Meeting Details

On the proposal of Councillor Lynch, seconded by Councillor Back it was 

RESOLVED 

 That the minutes of the meeting held on 16 February 2026 be accepted as a true record.

The Committee received report ES/2738 of the Cabinet Member with responsibility for 
Resources and Value for Money and Assistant Cabinet Member for Resources and Value for Money.

The Head of Internal Audit introduced the report which provided an updated Anti-Fraud and Corruption Policy for the years 2026-2028. The report had been reformatted this year to help make it easier to understand, changes had also been made to reflect the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 which had come into effect in September 2025. 

The Chair invited questions.

Councillor Byatt noted that this document applied to employees, elected members, agency workers, volunteers and consultants, and asked if it also applied to companies that provided services to East Suffolk Council. The Head of Internal Audit confirmed these companies should have their own policies in place, this policy would apply if there was an offence against the Council.

Mr Jones asked how much the council had lost through fraud. The Head of Internal Audit stated this was difficult to estimate. Nationally it was expected that any organisation would be suffering from a small level of fraud (around 5%). Fraud would be taking place, and it was important that gateway checks were robust to reduce it as much as possible. 

Mr Jones asked how new staff were trained on this policy. The Head of Internal Audit  confirmed there was mandatory e-learning for all staff, and notices were placed on the councils intranet when issues arose. Training was delivered to specific teams where more issues were anticipated such as procurement or tenant services. Councillors were also given specific training opportunities as part of their annual development programme. 

Councillor Lynch asked if East Suffolk Council's policy was in line with policies at other Councils. The Head of Internal Audit stated this policy and strategy was fairly formulaic and so was largely the same across different councils. 

On the proposal of Councillor Lynch, seconded by Councillor King it was

RESOLVED

That the Audit and Governance Committee: 
1. Endorsed the Anti-Fraud and Corruption Policy and Strategy 2026-28

The Committee received report ES/2739 of the Cabinet Member with responsibility for 
Resources and Value for Money and Assistant Cabinet Member for Resources and Value for Money.

The Head of Internal Audit introduced the report which provided the proposed annual Internal Audit Plan for the 2026/27 financial year. The plan covered a number of areas and reflected the changes made through the introduction of the global internal audit standards. The Head of Internal Audit highlighted the strategic goals listed in the document which would guide the planning of work within the internal audit service, and the sections which summarised the role of the Audit and Governance Committee and other Council functions. The Head of Internal Audit confirmed that time had been set aside for local government reorganisation work and issues that would arise from this in terms of data transfer and sharing of information. 

The Chair invited questions

Councillor Lynch asked how the recruitment of the senior auditor role was progressing, and whether any additional work was needed following the external audit results. The Head of Internal Audit stated that recruitment was difficult and this was an issue across the profession. This role would probably be covered by agency staff in the short term. The Head of Internal Audit stated she was meeting with EY regarding the audit, although internal audit and external audit delivered different services, to help ensure that departments got things right before they were sent to external audit. SM stated that even if the internal audit team and other departments did testing before external audit, the external auditors were still required to test this. 

Councillor Lynch asked if a short term contract had been offered for a new member of staff, and if specific staff could be bought on board to help with the accounts testing. The Head of Internal Audit stated that this had been discussed with the agencies who would be providing staff. Regarding resourcing for accounts, this sat with the Chief Finance Officer. The Chief Executive stated that the finance team had been restructured to provide extra capacity and assurance. 

Mr Jones asked if there was adequate resourcing in the department. The Head of Internal Audit confirmed that there was, the plan was achievable with the current resources. Mr Jones stated that the Council was reliant on the Head of Internal Audit for a number of roles and whether there was adequate resourcing to cover this role if necessary. The Head of Internal Audit stated there were a number of deputy roles within this team who provided support in the background, there were deputy roles in place for each of the roles the Head of Internal Audit carried out in the council.

Councillor Byatt asked how soon a shadow team could be put in place to ensure internal audit was covered in whatever new structure was created following local government reorganisation. The Head of Internal Audit stated she was in regular contact with counterparts across the area and was already looking at plans for whatever transitions were required. The Chief Executive stated that the structural change order which would detail the structures that needed to be set up and the shadow authority that would be elected in 2027 would decide on the structure of the new council(s).

On the proposal of Councillor Byatt, seconded by Councillor King

 RESOLVED

That the Audit and Governance Committee: 

1. Confirmed that that Internal Audit Mandate and Charter (Appendix A of this report), previously approved in March 2025, remain current and reflect the Committee’s expectations of Internal Audit; and 

2. Reviewed and approved the Internal Audit Strategy and Plan 2026/27 (Appendix B of this report)

The Committee received report ES/2740 of the Cabinet Member with responsibility for 
Resources and Value for Money and Assistant Cabinet Member for Resources and Value for Money.

