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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.
In accordance with the Code of Conduct adopted by the City and County of Swansea, no interests were declared.
Resolved that the Minutes of the previous meeting of the Governance & Audit Committee held on 11 March 2026, were approved as a correct record.
Gareth Jones, Audit Wales, presented the ‘for information only’ report, which summarised the main Annual Audit Summary for Swansea Council. The report summarised the main findings from the 2025 audit work undertaken to fulfil responsibilities under the Public Audit (Wales) Act 2004 and the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015. An unqualified opinion on the accounts would be provided by Audit Wales. The headline messages were outlined as follows. It was noted that the draft accounts were received after the statutory deadline of 30 June 2025. It was also noted that the quality of the draft accounts and working papers was good. It was recognised that the Council had arrangements in place to secure value for money through its risk management, commissioning, and cyber security arrangements. However, it was found that there were opportunities for the Council to strengthen aspects of its arrangements. Several strengthening recommendations were made, and it was noted that there was still some audit work outstanding, which was due to be completed by June 2026. The Chair thanked the Audit Wales representative for the report.
Simon Cockings, Chief Auditor, presented the Internal Audit Charter 2026/2027 ‘for information’. The report outlined the background to the introduction of the Global Internal Audit Standards (GIAS), which replaced the Public Sector Internal Auditing Standards (PSIAS) from 1 April 2025. The report also included the Internal Audit Charter, which was updated in 2025/26 to reflect the requirements of the new GIAS. Discussions were held around the opportunity for a GAP analysis prior to the next external audit in 2028, standards and compliance checks, and the resources available for a training plan. The Chair requested that the Terms of Reference be updated, as the membership and quoracy details were no longer included in the report, and that Democratic Services pick this up.
Part of an issue followed across 2 meetings
Simon Cockings, Chief Auditor, presented a report which summarised the Internal Audit Strategy and Draft Annual Plan for 2026/27 to the Governance and Audit Committee for information and approval. It was explained that the Plan remained unchanged from the previous year and had been reviewed and approved by the Corporate Management Team on 25 March 2026. It was noted that the key documents for review were included in the appendices to the report. The Committee discussed the following matters: • Deferrals – It was noted that deferrals formed part of normal practice, with 10% of the audit plan deferred, which was confirmed to be within normal expectations. It was noted that the table on page 105 set out the reasons for the deferrals. • IT systems – An update was requested on the requirement to buy in IT support for audit systems. It was confirmed that a suite of IT audit programs was available. It was also noted that there was an opportunity to buy in IT support from the shared service, although this was currently a work in progress. • Artificial Intelligence (AI) – It was queried whether AI could be used for audit purposes. It was confirmed that AI was not currently being used, and that this would need to be evaluated to determine how such tools could be utilised. It was agreed that this matter would be raised as an agenda item at the All Wales Chief and Audit Group. Resolved, that the Internal Audit Strategy for the Internal Audit Function and the Draft Internal Audit Annual Plan for 2026/27 be approved. Also, that the Chief Auditor would proceed to request AI be added to the All Wales Chief Auditor and Audit Group.
Lindsey Evans, Head of HR, OD & Wellbeing, presented a ‘for information’ report which provided an update on the Absence Management and Employment of Agency Workers audit reports since April 2025. The recommendations from the audit were highlighted, and it was confirmed that all but one of the April 2025 recommendations had been completed. It was noted that 2025/26 had shown some signs of stabilisation, with improvements demonstrated in Q2 and Q3. The Committee discussed the following: • Agency staff – it was explained that agency staff had been used primarily to maintain services and support workforce stabilisation, with 65 agency workers having moved into permanent Council roles during 2025. • Workforce Planning Framework – this was currently in progress. The Chair and Committee thanked the Head of HR, OD & Wellbeing and team for the report and requested that an update on the data be provided to the Committee in 6–9 months.
Kelly Gillings, West Glamorgan Regional Transformation Programme Director, presented a ‘for information’ report which set out Swansea Council’s position in relation to the Audit Wales review of Urgent and Emergency Care: Flow out of Hospital (March 2025). The report provided Swansea Council’s reflections against each Audit Wales recommendation and included quantified evidence of improvement in Pathways of Care Delays (POCD). It was reported that all recommendations had been completed from Swansea Council’s perspective. It was confirmed that the Council had worked with partners and that the Audit Wales recommendations had also been addressed. The Committee discussed the resilience of the partnership, and it was noted that this was currently being mapped to ensure it remained sustained and resilient. The Chair and Committee thanked the West Glamorgan Regional Transformation Programme Director for the report and requested that an update be provided in 12 months.
The Director of Corporate Services presented a report which provided assurance to the Governance and Audit Committee that risk management arrangements within the Corporate Services Directorate were effective, embedded, and operating in line with the Council’s corporate risk management policy and framework. This included the use of the corporate InPhase risk system and routine review and escalation arrangements, for noting. The Chair thanked the Director of Corporate Services for the report. Resolved that: 1) The Corporate Services Directorate’s risk management arrangements as set out in this report, including how risks are identified, recorded, reviewed, escalated and assured be noted. 2) The key strategic and operational risks currently being managed within Corporate Services, as referenced in this report and Appendix A be noted.
The Council’s Quarter 3 2025/26 Performance report was provided ‘for information’.
The Governance & Audit Committee Action Tracker was reported ‘for information’.
The Governance & Audit Committee Work Plan was reported ‘for information’.
The Committee was requested to exclude the public from the meeting during consideration of the item(s) of business identified in the recommendation(s) to the report on the grounds that it / they involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as set out in the exclusion paragraph of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) (Wales) Order 2007 relevant to the item(s) of business set out in the report. The Committee considered the Public Interest Test in deciding whether to exclude the public from the meeting for the items of business where the Public Interest Test was relevant as set out in the report. Resolved that the public be excluded for the following items of business.
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