Minutes of the East Durham College Audit and Risk Committee Meeting held on 20th March 2025

R Harrison (Chair), J Smith, S Laverick, G Edmunds and D Hartis (independent member)

S. Bullock, Principal and CEO

J. Mitchelson, Vice Principal Finance and Business Planning

C. Briggs, Vice Principal Curriculum and Performance

C. Leece (RSM, External Auditor)

C. McGinley (WBG, Internal Auditor)

S Pritchard (Clerk to Corporation)

V Bailey 

The Chair opened the meeting and invited the auditors to comment.  The External auditor confirmed they had no substantive issues to raise.  The Internal auditor confirmed he had been leading on the two recent reviews and had a very positive experience with college staff.

College Leadership Group joined the meeting

The Chair invited the committee to disclose any interests which related to the items proposed to be discussed on the agenda. There were no interests declared. 

The minutes were approved as a correct record.

Confidential Item discussed. 

The Internal Auditor presented the report and noted that they were able to provide a substantial level of assurance to the committee surrounding the methods in place for sickness and absence management.

The Committee noted there were 1 medium and 1 low recommendation which was comparable to others in the sector.  The medium risk related to the completion of return-to-work meetings and forms and recommended these be completed and that HR provide line managers with sufficient support during the migration to the new Civica HR system.  This is being actioned by the HR manager.  The low risk related to the recommendation to clearly identify roles and responsibilities in the Attendance Management Policy, and it was noted that that this was actioned in December 2024.

The Chair invited questions and comments from the committee.  A member asked for insight on the CLG’s satisfaction with occupational health.  The Vice Principal Curriculum and Quality confirmed they experienced issues with a former provider and therefore have procured a new occupational health provider and will monitor impact as the relationship progresses.

The Chair noted the incomplete return to work forms and queried if this was an administrative issue or if it suggested that interviews were not happening, which had implications for staff wellbeing. The Vice Principal Curriculum and Quality confirmed that in the main it was a recording issue but that there were instances where interviews had not taken place.  HR now have a recording system which allows them to follow up with line managers who do not complete interviews when required.

The Committee noted the report.

The External Auditor provided a verbal update to the committee to confirm that the audit process for the 2025 year end would start in May.

The Vice Principal Finance and Business confirmed that appendix 1 to the report would be brought to the Committee in June as a separate item. 

It was highlighted to the committee that in relation to paragraph 2.4 and appendix 3 and the phishing simulation, no-one had clicked the phishing email or responded to it, but insufficient individuals reported the matter to IT and this would therefore be kept under review.  The Principal also highlighted that an email can appear to be unread when reviewed in a reading pane.

A committee member noted the good partnership with JISC.  With regard to the Windows 11 rollout a committee member asked how many more devices needed to receive the rollout.

Action: Vice Principal Finance and Business to confirm how many machines still needed the Windows 11 rollout over email after the meeting.

The Committee noted the report.

The Vice Principal Finance and Business confirmed no breaches had been identified and that there were 4 waivers in place for the period of the report and explained the reasons for these.

No queries were raised and the committee noted the report.

The Principal presented the report which was confidential due to commercial sensitivity. 

The committee noted the report

It was noted that at the last meeting of the board, the terms of reference for the committee were amended to give the committee greater responsibility around subcontracting. 

Action: present a paper on procurement process to the next audit committee.

The Committee noted the report.

The Vice Principal Finance and Business presented the tracker to the committee and highlighted that it now consolidated all recommendations from internal and external audits to be addressed and managed on an ongoing basis and to be reported back to the committee periodically.  The open recommendations were discussed.

A member raised a query on procurement training as to whether it will be offered or required.  It was confirmed all new starters would receive the training as well as certain roles where it would be mandated.

The updates on the audit tracker were noted.

The external auditor left the meeting.

It was noted that the college was undertaking a procurement process for external audit services and that the deadline for submissions had now closed.  Submissions would be reviewed next week but the early signs were that there were a number of responses which was positive.  It was confirmed that the submissions would be considered as a paper-exercise with no interviews and the proposed appointment would be brought for approval to the May Board meeting. 

The Committee noted the update.

The chair brought the meeting to an end.