Issue - meetings
Finance, Audit and Risk Commitee Annual Report
Meeting: 16/07/2026 - Council (Item 7.)
7. FINANCE, AUDIT AND RISK COMMITTEE ANNUAL REPORT 
PDF 105 KB
REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR – RESOURCES
The Annual Report (attached at Appendix A) details the work undertaken by the Finance, Audit and Risk (FAR) Committee over the last year (25/26) and describes the planned work for the coming year (26/27).
Additional documents:
Decision:
RESOLVED: That Council noted the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee Annual Report.
REASON FOR DECISION: To provide Council with assurance as to the effectiveness of the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee.
Meeting: 10/06/2026 - Finance, Audit and Risk Committee (Item 13)
13 FINANCE, AUDIT AND RISK COMMITTEE ANNUAL REPORT PDF 116 KB
REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR – RESOURCES
The Annual Report details the work undertaken by the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee over the last year (2025/26) and describes the planned work for the coming year (2026/27).
Additional documents:
Decision:
RESOLVED:
(1) That the Committee commented on the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee Annual Report, attached at Appendix A.
(2) That the Committee delegated to the Director – Resources to make changes to the Annual Report from discussion of this item, in consultation with the Chair of the Committee.
RECOMMENDED TO FULL COUNCIL: That the Committee recommend to Council that the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee Annual Report, be noted.
REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATION: To enable the Committee to consider the report before it is presented to Full Council. To provide Full Council with assurance as to the effectiveness of the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee
Minutes:
Audio recording – 2 hours 25 minutes 59 seconds
The Director – Resources presented the report entitled ‘Finance, Audit and Risk Committee Annual Report’ and highlighted that:
· The Annual Report provided detail on the work undertaken by this Committee in the previous year and looked ahead at planned work for the upcoming civic year.
· An introduction from Councillor Vijaiya Poopalasingham, as Chair since January 2026, had been included.
· The purpose of the report was to look at the Committee and its effectiveness.
· There were points for Members to consider highlighted in yellow in the draft version of the Annual Report and comments could be added before presenting at Full Council.
· There was a table showing the reports considered by the Committee in 2025/26 on page 198 of the reports pack, and this would be similar for 2026/27. However, there were likely to be additional items including updates to the Anti-Fraud Strategy and a potential review of Procurement Rules.
The following Members provided comments on the Annual Report:
· Councillor Vijaiya Poopalasingham
· Councillor Ruth Brown
· Councillor Elizabeth Dennis
The following comments were made on the Annual Report:
· That training on the following topics would be beneficial: Business Rates Retention, an overview of internal and external audit processes, funding settlements and what these mean for the Council and Treasury and Investment Strategies.
· Bitesize sessions on topics within local government finance would be useful and already existed within the resources provided by the Local Government Association.
· Whilst training should be primarily for Finance, Audit and Risk Committee members, it would be useful to offer more widely to all Members to empower others to make more meaningful contributions to discussions on financial matters.
· Session offered before the committee meeting were useful and these could be recorded and uploaded to GrowZone for Members unable to attend.
Councillor Vijaiya Poopalasingham proposed, as Chair, and Councillor Elizabeth Dennis seconded and, following a vote, it was:
RESOLVED:
(1) That the Committee commented on the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee Annual Report, attached at Appendix A.
(2) That the Committee delegated to the Director – Resources to make changes to the Annual Report from discussion of this item, in consultation with the Chair of the Committee.
RECOMMENDED TO FULL COUNCIL: That the Committee recommend to Council that the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee Annual Report, be noted.
REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATION: To enable the Committee to consider the report before it is presented to Full Council. To provide Full Council with assurance as to the effectiveness of the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee