Agenda

The Committee is RECOMMENDED to approve the minutes of the meeting held on 26 November 2025 and to receive information arising from them.

Members of the public who wish to speak on an item on the agenda at this meeting, or present a petition, can attend the meeting in person or ‘virtually’ through an online connection.

Requests to present a petition must be submitted no later than 9am ten working days before the meeting.

Requests to speak must be submitted no later than 9am three working days before the meeting.

Requests should be submitted to committeesdemocraticservices@oxfordshire.gov.uk

If you are speaking ‘virtually’, you may submit a written statement of your presentation to ensure that if the technology fails, then your views can still be taken into account. A written copy of your statement can be provided no later than 9am on the day of the meeting. Written submissions should be no longer than 1 A4 sheet.

This report provides an update on the Internal Audit Service, including resources, completed and planned audits.

The report includes the Executive Summaries from the individual Internal Audit reports finalised since the last report to the September 2025 Committee.

The Committee is RECOMMENDED to note the progress with the 2025/26 Internal Audit Plan and the outcome of the completed audits.

The Treasury Management Strategy & Annual Investment Strategy for 2026/27 outlines the council’s strategic objectives in terms of its debt and investment management for the financial year 2026/27. 

The forecast average cash balance for 2026/27 is £345m. The council will maintain its investment in strategic pooled funds with a purchase value of £88m (25%). The remaining £257m (75%) will be managed internally with a mixture of short, medium and long-term deposits.

The Bank of England Base Rate is forecast to start the year at 3.75 or 3.50%, reducing to 3.25% by the end of the financial year.

UK Government Gilt yields are forecast to fall from 4.80% to 3.80% over the medium term.

As the council’s Capital Financing Requirement (CFR) is proposed to increase significantly over the medium term, the strategy will aim to decrease long term investments to allow for greater internal borrowing.

Changes to the Treasury Management Strategy will be recommended to Council to be delegated to the Executive Director of Resources & Section 151 Officer in consultation with the Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Finance

The Committee is RECOMMENDED to endorse the Treasury Management Strategy & Annual Investment 2025/26.

The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) launched the Financial Management Code of Practice (FM Code) in November 2019.  The FM Code was developed on behalf of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) in the context of increasing concerns about the financial resilience and sustainability of local authorities. 

The FM Code clarifies how Chief Finance Officers should satisfy their statutory responsibility for good financial administration as required in section 151 of the Local Government Act 1972 and emphasises the collective financial responsibility of the whole leadership including the relevant elected members.

The FM Code requires local authorities to demonstrate compliance on an annual basis, with assessments taking a retrospective view of the current financial year. This approach ensures that financial management practices are reviewed against actual performance rather than projections. The assessment aligns closely with the Annual Governance Statement (AGS), which is a statutory requirement under the Accounts and Audit Regulations. Together, these form the key elements of the authority’s assurance framework, providing evidence that sound financial management and robust governance arrangements are in place to support transparency, accountability, and financial sustainability.

The report sets out the outcome of the compliance self-assessment undertaken for 2025/26 which has found that the Council is well placed to meet the requirements of the FM Code. 

The Committee is RECOMMENDED to endorse the assessment of compliance against the Financial Management Code for 2025/26 (Annex 1).

On 4 June 2025, this Committee approved the Annual Governance Statement (AGS) for the year 2024/25. Local authorities are required to prepare an AGS to be transparent about their compliance with good governance principles and to give an opinion on the effectiveness of those arrangements. As part of the process, authorities are expected to highlight areas of focus for the year following.

The Director of Law & Governance, and Monitoring Officer presented an update to Committee on 26 November 2025 on the eight specific areas of focus identified in the 2024/25 AGS for action in 2025/26. This report is therefore a report on only those actions where an additional update is required.

The Committee is RECOMMENDED to receive this update on the actions from the Annual Governance Statement 2024/25 and to make any comment upon them.

The Audit Working Group (AWG) met on 10 December 2025. The group received an update on the implementation of management actions arising from the audit of Strategic Contract Management and the audit of Income Collection Street Works and Parking, which were both undertaken on 2024/25.

The Committee is RECOMMENDED to note the report.