary and the authorised limit for 1 day on 31 March 2025.

Work Programme

The committee was expected to review its work programme. The Work Programme listed the following items for the meeting on 17th November 2025:

• Statement of Accounts 2024/25 – RBWM and Berkshire Pension Fund
• Internal Audit Progress Report Q2 2025/26
• Counter Fraud and Enforcement Unit
• Mid Year report Treasury Management
• Risk Management
• Work Programme

The Work Programme listed the following items for the meeting on 12th January 2026:

• Risk Management
• Work Programme

The Work Programme listed the following items for the meeting on 23rd March 2026:

• Counter Fraud and Enforcement Unit
• Work Programme