Agenda and draft minutes

Councillor Saj Malik sent an apology for absence, which was accepted.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve the minutes of the meetings held on 11 March and 12 May 2026 and to receive information arising from them.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meetings held on 11 March and 12 May 2026 be approved as accurate records of the proceedings.

The Head of Corporate Finance answered the question about precise returns in interest rates on fixed term deposits in Treasury Management reports as follows. Precise figures were commercially sensitive; minimum, maximum, and average returns would now be included in updates, including in the Outturn Report on 15 July.

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.

There were none.

This is the annual report of the Head of Internal Audit, summarising the outcome of the Internal Audit work in 2025/26, and providing an opinion on the Council's System of Internal Control. The opinion is one of the sources of assurance for  the Annual Governance Statement. 

The basis for the opinion is set out in paragraphs 22 – 35, followed by the overall opinion for 2025/26 which is that there is satisfactory assurance regarding Oxfordshire County Council's overall control environment and the 

arrangements for governance, risk management and control.

The Audit and Governance Committee is RECOMMENDED to consider and endorse this annual report.  

The Head of Internal Audit and Counter Fraud introduced the report.

Members asked about the distinction between red, amber, and green reports with respect to the conclusions of 2025/26 audits and were assured that a consistent approach was applied in line with Global Internal Audit Standards; team compliance with the standards was subject to independent external assessment, most recently completed by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy in 2023.

Secondly, members asked about the target to have 90 per cent of agreed management actions implemented in the year, specifically, in relation to 63 per cent implemented and 8 per cent not yet due at the end of April 2026, and noted that the Audit Team were in practice satisfied with anything between 70 and 80 per cent.

Thirdly, members asked about the audit for Bridge Management 2025/26 and noted that this was undertaken in the last quarter. The Head of Internal Audit and Counter Fraud said that she had confidence in the agreed action plan and that the audit of Highways Contract Management would go up to the Audit Working Group (AWG).

Additionally, members noted the following:

-       Southern Internal Audit Partnership (SIAP) was used by Hampshire County Council in relation to the Integrated Business Centre (IBC).

-       Database Security 2025/26 was the responsibility of IT Services, who dealt with any immediate risk to data protection straight away.

-       There was a typo in the table for Employee Relations 2025/26 (p. 42), which should have read 11 outstanding Priority Management Actions.

-       The Council’s Insurance Team monitored controls and adherence in relation to insurance, as opposed to an external insurance company.

-       The audit of Safeguarding Transport 2025/26 was considered by the AWG on 25 March 2026 and would be looked at again on 7 October.

-       The Head of Internal Audit and Counter Fraud would bring a report to the meeting on 16 September with details of management actions still overdue.

-       In relation to overdue management actions, the Committee could ask the relevant Director and Cabinet Member to come to one of their meetings.

RESOLVED:

a)    that the annual report be endorsed.

b)    that in all future reports, Appendix One, where applicable, contain an additional column with a total for the number of actions that were overdue.

This report presents the Internal Audit Strategy and Internal Audit Plan for 2026/27.  A separate plan for Counter-Fraud activity will be presented to this Committee in July 2026.

Appendix 2 sets out the annual Internal Audit plan for 2026/27. 

The move to a new unitary authority, or authorities requires Internal Audit to provide continued assurance while supporting transformation and ensuring the alignment of governance, risk management, and control frameworks. To do this effectively, the Internal Audit Plan must remain agile and responsive to emerging risks and changing priorities. It will therefore be subject to regular review and adjustment throughout 2026/27 and 2027/28, leading up to vesting day in April 2028.

The Audit and Governance Committee is RECOMMENDED to comment on and note the Internal Audit Strategy and Internal Audit Plan for 2026/27.

The Head of Internal Audit and Counter Fraud introduced the report.

Members discussed Local Government Reorganisation (LGR). Members asked whether directorates were gathering data by district to enable disaggregation of service delivery in 2027-28 and noted that the Council was focused on baselining its own data. Members also noted in relation to the Internal Audit Plan 2026/27 that some of the medium priority actions would not be carried through LGR.

Members asked about the internal independent review of the audit process every two or three years by the Monitoring Officer and the external assessment every five years; they noted that the former, unlike the yearly self-assessment by the Head of Internal Audit and Counter Fraud, was not a statutory requirement but one the Council found helpful so far as the Monitoring Officer spanned the organisation.

