There are 'significant risks' associated with the way Swindon Borough Council manages its relations with a regional adoption agency.

That’s according to a report by the council’s own auditors who conducted the study into how the council works with the Adopt Thames Valley agency and produced their report in the last three months.

The report says there are significant concerns about how the council operates with the agency which was set up in 2017 as a combination of the borough council, and six other local authorities.

The main management of the agency is run by Oxfordshire County Council, and whether ATV is meeting both the needs of Swindon families and the council itself.

The summary of the report to be presented to the council’s audit committee says: “The council should ensure that there is consistent attendance at the ATV oversight board and a request should be made for a review of the Governance arrangements of ATV to be carried out to ensure it is robust and operating effectively.

It adds: “Clarification of the post-adoption support provided by ATV under the agreement should be obtained and reviewed to confirm that it meets the needs of Swindon families.

“Details of the progress towards achieving the aims and objectives set out in the agency agreement should be obtained and used to assess the performance of ATV and to determine whether the outcomes meet the needs of the council.”

The auditors want a detailed review of performance and costs and a comparison made with other regional adoption agencies “ to establish whether the council is getting value for money from the current agreement.”

The auditors are also concerned that the council is underperforming compared to national indicators in two areas and would like to see a detailed review of its performance to find out why and to indicate how it can be improved.

The report to the committee will also identify two other audits where concerns have been raised, though less urgently than those about the adoption agency.

Concerns have been raised about the authority’s social housing allocation process – which is meant to allocate housing to those most in need – and the way the council monitors its capital assets and spending.

Capital assets are long-term assets such as land, buildings, vehicles and equipment, and capital budgets are separate from the day-to-day spending of the revenue budget.

The audit committee will meet at 6pm on Tuesday, September 17.