Kingston Council is grappling with gaps in building safety fire risk assessments (FRAs), according to the Annual Internal Audit Report presented at the Audit, Governance and Standards Committee meeting on Wednesday 25 June 2025. The report highlighted a lack of a reliable system to monitor the status of FRA remedial actions, raising concerns about the council's ability to ensure the safety of its residential buildings.

The audit, detailed in the Annual Internal Audit report, revealed that there was no complete record or evidence for FRAs completed for 63 blocks under 7 storeys high and records to demonstrate that quarterly checks of fire doors in communal areas had been completed. The report also noted that reporting to senior management did not adequately highlight the backlog and delays in completing FRA remedial actions.

Audit risk assessment chart showing potential impact vs. likelihood of misstatement.
Audit risk assessment chart showing potential impact vs. likelihood of misstatement.Source: Audit, Governance and Standards Committee papers, 25 June 2025

In addition to building safety, the audit uncovered issues in other areas, including:

  • Cemeteries and Crematoria: Failings in fire safety and health and safety management, with unresolved issues from a September 2023 fire risk assessment.
  • Homes for Ukraine: Concerns about the storage of pre-pay cards and missing vouchers.
  • Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG): A need for clearly defined procedural guidance and a review of the Preferred List of Contractors.
  • Health and Safety: High priority Fire Risk Assessment actions and lower priority Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) actions that had not been completed within required timescales.
  • Supported Living, Service Users with Appointeeships: Poor control over service user money and infrequent contract monitoring meetings.

Management has accepted the recommendations made in the report, with due dates of 31 May 2025. Follow up work is in progress to confirm the status of the recommendations and progress will be reported to this Committee at future meetings.

The Audit, Governance and Standards Committee also reviewed the 2024/25 Audit Plan and the Annual Treasury Management Report, and received a summary of complaints made under the Member Code of Conduct.