Southwark Council's Audit, Governance and Standards Committee convened on Monday, 14 July 2025, to review the council's financial management and governance practices. The committee's key priorities for its 2025-26 work programme include providing independent assurance of the council's governance arrangements, scrutinising financial performance, overseeing financial reporting, and maintaining high standards of conduct.
The Council's key risks as at January 2024 included the impact of the cost of living on service demand, pressures on the Housing Revenue Account budget and on school budgets, building safety following the introduction of new legislation, the impact of declaring a climate emergency on service demand, and staff recruitment and retention.
The committee, chaired by Councillor Barrie Hargrove, addressed several key areas, including anti-fraud measures, internal audit findings, and compliance with financial regulations. The meeting, held at 160 Tooley Street, London, included updates from various departments and discussions among committee members.
One of the focal points was the council's adherence to the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) Financial Management Code. The committee noted a report detailing the council's compliance with each standard outlined in the code.
The committee also reviewed the 2025-26 Q1 report from the Corporate Anti-Fraud Team (CAFT) and the Special Investigations Team (SIT). The report summarised the teams' work in preventing, detecting, and responding to fraud, bribery, and corruption. Cases handled by CAFT typically relate to staff conduct, email scams and council tax support. The most prevalent types of fraud include issues related to homelessness and housing waiting lists, such as suspicious supporting documents; Right to Buy (RTB) fraud, focusing on the sources of funds; Blue Badge misuse; and housing tenancy fraud, including unlawful subletting and non-occupation.
Key performance indicators (KPIs) for CAFT and SIT in Q1 2025-26 included:
- Corporate Anti-Fraud investigations: 7 new cases received, 13 cases closed, 20 open cases as of 30 June 2025.
- Homelessness: 1 new case received, 1 case closed (Denied 1), 2 open cases as of 30 June 2025.
- Waiting list: 8 new cases received, 11 cases closed (Denied 5, Maintained 4, No further Action 2), 13 open cases as of 30 June 2025.
- Right to Buy: 7 new referrals, 11 cases closed (Denied 1, Accepted 10), 6 open cases as of 30 June 2025.
- Blue Badges: 5 new referrals, 2 cases closed (No Further Action 2), 7 open cases as of 30 June 2025. 21 blue badges were seized by the BBFI, with only 3 issued by Southwark.
- SIT reactive referrals: 31 new referrals received, 23 rejected, 117 investigations opened, 17 outstanding.
- SIT Investigation Caseload: 117 investigations opened, 20 investigations closed, 422 outstanding at end of period.
- SIT Verification caseload: 77 verifications received, 119 completed, 42 outstanding.
- SIT Outcomes: 6 Properties Recovered, 44 Tenancies Stopped. Total value of fraud detected: £2,478,000.
- National Fraud Initiative (NFI): 907 Processed, 16 Investigating, 625 Cleared, 0 Frauds, 282 Errors. Total Outcomes: £141,232.37
Furthermore, the committee noted the Internal Audit Progress Report for July 2025, along with the final Annual Report and Statement of Assurance for 2024-25. The progress report included updates on the 2024-25 internal audit plan, work undertaken on the 2025-26 plan, and a summary of recommendation statuses. The annual report detailed the work undertaken by internal audit and provided an overview of the effectiveness of controls in place for the full year. Executive summaries of finalised reports were included, covering areas such as emergency planning and resilience, housing tenancy audits, IT cyber security controls, and payments to children and families. The key findings and recommendations are:
- Emergency Planning & Resilience: Level of assurance: Moderate. Areas of concern included insufficient plans to protect from IT disruptions, lack of security clearances for gold and silver commanders, and outdated recovery strategies. There were 2 high and 6 medium recommendations.
- Housing Tenancy Audits: Level of assurance: Limited.
- IT - Cyber Security Controls over Supply Chain: Level of assurance: Moderate. Areas of concern included third-party user access rights not reviewed regularly and lack of consistent setup requirements for ongoing risk assessments of existing suppliers. There were 3 medium recommendations.
- Payments to Children and Families: Level of assurance: Limited. Areas of concern included the Allpay policy not adequately reflecting the legal framework for payments to children and families and a lack of clear eligibility criteria. There were 8 medium recommendations.
The committee also received an update on the progress of implementing audit recommendations from 2023-24, including actions taken by assigned officers. The Progress on Implementation of Audit 2023-24 Recommendations
report, notes that specific actions are recorded against itemised recommendations in Appendix B. The report also notes that most recommendations are green, with some orange where the implementation has necessarily taken a longer time to complete but is nevertheless in train. There are no further actions required to address recommendations from the 23-24 audit.
Finally, the committee reviewed its work programme for 2025-26, ensuring alignment with its purpose and terms of reference.
Attendees at the meeting included Councillor Barrie Hargrove, Councillor Ellie Cumbo, Councillor Dora Dixon-Fyle MBE, Councillor Adam Hood, Councillor Nick Johnson, Councillor Andy Simmons, Councillor Michael Situ, Amrit Mangra, Geraldine Chadwick, Doreen Forrester-Brown, Timothy Jones, Clive Palfreyman, and Virginia Wynn-Jones. The full reports pack is available online.
