The Audit and Risk Committee of Lewisham Council met on Thursday 11 December 2025. The meeting focused on the key risks within the Housing Directorate, the progress of the external audit for the 2024/25 financial year, and the ongoing internal audit plan. The committee noted the reports presented and approved recommendations related to these areas.

Risk Management in Housing

The committee received a comprehensive report detailing the key risks and mitigation strategies within the Housing Directorate. Gillian Douglas, Executive Director of Housing, presented an overview of the directorate's risk register, highlighting three significant risks that are also on the corporate risk register: failure to achieve full regulatory compliance for council housing stock, the inability to effectively improve housing stock to achieve zero per cent non-decency, and the potential failure of the housing management software implementation.

The report detailed progress made in addressing concerns raised by the Regulator of Social Housing, including reductions in works in progress for repairs, a halving of overdue fire remedial actions, and a decrease in non-decent homes from 26% to 17.8%. However, challenges remain, particularly in resolving fire remedial actions related to flat entrance doors and achieving 100% stock condition survey coverage. The report also highlighted risks associated with temporary accommodation overspends, leaseholder challenges to major works charges, and the failure to submit building control notifications prior to major works.

Root cause challenges identified included data quality and reliability issues stemming from dated stock condition surveys and a lack of an asset management strategy. A lack of leadership and resident-centred focus in some areas, IT system integration issues, weak contract management, high call waiting times, and fire safety action delays were also noted. The Housing Transformation Programme, initiated in November 2023, is addressing these root causes through various changes, including a new stock condition survey, improved complaint handling, the implementation of the TotalMobile system for repairs, strengthened contract management, and reduced call waiting times.

Councillor Ayesha Lahai-Taylor declared an interest as a Lewisham council tenant at the start of this item. The committee noted the report.

External Audit Update

Katharine Nidd, Director of Finance, and Terence Madgett, Chief Accountant, presented an update on the external audit of the 2024/25 Statement of Accounts. KPMG, the external auditors, were represented by Fleur Nieboer. The draft Statement of Accounts was published on 17 June 2025, with no queries or objections raised during the public inspection period. The statutory backstop date for the audit is 27 February 2026. The updated draft Statement of Accounts and Pension Fund Accounts, including group accounts, were agreed by Council on 26 November 2025. KPMG expected to sign off the conclusion of the audit for the 2024/25 Statement of Accounts during the week ending 5 December 2025. The report included updated Audit Findings Reports (ISA260 reports) with six new recommendations for the Council, which have been accepted by management. The committee noted the report.

Internal Audit Progress Report

Richard Benjamin, Head of Assurance, presented the Internal Audit Progress Report, summarising findings and progress up to 30 November 2025 in delivering the 2025/26 internal audit plan. One audit engagement, Client Contributions for Care Provision, was completed in November 2025, receiving a substantial assurance rating with one routine recommendation. The report detailed progress against the audit plan, noting that 8 engagements were complete, 2 were at draft report stage, 7 were in fieldwork, and 7 were in planning. Five audits were to be delivered by an outsourced provider, expected to be in place by January 2026. The report also provided an assessment of compliance against the Global Internal Audit Standards, identifying 30 actions to strengthen compliance, with 26 being enhancements and four relating to areas of non-compliance or partial compliance. The committee noted the report.

Minutes of the Previous Meeting

The committee confirmed and signed the minutes of the Audit and Risk Committee meeting held on 11 November 2025.

Declarations of Interest

Councillor Ayesha Lahai-Taylor declared an interest as a Lewisham council tenant at the start of Item 4: Risk Management in Housing.