The Head of Internal Audit introduced the report which provided details of how the Corporate Fraud 
Team will deliver work that supports the aims and objectives of the East Suffolk Council 
Anti-Fraud and Corruption Policy and Strategy 2026-28.  The Head of Internal Audit highlighted the anti-fraud principles which were the foundation of the work that would be delivered. As well as carrying out risk assessments and fraud awareness training, the team were linked with other anti-crime agencies and shared intelligence with them. The Head of Internal Audit noted that East Suffolk Council did have a dedicated in house resource to deal with fraud. 

The Chair invited questions. 

Councillor Lynch asked if there were enough resources to deal with any issues that might arise as a result of the increase in right to buy. The Head of Internal Audit confirmed that a lot of work had been done in this area in the last year as a result of the change in legislation, and the team did a great deal of work with other teams in the Council on this area to manage any potential fraud. 

Mr Jones referred to the figure of £2.8m which was listed as the financial impact of the corporate fraud team and asked how this was measured. The Head of Internal Audit stated a breakdown of this would be shown in reports received by the Committee in July, this figure included savings made for the Council as a result of the teams work. 

Councillor Byatt asked if there had been any risks identified as a result of increased use of AI. The Head of Internal Audit agreed this was a significant area of interest, and a number of agencies were looking at this and information was being shared from the national crime agency and the anti-fraud network. 

On the proposal of Councillor Lynch, seconded by Councillor Back it was

 RESOLVED

 That the Audit and Governance Committee: 

The Committee received report ES/2741 of the Cabinet Member with responsibility for 
Resources and Value for Money and Assistant Cabinet Member for Resources and Value for Money.

The Head of Internal Audit introduced the report which provided an overview of the planned work to be undertaken from April 2026 to March 2027 by Information Governance services. The Head of Internal Audit highlighted the section of the report which showed work which had been done under each area in the past year. 

The Chair invited questions.

The Chai asked how the days spent on each topic was calculated. The Head of Internal Audit stated that officers recorded how they spent their time to help the team understand what they were working on. This also helped the Strategic Management Team understand the time spent on freedom of information requests. 

Councillor Lynch asked if there had been a surge in GDPR and freedom of information requests as a result of AI making it easier to generate requests. The Head of Internal Audit confirmed there had been an increase in requests in recent years, and all requests had to be answered. If there was a pattern of the same information being requested then this information was published and queries redirected to published sources. 

Councillor Lynch asked if the Council could use AI to formulate answers to queries. The Head of Internal Audit confirmed that this could not be done at present, but may be possible in the future. 

Councillor Byatt noted the planned review of CCTV and asked why this did not include the CCTV operated by East Suffolk Services. The Head of Internal Audit confirmed that ESSL were a separate entity and responsible for their own CCTV. Any cameras had to have a sign stating that they were in use.

On the proposal of Councillor King, seconded by Councillor Lynch it was

 RESOLVED

That Audit and Governance Committee: 
1. Reviews and comments on the Annual Information Governance Plan 2026/27. 

The Committee received report ES/2742 of the Cabinet Member with responsibility for 
Resources and Value for Money and Assistant Cabinet Member for Resources and Value for Money.

The Head of Internal Audit stated that one report was being presented on Payroll Key Financial Controls for 2025-26 and an effective opinion had been issued. 

The Chair invited questions.

Councillor Lynch asked why the 'variations to pay' area was shown as reasonable and not effective. The Head of Internal Audit stated this was because the team could not verify approval or accuracy for all expenses claims submitted, and so no opinion was given as there was not sufficient data. This area was being discussed with HR and payroll.

Mr Jones queried why submissions to HMRC had been excluded from the audit. The Head of Internal Audit stated this was due to capacity but it might be covered in future, but checks should be done from the HMRC side as well. 

On the proposal of Councillor King, seconded by Councillor Lynch it was 

 RESOLVED

That Audit and Governance Committee considered and commented upon the presented Internal Audit report(s).

The Committee received report ES/2738 of the Cabinet Member with responsibility for 
Resources and Value for Money and Assistant Cabinet Member for Resources and Value for Money.

The Head of Internal Audit introduced the report which provided an update on progress on all Internal Audit actions agreed by management. Current actions were shown in the table on the report, there were no overdue actions. 

On the proposal of Councillor Lynch, seconded by Councillor King it was

 RESOLVED

That the Audit and Governance Committee considered whether any further action or explanation is necessary from service areas to ensure that agreed actions to improve East Suffolk Council’s control environment are made. Where no further action or explanation is deemed necessary, that the Committee noted the report. 

On the proposal of Councillor Lynch, seconded by Councillor King it was

RESOLVED

That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended) the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.