East Durham College Audit & Risk Committee 22nd June 2026

R Harrison (Chair),V Bailey, S Laverick, J Bromiley (observer) 

Meeting held via Teams:

S. Bullock, Principal and CEO 

J. Mitchelson, Vice Principal Finance and Business Planning 

C. Briggs, Vice Principal Curriculum and Performance 

S. Lawe (RSM, External Auditor) 

S. Pringle (WBG, Internal Auditor) 

S. Pritchard (Clerk to Corporation) 

Apologies received from J Patrickson and C Lauder.  

The Chair welcomed the committee to the meeting and invited auditors to raise any points with the committee and vice versa.  No comments were raised and the college leadership group were admitted to the meeting. 

The Chair asked committee members to disclose any conflicts of interest relating to the items on the agenda, no conflicts were declared. 

The committee confirmed the minutes as a true and accurate record of the meeting.  

 It was noted that all matters arising were on the agenda for the meeting, other than the following:  

• the Chair asked if the Cyber Security training was arranged which was confirmed
• it was confirmed that subcontracting arrangements were discussed by the board in May 

Budgetary Financial Reporting 

WBG reported an overall strong level of assurance surrounding the College’s budgetary and financial management arrangements.  It was noted that there were several good practice points, one recommendation for improvement, and four observations for consideration. 

A committee member was disappointed to see only 6 out of 20 responses received to questionnaires and queried if this reflects the sector.  WBG confirmed that this was low and that they would typically see 50% response rate.  The committee felt that this was a worrying response rate.  The Principal confirmed this was not a response rate that was reflective of his expectations and queried if there was a way to encourage better engagement through working more closely with the college.  WBG agreed to review the circumstances around the response rates and feed this back to the college. 

In response to a query it was confirmed that responses were anonymous.  A committee member queried the benchmarks again and asked that the internal auditors disclose the number of colleges against which the benchmark was made. 

The Principal highlighted the works already identified and being undertaken by the College in this area. 

 The committee noted the strong report. 

Action: 

Principal to enhance the liaison between the College and WBG to actively manage and promote higher response rates to surveys and equivalent processes. 

WBG to disclose the number of colleges against which any benchmarks are made for all future internal audit reports. 

NECA Subcontractor Controls 

WBG reported that the College has appropriate subcontracting arrangements in place and that these are embedded across the College; and confirmed that the College has adequate arrangements to manage and oversee delivery subcontractors.  WBG’s review of the College’s NECA funded ASF subcontracted provision found that it is complying with NECA rules on delivery subcontracting.  There were two low grade potential improvement points and three observations for consideration. 

A committee member queried, from a risk perspective, if all sub-contracts are signed off by one Assistant Principal, and it was confirmed that this was undertaken jointly with the Vice Principal; and the committee were informed about plans to update monthly monitoring information.  

It was confirmed that the College undertakes monthly visits to subcontractors but that the recommendation was for a formal schedule of quality assurance visits for all subcontractors where visits are planned for the year but in accordance with scheduled delivery. 

 The committee noted the strong report. 

Funding Review 16-19 

WBG reported that it could provide strong level of assurance over the College’s 16 to 19 arrangements.  They raised one low grade recommendation and three observations as a result of testing and identified five good practice points.  The committee was informed that the benchmark was against 30 colleges. 

The committee noted the 60% non-alignment of dates for the learners assessed and queried how the resulting recommendation was assessed as low rather than high.  It was confirmed that this was an administrative point with no effect on the funding.  The Chair queried how far out of alignment the dates were, and it was confirmed it was a small number of days and therefore not particularly significant. 

A committee member noted internal check-in mechanisms and queried if the auditors were satisfied with how it operates at the college.  The auditor confirmed that WBG’s funding manager was happy with the approach, did individual testing, and  that it was in line with how other colleges operate and the DfE’s expectations.  The Vice Principal Finance confirmed the College was already working on this for the future to provide greater clarity.  

 The committee noted a strong outcome for the report. 

Annual Report 25-26 

WBG presented the report and the committee noted the summary provided.  It was noted that WBG has an EQA assessment every 2 years and that in the last review there were no recommendations for improvement.  It was further noted that WBG was satisfied that sufficient internal audit work had been undertaken to allow WBG to draw a conclusion as to the adequacy and effectiveness of the College’s risk management control and governance processes.  In WBG’s opinion, the College did have adequate and effective risk management, control and governance processes to manage its achievement of the College’s objectives at the time of its work and that it has proper arrangements to promote and secure value for money. 

The committee noted the report. 

Annual Plan 26-27 

The committee noted the proposal to cover the following topics for internal audit for 26/27: college financial handbook, funding (apprenticeships), cyber security, HR (either appraisal process, payroll, recruitment and retention or policies).  The VP Finance confirmed that these proposals for work linked to the strategic risk register and confirmed the CLG’s preference was to focus on payroll for the internal audit for HR and explained the reasoning for this. 

A committee member explained that they had reviewed internal audits from 2023 onwards and highlighted that no review had been undertaken on capital bids during that period and asked that this be considered.  The Committee also asked for a focus in future years on estate planning (and its connection to capital bids); the availabiltiy and reliability of management information, once the changes to this area currently in train had been iplemented); and appraisal/performance management.  It was agreed that these would be planned in during the three year cycle. 

