Agenda and minutes

The minutes of the meeting held on 23 January 2026 were taken as read, confirmed and signed.

The Chief Executive reported that no questions had been received under Standing Order 34.

The Chief Executive reported that no questions had been received under Standing Order 7(3) and 7(5).

There were no urgent items for consideration.

The Chairman invited members who wished to do so to declare any interest in respect of items on the agenda for the meeting.

No declarations were made.

There were no petitions.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Corporate Resources which presented the external audit plans for the Council and the Pension Fund for the 2025/26 financial year.  A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 7’, is filed with these minutes.

The Chairman welcomed Ms Helen Lillington and Mr Grant Patterson from Grant Thornton LLP, the Council’s external auditors, to the meeting.

Arising from the discussion, the following points were raised:

i)               The backstop legislation was still in place, although the deadline for future years was being brought forward.  As a result, for 2025/26, it was the aim to work towards an initial deadline of 30 November 2026.  Assurance was given that the Council was well placed to meet this deadline, although Grant Thornton would work with officers to ensure it was achieved.  This would involve undertaking more significant early testing during the interim audit visit.

ii)              A member questioned whether there was a risk of not meeting the backstop deadline and the implications for this.  In response, it was stated that if the deadline was not met, a disclaimed audit opinion would be issued, which would make it more difficult for the Council to get back on track and as no assurance could be given by the Auditor, lots of additional work would need to be carried out in future years.  The Council would also be under the spotlight of MHCLG as to why it was in this position.  It was acknowledged that the deadline being brought forward presented more risks than previously, although work was taking place to ensure that the Council met the deadline and officers were being encouraged to consider whether pieces of work could be carried out earlier than planned.

iii)            In response to a query around how Local Government Reorganisation would impact on audits being completed, it was noted that the work around bringing services together could create blind spots.  However, the majority of local authorities in Leicestershire had previously met the deadlines so the main issue would be the workload to merge everything together.

iv)            It was stated that the tri-annual testing framework was undertaken every three years to revalue the Pension Fund.  Following information requested from the Fund, the Actuary produced a valuation report which underpinned a roll forward approach.  This was not part of the annual audit fee; instead, there was a one off cost every three years, with the amount being dependent on the number of members in the Pension Fund at that time.

v)             The audit plan set out the Auditor’s approach to completing the assessment of the Value for Money (VfM) arrangements at the Council for the 2025/26 financial year.  The risk assessment regarding arrangements to secure value for money had identified two risks of significant weakness in relation to financial sustainability, in particular the arrangements for funding the deficit on the Dedicated Schools Grant and the arrangements in place to close the Council’s budget gap in the medium term.  The VfM audit would review the Council’s arrangements to address these risks.

RESOLVED:

That the attached reports be noted.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Corporate Resources which provided a summary of work undertaken by the Council’s Internal Audit Service during the period 1 October 2025 – 28 February 2026, an update on progress with implementing high importance recommendations and performance against the 2025-26 Internal Audit Plan.  A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 8’, is filed with these minutes.

The Committee had previously been informed of two major audits being completed around Adults and Children’s direct payments systems.  However, implementation of the recommendations arising from the audits had been delayed due to resources having to be diverted towards a nationwide issue with the prepaid card provider.  The Director of Corporate Resources reported that the issues had now largely been resolved and good progress was being made with the recommendations.

In response to a member question around whether there had been any refund by the card provider, it was stated that although a refund had been received, it was difficult to get any additional payment from providers above what had initially been paid.  Assurance was given that more robust measures had now been put in place by the provider to ensure that this did not happen again.

RESOLVED:

That the updates on progress on work undertaken, the implementation of high importance recommendations and the performance against the plan (all at 28 February 2026) be noted.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Corporate Resources which presented the Internal Audit Plan for 2026-27.  A copy of the report marked ‘Agenda Item 9’ is filed with these minutes.

Arising from the discussion, the following points were raised:

i)               In response to a query around what was being considered in relation to the Members Code of Conduct, the Director of Corporate Resources stated that this would primarily be to ensure compliance, and work would take place with the Monitoring Officer to consider areas that may need to be improved.

ii)              The number of days in the 2026/27 plan allocated to servicing the Committee and advising officers had reduced.  Officers kept a record of time spent on specific areas of work and gauged where resources would be best allocated, based on the previous years’ allocation.  During 2025/26, an additional meeting of the Committee had been included in the work programme and extra time had been built in for this.

iii)            A member questioned who and how it was agreed which areas to include in the annual audit plan.  The Director of Corporate Resources stated that this was largely based on discussions with chief officers to develop a three year rolling cycle of audits.  However, consideration was given to the inclusion of new and emerging risks annually. 