RESOLVED that the Internal Audit Strategy and Plan for 2026/27, be noted.

This report presents both the Internal Audit Charter and the Quality Assurance and Improvement Programme for 2026/27. These are subject to annual review.

The committee is RECOMMENDED to:

a)    Approve the Internal Audit Charter for 2026/27

b)    Note the Quality Assurance and Improvement Programme.

The Head of Internal Audit and Counter Fraud introduced the report.

The Chair drew members’ attention to the role of the Committee in internal auditing.

The Chair thanked the Head of Internal Audit and Counter Fraud for producing the Charter.

RESOLVED that the Internal Audit Charter for 2026/27 be approved and the Quality Assurance and Improvement Programme noted.

The Chief Accountant notified members that the accounts would be published on 30 June 2026.

The Audit and Governance Committee is RECOMMENDED to comment on and note the Audit Planning Report 2025/26.

Ernst and Young introduced the report.

Members asked about the International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) 16. They noted Ernst and Young’s opinion that IFRS 16 had been an issue across all councils in relation to is implementation, including around transitional disclosures or misstatements; but they were satisfied that all issues identified had already been resolved.

Members noted Ernst and Young’s intention to have the audit complete by the end of November 2026 and their opinion that the Council was in the best possible position to get back to an unqualified opinion on the accounts.

RESOLVED to note the external auditor’s Audit Planning Report 2025/26.

The Audit and Governance Committee is RECOMMENDED to comment on and note the Pension Fund Audit Planning Report 2025/26.

Ernst and Young introduced the report.

Members noted that for the 2024/25 audit, timeliness and quality of evidence required improvement; Ernst and Young experienced some delays on account of ongoing resourcing constraints. The Director of Law and Governance and Monitoring Officer clarified that this was because of the sad death of a colleague; resourcing constraints had been addressed.

RESOLVED to note the external auditor’s Pension Fund Audit Planning Report 2025/26.

The Audit and Governance Committee has the responsibility of approving the Council’s Annual Governance Statement (AGS) each year. 

Local authorities are required to prepare an AGS to be transparent about their compliance with good governance principles.  This includes reporting on how they have monitored and evaluated the effectiveness of their governance arrangements in the previous year and setting out any planned changes in the coming period.

The Audit and Governance Committee is RECOMMENDED to approve the Annual Governance Statement 2025/26, subject to the Monitoring Officer making any necessary amendments in the light of comments made by the Committee, after consultation with the Leader of the Council, the Chief Executive, and the Section 151 Officer.

The Director of Law and Governance and Monitoring Officer introduced the report.

Members noted that the Annual Governance Statement had been produced when Councillor Liz Leffman was leader, with the expectation that she would sign it. Now, the name on p. 5 would be changed and the new leader, Councillor Tim Bearder, would be briefed with the expectation that he would sign accordingly.

Secondly, members noted that there would be one amendment to paragraph 63 in relation to the Integrated Business Centre (IBC) report. The report for 2025-26 concluded that the key financial systems and system controls were suitably designed and operated effectively. Whilst exceptions were noted, there was no notification of any material concerns.

Thirdly, members asked why the Strategic Plan 2025-28 did not include reference to tackling to discrimination in relation to a fairer Oxfordshire. The Monitoring Officer said that did not feature in the Strategic Plan as such, but she would take it up with the leader on their behalf.

Fourthly, members asked about the People and Culture Strategy and noted that it was reviewed both in terms of its development but also to reflect the journey that the Council was on in terms of LGR and changing priorities which that entailed.

Members noted that Environment and Highways – Bridge Management would be regarded as a significant governance issue for 2026/27.

Finally, members thanked Senior Governance Lead Sarah Smith for producing the report.

RESOLVED to approve the Annual Governance Statement 2025/26 with one amendment and subject to the Monitoring Officer’s consultation with the Leader of the Council, the Chief Executive, and the Section 151 Officer.

Following the re-establishment of the Constitution Working Group (CWG), four meetings have been undertaken with the CWG to discuss proposed changes and improvements to the Constitution. Meetings of the CWG were held on 2
February, 6 March, 16 and 28 April 2026, respectively.

This report sets out the findings and conclusions of those discussions and requests Audit and Governance Committee to recommend to Council the formal adoption of the changes to the Council’s Constitution, as set out in Appendices 1 and 2.

