Gosport Borough Council
Councillors:
27
Wards:
14
Committees:
10
Meetings (2026):
59
Meetings (2025):
50
Meeting
Standards & Audit Sub Board - Gosport
Meeting Times
Scheduled Time
Start:
Thursday, 13th November 2025
6:00 PM
Thursday, 13th November 2025
6:00 PM
End:
Thursday, 13th November 2025
10:00 PM
Thursday, 13th November 2025
10:00 PM
Meeting Status
Status:
Confirmed
Confirmed
Date:
13 Nov 2025
13 Nov 2025
Location:
Council Chamber
Council Chamber
Meeting Attendees
Committee Member
Councillor Kirsty Cox
Present, as expected
Deputy Chair
Councillor Jamie Hutchison
Present, as expected
Chairman
Councillor Robert Hylands
Present, as expected
Committee Member
Councillor Philip Raffaelli CB FRCP
Present, as expected
Agenda
1
Apologies for Non Attendance
Minutes
There were none
2
Declarations of Interest
Minutes
There were none
3
Minutes of the Meeting of the Sub Board held on 18 September 2025
Attachments:
- Document Minutes Public Pack, 18/09/2025 Standards & Audit Sub Board 05 Nov 2025
Minutes
RESOLVED:That the minutes of the meeting held on 18 September were signed as a true and correct record.
4
Deputations- Standing Order 3.4
(NOTE: The Board is required to receive a deputation(s) on a matter which is before the meeting of the Board provided that notice of the intended deputation and its object shall have been received by the Borough Solicitor by 12 noon on Tuesday 11th November. The total time for deputations in favour and against a proposal shall not exceed 10 minutes)
Minutes
There were none
5
Public Questions - Standing Order 3.5
(NOTE: The Board is required to allow a total of 15 minutes for questions from Members of the public on matters within the terms of reference of the Board provided that notice of such Question(s) shall have been submitted to the Borough Solicitor by 12 noon on Tuesday 11th November 2025)
Minutes
There were none
6
Internal Audit progress Report 1st April 2025 to 16th October 2025
To update the sub board on the progress of the Audit Plan 2025/26, agreed (March 2025), to the Members with responsibility for governance.
Attachments:
- Document Audit Progress Covering Report Nov 2025 05 Nov 2025
- Document Appendix A Internal Audit Progress Report GBC November 2025 05 Nov 2025
Minutes
Consideration was given to a report by the Chief Internal Auditor (CIA) updating the sub board on the progress of the Audit Plan 2025/26, agreed (March 2025) to the Members with responsibility for governance.
The CIA introduced his report by advising that this was the standard report brought to sub board, which showed that good progress had been made, and was on course to be able to inform the annual opinion in July. He acknowledged the error in the date in the recommendation, which should read April 2025.
Members were advised that the GBC officer employed in Internal Audit had moved on, and PCC officers would be used to backfill the work until the end of the financial year. The CIA also acknowledged that sickness within the Internal Audit team had caused a delay of about a month to the Council Tax audit.
In answer to a Member’s question, the CIA went through each audit in the report identifying the status of those that had now been completed, those still to be started and those that had been removed from the plan. The CIA agreed to include an update on those audits completed between reports, to send details of the status of the waste contract audit to Members and to confirm the number of audits still to be completed. The CIA gave assurance that he believed the plan for the year would be completed by the time needed to give the annual opinion, usually in July.
Members were concerned that a consistent cause of audits being identified as limited assurance was the failure to have policies in place, and hoped that this would not still be the case when the audits were followed up. The CIA explained that often the policy exists, but is out of date, or officers are unsure where to source it.The audit can often be looking more at process than policy.
Members were advised that there had been a lot of progress made in filling the policy gaps, identified through the audit process. Actions arising from audits has now been made a standing item on the Corporate Management Team meetings agenda. How policy data is being stored and updated will be addressed within the IT strategy and the migration to the Cloud. It is a work in progress but should start to provide benefits soon.
The CIA explained that section heads provide timelines for completion of audit actions and follow-ups in discussion with the auditor. The CEX is aware of these timelines and can challenge if it is believed that any risk outweighs the timeline. Officers are made aware that they can be asked to attend Standards and Audit Sub Board to explain any failures to meet the agreed timelines.
RESOLVED: That the Standards and Audit sub board noted the progress of the Audit Plan 2025/26 from 1st April 2025 to 16 October 2025 as set out in appendix A
The CIA introduced his report by advising that this was the standard report brought to sub board, which showed that good progress had been made, and was on course to be able to inform the annual opinion in July. He acknowledged the error in the date in the recommendation, which should read April 2025.
Members were advised that the GBC officer employed in Internal Audit had moved on, and PCC officers would be used to backfill the work until the end of the financial year. The CIA also acknowledged that sickness within the Internal Audit team had caused a delay of about a month to the Council Tax audit.
In answer to a Member’s question, the CIA went through each audit in the report identifying the status of those that had now been completed, those still to be started and those that had been removed from the plan. The CIA agreed to include an update on those audits completed between reports, to send details of the status of the waste contract audit to Members and to confirm the number of audits still to be completed. The CIA gave assurance that he believed the plan for the year would be completed by the time needed to give the annual opinion, usually in July.
Members were concerned that a consistent cause of audits being identified as limited assurance was the failure to have policies in place, and hoped that this would not still be the case when the audits were followed up. The CIA explained that often the policy exists, but is out of date, or officers are unsure where to source it.The audit can often be looking more at process than policy.
Members were advised that there had been a lot of progress made in filling the policy gaps, identified through the audit process. Actions arising from audits has now been made a standing item on the Corporate Management Team meetings agenda. How policy data is being stored and updated will be addressed within the IT strategy and the migration to the Cloud. It is a work in progress but should start to provide benefits soon.
The CIA explained that section heads provide timelines for completion of audit actions and follow-ups in discussion with the auditor. The CEX is aware of these timelines and can challenge if it is believed that any risk outweighs the timeline. Officers are made aware that they can be asked to attend Standards and Audit Sub Board to explain any failures to meet the agreed timelines.
RESOLVED: That the Standards and Audit sub board noted the progress of the Audit Plan 2025/26 from 1st April 2025 to 16 October 2025 as set out in appendix A
7
Any Other Items
Minutes
Previous Meetings
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