Agenda and draft minutes

Not in attendance:

CC U Arif (Vice Chair) - apologies

CC A Blake - apologies

CC P Buckley - apologies

Members are asked to consider any pecuniary and non-pecuniary interests they may have to disclose to the meeting in relation to matters under consideration on the agenda.

None received.

The minutes were moved by County Councillor J Ash and seconded by Councillor B Langford.

Resolved: - That the Minutes of the last meeting held on Tuesday 30 June 2026 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

An error was noted in terms of the role title of Councillor B Langford (this had been wrongly recorded as being County Councillor B Langford in the minutes). This had been amended.

The minutes were moved by County Councillor J Ash and seconded by Councillor B Langford.

Resolved: - That the Minutes of the last meeting held on Tuesday 18 August 2026 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

The report was presented by the Monitoring Officer who referred to the review which had taken place of the Constitution which was approved by the CFA at the September meeting. It was always anticipated that some changes might be required once the new Constitution was in use, hence the need for a discussion regarding some anomalies which had been identified with regards to voting procedures. The MO thanked

Councillor B Langford for raising, via email prior to the meeting, some questions and comments regarding various inconsistencies which the MO would respond to as part of this meeting.

It was noted that the Terms of Reference for this Committee were amended in the new Constitution to the effect that any major changes required would be submitted to the Full Authority but this Committee would have the power to discuss and make minor changes. The MO would also have the power to make other even more minor amendments such as correcting typing errors.

The MO then asked whether this Committee would like to have the power to make some decisions regarding minor amends and to make recommendations to the Full Authority for anything it considered a more significant change; this would require a change to the Committee’s Terms of Reference (ToR) if so.

County Councillor J Ash stated that they were keen to avoid creating unnecessary additional layers of bureaucracy and therefore considered it sensible for minor decisions to be discussed and approved by this Committee. Councillor B Langford noted that the appropriateness of this approach would depend on the nature and significance of the proposed change.

Members indicated that they were in support of the suggestion for this Committee to make decisions on minor changes and for the Audit, Risk and Governance Committee TOR to be updated to this effect. The MO went on to indicate that he would prepare a paper for submission to the Full Authority to address some of the other Constitution queries that were raised by Councillor B Langford.

Voting for Chair and Vice-Chair

At the extraordinary meeting of the Audit Committee on 18 August 2026, the Committee had considered the proposed new constitution for the Fire Authority.

One of the matters discussed was in relation to voting procedures and in particular anonymous votes versus named (recorded) votes. The Monitoring Officer was tasked with ascertaining what the correct course of action should be if both an anonymous and a named vote were requested for the same matter. Research showed that accepted practice would be for the named vote to take precedence in these circumstances (as set out in the standard textbook - Knowles on Local Authority Meetings and is also what happens at Lancashire County Council). This was now reflected in paragraph 41 of Standing Order 7:- If both a recorded (named) vote and an anonymous vote are proposed and voted in favour for the same item, then it is the recorded (named) vote that will take precedence. Paragraphs 44 and 45 set out the procedure for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22-26/27

The report which was presented by the Audit Manager, S Oldendorp, set out progress against the Internal Audit Plan for 2026-27 for the period ended 16 September 2026.

It confirmed that seven and a half audit days had been completed to date, with planning work underway on the governance review, initial planning for the accounts payable, accounts receivables and general ledger audits, and ongoing management activity. No assurance opinions had been issued at this stage.

The report also noted the proposed timing of planned audit work. The Protection review was scheduled to commence in quarter three to reflect the transfer to a new system, and the Complaints Management Process review was scheduled for quarter four to allow the new policy and processes introduced in April 2026 to become fully embedded.

County Councillor J Ash asked if there was confidence that the plan would be completed to time. Internal auditors expressed confidence that the main pieces of work should be completed to time and a full report would be available in quarter 1.

Resolved: - That the Committee noted the report.

Grant Thornton’s External Audit Progress and Sector Update Report was presented andprovided the Audit, Risk and Governance Committee with an update on the 2025-26 external audit.

The audit was progressing well and to schedule, with risk assessment and systems documentation completed and financial statements fieldwork well underway with weekly meetings in place with management. The draft accounts and supporting working papers were received on time and were of good quality, with effective engagement from officers. Value for Money work was also progressing, with a focus on financial sustainability, the medium-term financial strategy, budget monitoring and follow-up of two improvement recommendations from 2024-25. The Audit Findings Report, Auditor’s Report and Annual Auditor’s Report were expected in November 2026.

The report also highlighted developments across the local government sector including governance expectations, proposed revisions to Best Value statutory guidance and local government reorganisation.

No significant audit issues or formal recommendations had been identified at this stage, and no decisions were required from the Committee.

Members were asked to note the progress made, maintain oversight of the remaining audit work and reporting timetable, and consider the potential implications of the wider sector developments outlined in the report.

In relation to a query from Councillor B Langford regarding the June 2026 Audit Committee minutes in which the 2025-26 external audit engagement fee had been recorded as £105,900, a discrepancy was noted and the correct figure was confirmed as £105,938.

Resolved: - That the Committee noted the external auditor’s progress report and sector updates.

