Governance

Audit Committee

Audit Committee

The Audit Committee members are Humphrey Singer (who Chairs the Committee), Mark Castle and Scilla Grimble.

Audit Committee Report

Terms of Reference

Humphrey Singer

Audit Committee summary

The objective of the Audit Committee is to assist the Board in fulfilling its corporate governance responsibilities relating to the Group’s financial reporting, risk and internal control framework and any other matters referred to it by the Board.

The key activities and areas of focus for the Audit Committee 2022 were:

- Continued to oversee measures to ensure the Company’s IT operating environment remained robust, supported the Company in a year of planned changes and oversaw measures to ensure it remained protected against cyber and other threats
- Gained assurance on required changes to key processes and controls, particularly in relation to the New Homes Ombudsman and the Future Homes Standard
- Oversaw preparations for expected changes in law and regulation affecting financial governance
- Oversaw the transition to the new Head of Internal Audit

2023 key areas of focus:

- To gain assurance that management action on, and investment in, cyber security, and the programme to digitise our production procedures will further strengthen our overall control environment
- To monitor the Group’s readiness for the adoption of any financial governance and ongoing corporate reporting changes resulting from any regulatory requirements instigated by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) or the Financial Reporting Council (FRC)
- To gain assurance that key business controls, in particular segregation of duties and delegation of authority, remain effective following any business restructure