Issue - meetings

REPORT OF THE POLICY & COMMUNITY MANAGER

To review the draft Annual Governance Statement (AGS) 2021/22 including Action Plan for the year 2022/23.

RESOLVED: That the Committee reviews and comments on the draft Annual Governance Statement Action Plan for it to be finalised for approval as soon as possible after the Council’s External Audit has been completed.

REASON FOR DECISION: The Committee is the legal body with responsibility for approval of the AGS. Reporting the draft AGS and Action Plan at this stage provides an opportunity for the Committee to assess and comment on the draft before it is finalised and brought back for approval after the External Audit has been completed.

Audio Recording: 31 minutes 10 seconds

The Policy & Community Manager presented the report entitled Annual Governance Statement 2021/22 and highlighted the following key points:

·       This is the Committee’s opportunity to comment on the draft action plan before being finalised;

·       The draft Annual Governance Statement is prepared after a self-assessment by the Leadership Team against the 7 principles of the Local Government Framework 2017 and are scored;

·       The policy team are in the process of making some amendments of this self-assessment before the Statement of Accounts come for approval;

·       Appendix A is a synthesised version of the AGS.

The following Members asked questions:

·       John Cannon, FAR Independent Member

The Policy & Community Manager advised the following:

·       The Self-Assessment document goes into more detail on ‘Principle F: Managing risks and performance through robust internal control and strong public financial management’ (pg.112) however more information can be provided if necessary.

The Policy and Community Manager responded that he would email the Committee members and receive comments on what information they want to see under Principle F.

The Service Director – Resources informed the Committee there is a requirement to approve the AGS prior to approving the Statement of Accounts, likely to be coming to the committee in March.

RESOLVED: That the Committee reviews and comments on the draft Annual Governance Statement Action Plan for it to be finalised for approval as soon as possible after the Council’s External Audit has been completed.

REASON FOR DECISION: The Committee is the legal body with responsibility for approval of the AGS. Reporting the draft AGS and Action Plan at this stage provides an opportunity for the Committee to assess and comment on the draft before it is finalised and brought back for approval after the External Audit has been completed.