iv)            It was stated that if a department was not performing well, it would not be the preference to audit this.  As audits were planned in advance, guidance would be sought from the relevant chief officer if there was an area with a specific area of concern.  The Internal Audit Service monitored any emerging issues and would raise this if it was felt that this was something which needed to be considered.

v)             The Committee was informed that audits containing ‘Operation’ in their titles were investigations.  The County Council was regularly involved in investigations and would only report on outcomes when they had been resolved.

vi)            A member raised concern around the fact that the Internal Audit Service team currently had three vacancies and whether there was a risk that planned audits could not be carried out.  It was also queried whether the increase in vacancies was connected to Local Government Reorganisation.  The Director of Corporate Resources acknowledged that there could be a risk to staff due to current uncertainties regarding this, but it was unusual to have a high turnover of audit staff.  To resolve the immediate issue, agency staff would be employed.

RESOLVED:

That the provisional Internal Audit Annual Plan 2026-27 be approved.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Corporate Resources which provided an update on risks in the Corporate Risk Register, emerging risks and the internal audit  of the Council’s risk management process.  A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 10’, is filed with these minutes.

As part of this item, the Committee also received a presentation from the Director of Environment and Transport on the emerging risk of the significant increase in demand for reactive highway maintenance repair work to address the highest ever levels of road defects the department had seen over a winter period.  A copy of the presentation is filed with these minutes.

Arising from the discussion, the following points were made:

Presentation

i)               The Director of Environment and Transport explained that the level of repair work had significantly exceeded previous years, although this was an issue being experienced across the country.  It was anticipated that the pressure on the service was likely to continue and as a result, the department had changed the way it worked to deal with this peak in workload.  The normal operation was for first time permanent repairs to be made to the vast majority of defects.  The majority of repairs carried out over the winter period however had been temporary to ensure the road network remained safe, with more permanent repairs being undertaken over the summer. 

ii)              Some local authorities were trialling new technology on refuse lorries which would identify defects on roads.  The Highways Service had trialled this type of technology, but to date had found some of the visual inspection systems were less than 50% accurate.  New technology would continue to be trialled.

iii)            It was noted that the UK was now experiencing more extreme weather which was affecting the condition of the roads.  Other countries with wetter and colder climates used specific materials to protect the road surface.  Whilst it was not possible to retrofit the whole road network in the UK, local authorities were working with various research projects to understand alternative materials that would be more resilient to the changing climate conditions.  However, there was a reluctance to invest in something new in the event that it did not perform, for instance, it failed after only a few years and required further investment to remedy.  It was noted that Leicestershire had used recycled rubber to repair some roads five years ago, and its effectiveness was being monitored.

iv)            There was concern that many roads in newly built housing estates would not be adopted and therefore would not be up to the required standard.  The Director gave assurance that there was a highway design guide and if developers wanted a road to be adopted, they had to meet a required standard, which included the local highway authority monitoring the condition of a road for at least twelve months. 

v)             It was stated that new housing estates were often built as low classification roads which were not designed to withstand heavy traffic, and it was queried whether it was possible to change how planning applications were assessed.  The Director of Environment and Transport reported that any planning application had to accord with the national planning policy framework, which set the bar high for refusing an application.  The authority had to consider whether the application was safe and had to be able to defend a recommendation for refusal.

vi)            A member also commented that utility companies often left roads in a poor condition and requiring some repair work.  The Director stated that it was a process that required the utility companies to return to make the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 72.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Public Health, Law and Governance which advised on the Authority’s use of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) and the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 (IPA) for the period from 1 January to 31 December 2025.  The Committee was also asked to review the Covert Surveillance and the Acquisition of Communications Data Policy Statement relating to RIPA.  A copy of the report marked ‘Agenda Item 11’ is filed with these minutes.

Assurance was given that staff within the Trading Standards Service had been trained on RIPA and the Council had a webpage which provided advice to all employees.  In terms of seek authorisation, this was not required if it was an immediate response to an event.

RESOLVED:

a)    That the use of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) and the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 (IPA) for the period from 1 January to 31 December 2025 be noted;

b)    That the Council’s Covert Surveillance and the Acquisition of Communications Data Policy Statement (which is unchanged since approval by the Cabinet in March 2021) be confirmed as remaining fit for purpose;

c)    That it be agreed to continue to receive an annual report on the use of RIPA and IPA powers.

The next meeting of the Corporate Governance Committee will be held on Friday 26 June 2026 at 10am.

RESOLVED:

That the next meeting of the Committee be held on Friday 26 June 2026 at 10.00am.