Agenda and minutes

There were no disclosable pecuniary interests.

To agree the minutes of the meeting held on 24^th November 2025

The minutes of the meeting on 24^th November 2025 were agreed and signed as a true record. There were no matters arising.

Report of the Director of Finance and Resources

(Note: The Chair of Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee, Councillor G Lloyd, and the Chair of Finance and Corporate Services Scrutiny Board (1), Councillor A Jobbar, have been invited to attend the meeting for this agenda item. Councillor A Jobbar is a Member of the Committee.)

The Audit and Procurement Committee considered a report of the Director of Finance and Resources (Section 151 Officer) that sought approval for the 2024-25 Statement of Accounts for publication on the Council’s behalf. Appendices to the report form the External Auditor, Grant Thornton, provided: the Coventry City Council’s Statement of Accounts 2024-25; the Audit Findings Report 2024-25 for Coventry City Council; and the Auditor's Report 204-25. These documents detailed the position in relation to 2024-25 and dealt with the necessary matters required in advance of the Government deadline for the completion of audit work. Officer from Grant Thornton attended the meeting to support this item of business.

In 2024, the Government passed legislation designed to address the backlog in the completion of local authority accounts. This legislation specified ‘backstop’ deadlines for the completion of audit work relating to particular financial years. The deadline for the Statement of Accounts 2024-25 was set as 27th February 2026. In the event of uncompleted audits, auditors would be required to issue either qualified opinions or disclaimers, as appropriate.

Grant Thornton had provided an Audit Findings Report for the work carried out on the audit of 2024-25 accounts since 1st July 2025. As part of this, and due largely to the tight timescale surrounding the backstop, they had drafted a partially disclaimed opinion for 2024-25 and proposed ‘management letters of representation’ for the Council to review.

At the time of publication of the report, the Auditor’s Report 2024-25 (Appendix 3 to the report) has not been received from Grant Thornton. In light of the backstop date for the publication of the 2024-25 audited accounts being 27th February 2026 and with the agreement of the Chair, Councillor Lakha, the Auditors Report 2024-25 was circulated and published separately and prior to the meeting in order to ensure that sufficient time was provided for the Committee to give full consideration to the document and the contents of the report.

Although a significant amount of audit work had been carried out on the 2024-25 accounts this had not been sufficient for the auditor to issue an opinion without disclaimer. As a result, Grant Thornton was intending to issue a disclaimed opinion, reflecting the fact that there had been insufficient time to gain full assurance.   Appendix 1 to the report detailed the work that had been carried out on the 2024-25 accounts and clarified which items remained incomplete.

There were no regulatory penalties for missing the accounting deadlines. However, failure to comply with the accounting deadlines would likely result in additional work for officers and the Council’s auditors, which would be reflected in additional audit costs.

Coventry City Council remained classified as a Public Interest Entity (PIE) in 2024/25 due to an historic issue of bonds which were freely tradable on the Stock Exchange. This classification required the Local Authority to meet a number of ethical standards specific to PIE organisations. One of these ethical standards related to a 70% cap on non-audit fees for PIEs for the average of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 47.

Report of the Director of Finance and Resources

The Audit and Procurement Committee considered a report of the Director of Finance and Resources (Section 151 Officer), that had also been considered by Cabinet at its meeting held on 16^th December 2025 (their Minute 45/24 referred). that advised of the forecast outturn position for revenue and capital expenditure and the Council’s treasury management activity as at the end of September 2025. The net revenue forecast position after management action was for spend in 2025-26 of £3.3m over budget. Whilst not a wholly comparable position, at the same point in 2024-25, there was also a projected overspend of £10.2m.

The Council continued to face budget pressures within Adults Social Care, Property Services and Development, City Services and Regeneration and Economic Development. These financial pressures were being caused by a combination of continued service demand, complexity and market conditions in social care, legacy inflation impacts, and income shortfalls due largely to the economic climate. 