The Director of Corporate Services (DoCS) presented the report.

Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service (LFRS) continued to strengthen its approach to organisational risk management, aligning policy and practice with ISO 31000:2018, National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) guidance, and HM Treasury's Orange Book: Management of Risk – Principles and Concepts. Risk management remained embedded within the Service's governance framework, supporting ongoing scrutiny, informed decision-making and proportionate allocation of resources to risk treatment.

As reported in June, the Service had also continued to develop its risk management framework through closer alignment with HM Treasury's Orange Book. This included enhancements to the Corporate Risk Register to improve visibility of risk treatment requirements, resource implications and associated financial considerations, enabling the financial and value-for-money consequences of risk treatment to be considered alongside operational risk exposure.

Risk management remained a core component of organisational resilience, enabling Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service (LFRS) to anticipate, understand and respond effectively to uncertainty that might impact operational delivery, strategic objectives, financial sustainability or organisational reputation.

The Service continued to operate a tiered approach to risk identification, assessment and escalation, with departmental risk registers informing discussion at Directorate level before escalation to the Corporate Risk Register where risks exceeded local tolerance thresholds or presented wider organisational implications.

There was no significant change to the Service's highest-rated risks. Retention and recruitment of on-call staff (11f) and replacement of the existing mobilising system (11g) continued to represent the most significant areas of organisational exposure. These risks remain influenced by long-term external factors and sector-wide pressures rather than deterioration in internal controls or mitigation activity.

A change (decreased risk) had been identified since the previous report to the Committee. This was for Industrial Action. It was noted that the likelihood score for the Industrial Action risk had been reduced following acceptance of the 2026 grey book pay settlement, which included a 3.8% pay award which was effective from 1 July 2026. The potential impact on LFRS was now assessed as significantly lower. The impact score remained unchanged.

The Service continued to monitor a range of emerging issues that might influence future risk exposure, including geopolitical instability, economic pressures, workforce challenges, national infrastructure programmes and wider public sector reform. Any material changes would be assessed and incorporated into the Corporate Risk Register through established governance arrangements.

Overall, the risk landscape remained stable, with established governance and mitigation arrangements in place. Several key risks remained subject to external factors, sector-wide pressures and national programme dependencies, and would continue to require active monitoring and oversight.

The Chair invited questions from Members. Councillor B Langford, asked whether the wording for item 12c of the Risk Register was still considered to be accurate given that the government had paused Local Government Reorganisation (LGR). In response, the Chair and representative for internal audit both commented that they felt the current wording remained applicable as LGR was still viewed as a ‘live’ issue.

Resolved: - That the Committee

·         Noted the Service’s current risk management arrangements; and

·         Noted the latest  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25-26/27

The  DoCS referred to the Authority’s scheme of delegation, formally adopted by the Authority on Monday 21 September 2026, which stated that authority was delegated to the CFO for expenditure outside of budget up to £200,000 in each financial year.

A report on the use of this delegated power would be brought to each meeting of the Audit, Risk and Governance committee, even if it was a nil report.

For the financial year (commencing 1 April 2026) up to 23 September 2026, it was reported that there had been no expenditure that falls within this delegated authority.

The Chair enquired why matters relating to the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) did not come to this Committee. The MO commented that he had explored this when the Constitution was being reviewed, and the indication was that the powers had been removed from fire services or were now defunct.  The representative from internal audit reiterated that, though RIPA was still relevant for public authorities, it would not be something that Fire Authorities would be expected to engage in. The MO indicated however, that he would investigate this again for clarity.

Resolved: - That the Committee noted the report.

The next scheduled meeting of the Committee has been agreed for 10:00 hours on 15 December 2026 in the Main Conference Room, Service Headquarters, Fulwood.

Further meetings are:        scheduled for 25 March 2027

                                         proposed for 30 June 2027

The next meeting of the Committee would be held on Tuesday 15 December 2026 at 10:00 hours in the Main Conference Room at Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service Headquarters, Fulwood.

Further meeting dates were noted for 25 March 2027 and agreed for 30 June 2027.

Glossary of terms used in reports

AGS                Annual Governance Statement

BREEAM       Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method

CAD                Computer Aided Dispatch

CCTV             Closed Circuit TV

CDM               Construction Design and Management regulations

CIPFA            Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy

CMA               Competition and Markets Authority

CRMP            Community Risk Management Plan

DCP               Day Crewing Plus

DDaT              Digital, Data and Technology

DTAG             Driver Training Advisory Group

ECR               Emergency Cover Review

EDI                 Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

ESMCP          Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme

ESN                Emergency Services Network

LDC                Leadership Development Centre

LFRS              Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service

LGR                Local Government Reorganisation

MDT                Mobile Data Terminals

MHCLG          Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

MTFS             Medium-Term Financial Strategy

NFCC             National Fire Chiefs Council

NJC                National Joint Council

NWFC                        North West Fire Control

PSAA             Public Sector Audit Appointments

REP                Response and Emergency

RTC                Road Traffic Collision

SHQ               Service Headquarters

SOLACE        Society of Local Authority Chief Executives

TOIL                Time off in lieu

UPS                Uninterruptible power supply