Norfolk County Council's Audit and Governance Committee is set to gain new statutory powers following the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026, which received Royal Assent in April this year.

For the first time, the legislation places local authority audit committees on a formal legal footing and requires councils to appoint at least one independent member — someone from outside the council — to sit on the committee.

Committee chair Cllr George Boyd informed members of the change at the July meeting, but cautioned that the detail is not yet fully settled. The supporting regulations remain at an early stage, and the government has yet to publish a clear definition of what counts as an independent member.

The committee was told it would receive an update once those requirements had been clarified.

Currently, Norfolk's Audit and Governance Committee is made up entirely of elected councillors. The new law could require the council to recruit an outside expert to join the committee, bringing a different perspective to its oversight of the council's finances, governance, and risk management.

Audit committees play a key role in holding councils to account, scrutinising how public money is spent and whether proper controls are in place. Placing them on a statutory footing means their existence and minimum requirements will be set in law, rather than relying on guidance alone.

Norfolk County Council will need to ensure it complies once the regulations are finalised, though no deadline has yet been set for the change.