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There is no summary of this meeting yet. One is written once the council publishes the minutes. The agenda and papers are below.
1.1 Lay Member Gareth Chapman (Chair), Councillors Mark Howells and Debbie Harvey.
2.1 None.
3.1 The Committee approved the minutes as a true and accurate record. 3.2 The Committee noted a point of accuracy on paragraph 8.3, where a word was missing and asked for this to be rectified.
3a.1 The Committee noted a point of accuracy that the deadline for the Draft Statement of Accounts should be updated from November 2025 to January 2026.
4.1 The Audit Wales Officer presented a summary of the report to the Committee. - The National Fraud Initiative (NFI) is a biennial UK-wide counter-fraud exercise. - It helps prevent and detect fraud by electronically sharing and matching data sets. - In Wales, the NFI operates under the Auditor General’s statutory powers. - This paper provides an update on the latest NFI 2024-25 exercise at a national level, as of 31 July 2025. - The NFI 2024-25 exercise is underway, and participants submitted data for the biennial batch data matching exercise in October 2024. - This included data on housing benefits, housing tenants and waiting lists, blue badge parking permits, licences, and various payments such as creditor payments, payroll and pensions. 4.2 The Committee noted the contents of the report.
5.1 The Chief Internal Auditor presented a summary of the report to the Committee. - The report seeks feedback from the Governance and Audit Committee on the revised Anti-Fraud, Bribery and Corruption Policy before it is shared with Cabinet for approval. - The policy sets out the Council’s commitment to countering fraud and corruption, alongside the Fraud Response Plan, to ensure public funds are protected from the risk of fraud and that the Council’s affairs continue to be conducted with integrity, honesty and openness. - The Internal Audit team aims to provide assurance around the adequacy of the Council’s internal control environment to ensure that public funds are spent appropriately and that fraud, theft and corruption is minimised. 5.2 The Committee noted the contents of the report. 5.3 The Committee queried whether the final sentence of Paragraph 11.3 required the word ‘if’ to be added. 5.4 The Strategic Director for Transformation and Corporate informed the Committee that a written management response will be brought to the Committee at the next meeting around mandatory training for staff and members.
6.1 The Chief Internal Auditor presented a summary of the report to the Committee. - The National Fraud Initiative (NFI) is a biennial UK-wide counter-fraud exercise. It uses computerised techniques to compare information about individuals held by different public bodies, and on different financial systems, which might suggest the existence of fraud or error. - Audit Wales have prepared this checklist to help participating bodies self-appraise how they are engaging with the NFI. - In April 2025, Newport City Council joined the South West Audit Partnership (SWAP) Internal Audit partnership, prior to this the NFI was being managed within the in-house internal audit team, and the checklist had not been completed to date. - The responsibility for NFI has now transferred to SWAP Internal Audit Services and SWAP recognise there is some further work that needs to be done to ensure the Council are engaging effectively and pragmatically with the NFI. - The main areas where action is needed include reporting to the Governance and Audit Committee, more formal and proactive engagement with service areas and utilisation of the NFI web application/system and the tools it offers. 6.2 The Committee noted the contents of the report. 6.3 The Chief Internal Auditor informed the Committee that completion deadlines will be reviewed and updated with the comments of the Committee and will be brought back to a later meeting as part of the work programme.
7.1 The Head of People, Policy and Transformation presented a summary of the report to the Committee. - The Compliments, Comments and Complaints Annual Report 2024/25 was previously reviewed by the Governance and Audit Committee on the 31st July 2025. - Following that review, the Council received the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales (PSOW) Annual Letter on the 30th September 2025. - In response, the Annual Report has been updated to reflect the Ombudsman’s findings. - The PSOW Annual letter is also appended for reference. - The additions further demonstrate the Council’s commitment to transparency, responsiveness, and continuous improvement in service delivery. 7.2 The Committee noted the contents of the report. 7.3 The Strategic Director for Transformation and Corporate confirmed that a written response would be provided to the Committee around refused complaints outlining the reasons for refusals.
8.1 The Senior Finance Business Partner presented a summary of the report to the Committee. - The report is to inform of treasury activities undertaken within the first half of the financial year 2025-26 and updates the Committee on the position in relation to the Treasury Management prudential indicators as of September 2025. - The report will be presented to Cabinet and then Council, and will include relevant comments and observations made by the Committee in this meeting. - In line with the agreed Treasury Management Strategy, the Council continues to be both a short-term investor and borrower of cash to manage day-to-day cash flows. - Within the first half of this financial year, the authority has taken three long term loans from the PWLB and one temporary loan from a local authority. - This was done at a time when rates reduced so the authority took advantage of the slightly favourable rates that were available as there is a need to borrow within this financial year. - This is in line with the agreed 2025-26 Capital and Treasure Strategy. 8.2 The Committee noted the contents of the report.
9.1 The Chief Internal Auditor presented a summary of the report to the Committee. - The report aims to inform the Committee of the progress made on the completion of audits within the Rolling Audit Plan as well as an update relating to all other activities completed by the Internal Audit and Counter Fraud teams. - The report gives assurance on the adequacy of the internal control environment operated within the Council by showing the audit opinions given on work undertaken. - The Rolling Opinion takes into consideration the completed audits for 2025/26, the work that is at report stage and in progress. - The work completed so far means the Chief Internal Auditor is still on track to give an annual opinion. - Since the Q1 update, 10 pieces of work have been completed. The cumulative total of work completed to date is 12. - Two limited assurances have been identified and there has been 1 Priority one finding and 5 priority two actions agreed. 9.2 The Committee noted the contents of the report. 9.3 The Chief Internal Auditor informed the Committee that training would be provided to them on the new SWAP Audit system ahead of the January 2026 meeting. 9.4 The Chief Internal Auditor informed the Committee that Limited Assurances will always be included in their update and they will confirm if these reports can be issued to the Committee when they are sent to officers. 9.5 The Committee requested that a report on Appointeeships be brought to Committee following the limited assurance received. 9.6 The Committee requested that a report on Payment Cards be brought to Committee following the limited assurance received.
10.1 The Governance Officer provided summary of the Work Programme to the Committee. - The Committee were informed that Corporate Risk Register Q2 update was being added to January 2026 meeting. - The Call-ins suggested by the Committee will be added to the Work Programme: o Appointeeship o Payment Cards
11.1 22 January 2026
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