The Council’s capital spending was projected to be £184m and included major schemes progressing across the city. The size of the programme and the nature of the projects within it continued to be fundamental to the Council’s role within the city. Although prevailing inflation rates looked to be stabilising, legacy inflationary pressures continued to affect capital projects. The position would continue to be monitored to ensure projects were delivered within available resources.

RESOLVED that the Audit and Procurement Committee, having considered the proposals in the report, notes the report and confirms that it has no further recommendations to make to Cabinet.

Report of the Director of Finance and Resources

The Audit and Procurement Committee considered a report of the Director of Finance and Resources (Section 151 Officer) that provided an update on the internal audit activity for the period April to September 2025, against the Internal Audit Plan for 2025-26. The report was the first monitoring report for 2025-26, which was presented in order for the Audit and Procurement Committee to discharge its responsibility 'to consider summaries of specific internal audit reports as requested' and 'to consider reports dealing with the management and performance of internal audit'.  Appendices to the report provided: the Audit Reviews Completed between April and September 2025; and the Summary Findings from Key Audit Reports.

The Internal Audit Plan for 2025-26 was presented to the Audit and Procurement Committee at its meeting on 23rd June 2025 (minute 4/25 referred) and provided for 650 days of internal audit work in 2025-26. As the Plan was agreed at the start of the financial year, it was always likely to be subject to some amendments due to changes in the risk environment, requests from service areas to reschedule work, and other exceptions, with significant changes reported to the Committee. As a result of unplanned absence in the Service and the time taken to implement the agreed service redesign, it had been necessary to make changes to the Audit Plan given the reduction in available resources, therefore the Plan was now based on the provision of 550 days of internal audit work in 2025-26. This had been accommodated through re-programming some internal audit work into the 2026-27 Audit Plan and changes in the risk environment impacting on the requirement for audit involvement. The key target was for the Internal Audit Service to complete 90% of its work plan by 31st March 2026. A chart in the report provided analysis of progress against planned work for the period April to September 2025 based on the revised audit plan of 550 days. 

At the end of September 2025, the Service had completed 45% of the Audit Plan against a benchmark of 50% (which reflected delivery of 100% of the Plan.)  Whilst this showed the Service to be on track to achieve the target of 90% by the end of 2025-26, the impact of the unplanned absence in particular would be visible in the quarter three performance which was due to be reported to the Audit and Procurement Committee in March 2026. Notwithstanding this, the Service remained committed to achieving the target by the end of the financial year. It was the view of the Chief Internal Auditor that these changes would not, in any significant respects, impact on the ability to deliver the annual internal audit conclusion.

At its meeting in November 2025 (minute 26/25 referred), the Audit and Procurement Committee approved the performance indicators for the Internal Audit Service for 2025-26, in line with the Global Internal Audit Standards in the UK Public Sector. Whilst some of these indicators were measured on an annual basis, there were two that were  ...  view the full minutes text for item 49.

Report of the Director of Finance and Resources

The Audit and Procurement Committee considered a report of the Director of Finance and Resources (Section 151 Officer) that provided a summary of the Council's anti-fraud and error activity undertaken by the Internal Audit Service during the first half of the financial year 2025-26.

Fraud in the public sector had a national focus through the publication of “Fighting Fraud and Corruption Locally – The Local Government Counter Fraud and Corruption Strategy". Whilst the national strategy stated that the level of fraud in the public sector was significant, the current trends in fraud activity included areas which Coventry City Council did not have responsibility for, e.g. social housing, and the levels of identified / reported fraud against the Council remained at relatively low levels, in terms of both numbers and value. 

The report documented the Council’s response to fraud and error during the first half of the financial year 2025-26 and was presented to the Audit and Procurement Committee in order to discharge its responsibility, as reflected in its terms of reference 'to monitor Council policies on whistle blowing and the fraud and corruption strategy'. The Internal Audit Service was responsible for leading on the Council’s strategic response to the risk of fraud and error, the work of the team had focused on three main areas during 2025-26: National Fraud Initiative; Referrals and Investigations considered through the Council’s Fraud and Corruption Strategy; and Fraud Awareness. A summary of the key activity that had taken place during 2025-26 was set out in detail in the report.

