The Audit Committee of Tendring District Council met on 25 September 2025, to discuss internal and external audit reports, review outstanding issues, and consider the council's housing function. The committee approved the Internal Audit Charter for 2025/26 and noted the External Auditor's Interim Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2025. They also requested a facilitated session to review risk management.

Here's a breakdown of the key topics discussed:

External Auditor's Interim Annual Report

The Audit Committee reviewed the External Auditor's Interim Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2025. The report was presented by Sarah McKean, External Auditor (Director - KPMG) and Jodie Preston, External Auditor (Manager - KPMG). The report highlighted that there were no significant risks associated with the council's value for money arrangements across financial sustainability, governance, and improving economy, efficiency and effectiveness.

The External Auditor had made a recommendation within their report, which also included a management response. The report noted that there would be a number of practical opportunities over the next couple of years to address the point raised as part of the planning and implementation phases associated with Local Government Reorganisation, which would include activities such as contracts, procurement and performance.

The committee agreed to the management response to the recommendation and approved the publication of the report.

The External Auditor also provided an update on rebuilding assurance relating to the recovery from the national external audit backlog.

Internal Audit Report

The Audit Committee received a report from Craig Clawson, Internal Audit Manager, on the Internal Audit function for the period June 2025 to August 2025. The report included an update on the Internal Audit Charter and the Quality Assurance Improvement Programme (QAIP).

Four audits had been completed since the last Audit Committee meeting in June 2025. Three of the audits had received a satisfactory level of overall assurance of 'Adequate Assurance' or 'Substantial Assurance'. The Housing Repairs and Maintenance audit had received an overall opinion of 'Improvement Required'.

Housing Repairs and Maintenance Audit

The Housing Repairs and Maintenance audit revealed that several contractors with annual spending exceeding £50,000 were engaged without valid contracts. The Internal Audit Manager explained that:

there had been a number of contractors with annual spend over £50k within the Housing Repairs and Maintenance function being used where the original contract had now expired or where no contract had ever been in place. The majority of work undertaken had been made up of smaller jobs of less than £5k each with a cumulative value of more than £50k. However, if considered the same type of work over several different properties, then a tender process would have been required for each area under the Council's procurement procedure rules.

The absence of formal contracts raised concerns regarding potential overspending, lack of transparency, and governance issues. An action plan was created to review all contracts within the department, including their status and time remaining. Where significant spend had been identified with contractors without any form of contract in place, all works with them had been ceased in the short term until appropriate action could be taken.

Internal Audit Charter

The committee reviewed and approved the Internal Audit Charter for the 2025/26 financial year. The charter defines the purpose, authority, and responsibility of the Internal Audit function within the council.

Table of Outstanding Issues

The committee reviewed a table of outstanding issues, which included updates on general items, the Annual Governance Statement Action Plan, and external audit recommendations.

Local Audit Reform

The committee received an update on local audit reforms announced by the government, including measures to simplify financial reporting, increase audit capacity, provide funding support, establish a new Local Audit Office, and enhance transparency and accountability.

East of England Local Government Association (EELGA) Housing Review

The committee received a progress report on the council's housing service, following changes in the social housing regulatory landscape. The report highlighted work undertaken to improve the management of the council's housing stock and achieve compliance with consumer standards set by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH).

The four consumer standards are:

• The Safety and Quality Standard
• The Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard
• The Neighbourhood and Community Standard
• The Tenancy Standard

The Council's Outturn Performance Report against the TSMs indicated a general improvement in performance and tenant satisfaction. Satisfaction with repairs had decreased, but the proportion of non-emergency and emergency repairs completed within the Council's target timescale had increased. The number of complaints responded to within the Housing Ombudsman's Compliant Handling Code timescales had improved significantly.

The report also provided updates on strategy, staff culture, data management, strategic partnership working, housing budgets, complaints, tenant engagement, housing management, repairs and maintenance, and housing solutions and homelessness.

Review of Corporate Risk Management Framework

The committee considered a proposed approach to review the Corporate Risk Management Framework/Register. It was agreed to organise a working session with committee members, including a training session, with outcomes to be formally considered at the February 2026 meeting.

Other Business

The committee received updates on the Regulatory Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) and whistleblowing activity. There had been no RIPA activity in the last quarter. The Authority had received two notifications of Whistleblowing, which had currently been in the informal/investigatory stage.