The Audit and Governance Committee is RECOMMENDED to:

a)    Endorse the proposed amendments to the Council’s Constitution as recommended by the Constitution Working Group;

b)    Recommend Council to formally approve the proposed changes to the Council’s Constitution and to request the Director of Law and Governance and Monitoring Officer to ensure the necessary changes are made; and

c)    Note that following changes to the Senior Management Structure further amendments are being made to the Officer Scheme of Delegation to reflect the new structure. These amendments will be completed prior to the Council meeting scheduled for 30 June 2026.

The Director of Law and Governance and Monitoring Officer introduced the principal report and its addendum.

Councillor Stefan Gawrysiak, Chair of the Constitution Working Group, thanked the members of the Constitution Working Group, especially Councillor Brad Baines, and the Chair of Audit and Governance, the Chief Governance Office, and the Director of Law and Governance and Monitoring Officer for their work in this area.

The Chief Governance Officer introduced each Appendix in turn.

Appendix 1, Changes to the Constitution

Members noted with approval Change No. 23 concerning ‘Questions on Notice at Full Council’. ‘It should be noted that the Chair has the discretion to group similar questions together. Where this happens the order in which the questions are listed and asked may vary from the order in which they were received.’

Additionally, in relation to Change No. 63 concerning ‘The Oxfordshire Join Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee’ (HOSC), members asked about plans for a Thames Valley Joint HOSC and noted that the Director of Law and Governance and Monitoring Officer had leave to change names in the constitution as and when required.

Appendix 1, Annex 1, Oxfordshire Shareholder Committee

There was nothing to note.

Appendix 1, Annex 2, Contract Procedure Rules

In relation to Chapter 3, Paragraph 5.4 concerning the ‘Procurement Process and Thresholds’, members asked whether the relevant Cabinet Member should be involved by default in contracts valued between £25,000 (excl. VAT) and the current Procurement Act Threshold. The Director of Law and Governance and Monitoring Officer said that they could be involved, not by default.

Secondly, in relation to Paragraph 9.1 concerning ‘Terms and Conditions of Contracts’, members asked why these would now apply to contracts with a value of £50,000 rather than £25,000 (excl. VAT) as before. The Director of Law and Governance and Monitoring Officer said that this was to ensure that service areas were involved at the point they could add value; principal solicitors had recommended it.

Thirdly, in relation to Paragraph 9.5 concerning ‘Protocol on Member/Officer Relations’, members noted a typo in the last sentence, which read, ‘If in doubt, officers should seek the express concern of the member concerned.’ The Chief Governance Officer apologised and said that he would correct this.

Appendix 2, Changes to the Constitution

In relation Change No. 4, members asked if it would be possible to have a new leader appointed at the same meeting that Council is notified of a vacancy. They also asked if it would be possible for a leadership election to take place at an Annual Council Meeting. The Director of Law and Governance and Monitoring Officer advised that she would consult on this and report back accordingly.

Members noted the supplementary document containing revised recommendations.

RESOLVED to:

a)    Approve the proposed amendments to the Council’s Constitution as recommended by the Constitution Working Group;

b)    Recommend Council to formally approve the proposed amendments to the Council’s Constitution, as set out in Appendices 1 and 2 (attached to the covering report) and to request the Director  ...  view the full minutes text for item 39/26

The Audit and Governance Committee is RECOMMENDED to note the report.

The Chair moved this item forward to be considered before the Work Programme for 2026/27.

The Head of Internal Audit and Counter Fraud introduced the report.

Members noted that the Audit and Governance Self-Assessment would take place in the AWG on 17 June; the AWG would meet again on 2 September. 

Additionally, members approved the proposal for audits for Safeguarding Transport and School Attendance to be reconsidered by the AWG on 7 October.

The Independent Member Kate Cartwright resigned her membership of the AWG but said that she would attend online where possible.

RESOLVED to note the Audit Working Group Update.

The Audit and Governance Committee is RECOMMENDED to comment on and note the Audit and Governance Work Programme for 2026//27.

Members noted that the Fire and Community Safety Annual Report by the Chief Fire Officer and Director of Community Safety would also be considered by the Committee on 15 July.

Members discussed Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) and noted that it was being routinely considered by the Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee but that it could be considered by the Committee on 16 September.

Additionally, members resolved to meet in private with internal and external auditors before the Committee meeting on 18 November and to receive training on Training Management before the committee meeting on 13 January 2027.

RESOLVED to note the Audit and Governance Work Programme for 2026/27.