A National Fraud Initiative exercise, led by the Cabinet Office, took place every two years and matched electronic data within and between public bodies, with the aim of detecting fraud and error. The follow up of matches could also provide assurance that the Council’s own arrangements for preventing and detecting fraud / error were effective. The results of the last exercise were released in January 2025 and formed part of the planned programme of work for 2025-26. It was noted that matches relating to Housing Benefit / Council Tax Support / Single Person Discounts fell under the responsibility of the Revenues and Benefits Service. Given the number of matches released, a risk-based approach was used in following up the matches. To date, around 700 matches had been processed and a table in the report provided a breakdown of those areas where overpayments / forward savings had been identified to date. Where overpayments were identified, these were subject to standard recovery arrangements.

From time to time, the Internal Audit Service received referrals or were asked to assist with investigations relating to employee misconduct and other fraud against the Council involving external individuals. A further table in the report indicated the number of referrals by source in 2025-26, along with figures for the previous three financial years. It was important to note that there was no mechanism for determining the number of reports the Council should receive on an annual basis and it was very difficult to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 50.

Report of the Director of Finance and Resources

The Audit and Procurement Committee considered a report of the Director of Finance and Resources (Section 151 Officer) that provided a summary of the concerns raised under the Council’s Whistleblowing Policy during 2024-25 along with the Council’s response to the issues, including any organisational learning to prevent similar reoccurrences.

Whistleblowing was the making of a protected disclosure as found in Part IVA of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (and as amended by the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998) and was reflected in the Council’s Whistleblowing Policy 2017. This qualified employees (including agency workers) for legal protection against detriment or unfair dismissal if they made a disclosure in the public interest. To qualify, the disclosure must also fall within one of the following grounds: a criminal offence; breach of any legal obligation; miscarriages of justice; danger to health and safety; damage to the environment; and the deliberate concealing of information about any of these grounds. The Council’s Whistleblowing Policy was clear that all concerns raised about actual or potential misconduct or wrongdoing in the Council were taken seriously. Matters relating to fraud and corruption were considered by the Chief Internal Auditor and all other concerns which fell under one of the grounds were considered by the Council’s Monitoring Officer.

The report provided a summary of the concerns raised under the Council’s Whistleblowing Policy during 2024-25 and the Council’s response to the issues and was presented to the Audit and Procurement Committee in order to discharge its responsibility, as reflected in its terms of refence “to monitor Council policies on whistleblowing and the fraud and corruption strategy”. In order to protect the confidentiality of whistleblowers and other parties involved, no information was included in the report that could lead to the identification of a whistleblower or the subject of the whistleblowing or compromise the confidentiality of an on-going investigation.

During 2024-25, the Council received ten whistleblowing disclosures. Of these,  three disclosures were made by a third party and as such, the legal protection afforded to employees who raise concerns did not extend to these individuals. However, the Council considered that any disclosure made by members of the public should be treated in the same way as disclosures made by employees and consequently had made every reasonable effort to protect all individuals under the whistleblowing process. Further, four disclosures did not satisfy the grounds for whistleblowing as they did not relate to one of the prescribed concerns required in order to qualify under the Council’s policy.  In such cases, the individual was advised of the appropriate route to raise their concern. A summary of the disclosures made by type and service area, and a summary of the responses to the disclosures were detailed in tables in the report.

Employees were able to resolve matters using other routes if they wished to do so, for example through discussion with their line manager or reporting concerns to one of the “prescribed persons” set out in the Public Interest Disclosure (Prescribed Persons) Order 2014, such as  ...  view the full minutes text for item 51.

There are no outstanding issues

There were no outstanding issues.

Report of the Director of Law and Governance

The Audit and Procurement Committee considered a report of the Director of Law and Governance that detailed the Work Programme of scheduled issues to be considered by the Committee during the Municipal Year 2025/2026.

RESOLVED that the Audit and Procurement Committee notes the Work Programme for 2025/2026.

There were no other items of public business.