The proposed plan was agreed and  that the HR audit for 26/27 would focus on payroll. 

The Chair thanked WBG for their reports for this academic year and the timeliness of their submissions. 

Action: 

To include (1) capital bids (including estate management), (2) availability and reliability of management information, and (3) appraisal/performance management within this three year internal audit cycle (i.e. across 2027-28 and 2028-29) 

 Stephen Pringle left the meeting 

External Audit Plan 

RSM presented the report to the committee and the Vice Principal Finance confirmed that it was in line with her expectations.  A committee member invited the College to undertake checks systematically in anticipation of the audit so that there were no surprises. The Vice Principal Finance confirmed that the changes that had been made to the team were already reflecting this request in anticipation of the audit.  A committee member queried if there was any impact of any issues in previous audit years that had informed this approach and queried if there was anything the College could do to sequence the audit smoothly over the autumn period.  RSM confirmed that issues in previous years affect the risk profile for this year and the Vice Principal explained how this was approached and the planning for this year but flagged that timings would again be tight for the December meeting.  The committee noted that the later scehduling of its autumn meeting had been effective in ensuring the timeliness of consideration of audit outcomes, but that it was important that all documents for this meeting were circulated in a timely way to allow members sufficient time to scrutinise these documents prior to the meeting. 

The committee noted and accepted the report 

FE Emerging Issues 

RSM presented the emerging issues and highlighted the key risks around geopolitical change, cyber-attacks, and governance lag on AI and the use of it in the sector as a tool.  It was further noted that there would be changes to the updated SORP and changes to financial statements.  

Action 

To circulate the emerging issues report to the wider Board.  

 Sam Lawes left the meeting 

 J Bromiley left the meeting 

Risk Management 

The Principal presented the report to the committee and asked the committee to note the controls in place at the College, the influence over the risk scores and the further proposed mitigation actions, and the movement in risk scores and the addition of risks since the last meeting of the committee in March 2026.  The Principal further asked that the committee consider and approve the updated summary of the strategic risks for the College, as determined by the College Leadership Group at their 2 June 2026 meeting. 

The Principal provided an update on the ED6 proposals and fed back on the key outcomes from the consultation process and confirmed that it was looking hopeful that the College may be able to teach out for the forthcoming year but that this would likely need to be added to the risk register for reasons previously discussed at board.  A committee member queried whether there would be a pay increase for staff and if not, its impact on this proposal.  The Principal confirmed that a 2 year agreement was put in place with one union, and that further consideration was required for business support staff but that budgets would be tight, as always anticipated for the next year.  The committee noted that while the risk relating to management information had not, as it had hoped, fallen by the end of the current academic year, the report demonstrated the progress that was being made in this area; agreed that the risk scoring was appropriate; and that it would expect to see this scoring reduce as the action being taken was completed and embedded. A further update was provided on the executive director post for management information that is due to commence in September. 

The committee approved the summary of strategic risks.

Sub-Contract Arrangements 

The Vice Principal Curriculum and Quality presented the report and asked the committee to note the progress made by subcontracted partners towards their annual delivery agreements.  In particular it was noted that two of three subcontractors have achieved their agreed income target and one had an increase to their contract value in year and are on track to achieve this.  It was noted that the College would go early to tender for next year to assist in meeting the adult skills fund target. 

The committee congratulated the College Leadership Group on their work in this area and noted the report. 

Breaches and Waivers and High Value Orders 

The Vice Principal Finance presented the report and confirmed no breaches and six waivers which were all fully justified.  The committee noted the report. 

The report was noted. 

Cyber Security 

The Vice Principal Finance presented the report and highlighted that phishing is a high priority in training staff on identifying issues and actions that must be taken.  The Chair asked for clarity on training for the board and their awareness of cyber security issues in the sector, given the increasing number and sophisticaion of cyber attacks in the sector.  The committee noted the report. 

Action 

Vice Principal Finance to speak with Chris Lauder on what training and awareness on cyber security would be beneficial for the board. 

The Committee noted the report.  

Audit Tracker 

The Vice Principal presented the tracker and highlighted progress on outstanding items and confirmed there were no particular areas of concern.  The Chair requested that the audit tracker update the target implementation date where matters are ongoing. 

 Action 

Vice Principal Finance to update the target implementation date for any items which are ongoing on the audit tracker. 

The Committee noted the progress against recommendations 

Finance Transformation Report 

The Vice Principal presented the paper to the committee and explained its purpose and confirmed that progress was being made towards the agreed objectives.  The Chair noted that a short summary of meetings between the Principal and Vice Principal is being circulated to the Chair and Chair of board and has been helpful.  The Chair queried if there is information available as to the cost of the financial transformation.  The Vice Principal confirmed this was not specifically available, but confirmed that there was a significant investment in improving how the college operates. 

Action 

Vice Principal Finance to provide details on the costs of financial transformation to give the committee insight into the scale of what she is looking to achieve 

A committee member noted the introduction of restrictions to under 16s on social media and queried if there were any concerns for the College on college accounts.  It was confirmed that students cannot access social media on college accounts, but can use the college’s Wi-Fi for their personal devices. 

Action: 

Vice Principal Curriculum to check with IT on what procedures are in place around use of phones/personal devices in College on college networks, in particular in light of restrictions to under 16 use of social media.