Agenda item

To present to the Committee the progress on outstanding actions identified by the Committee along with general updates on other issues that fall within the responsibilities of the Committee.

The Committee was presented with a report on the progress of outstanding actions previously identified by the Committee along with general updates on other issues that fell within the responsibilities of the Committee. The Table of Outstanding Issues had been reviewed and updated since it had last been considered by the Committee in March 2023.

There were currently two main elements to this report as follows:

1) Updates against general items raised by the Committee

2) Updates against the 2021/22 Annual Governance Statement Action Plan

Members heard that in terms of item 1) above, there were no significant issues to raise, with actions remaining in progress or further details set out in the report.  In terms of item 2), at the time of finalising this report, the Annual Governance Statement for 2023 remained subject to being finalised alongside the Statement of Accounts, where there had been a delay in its publication due to the ongoing impact of the External Auditor’s delay in completing their necessary work for earlier years (the Statement of Accounts for 2020/21 and 2021/22 remained subject to this ongoing delay). 

In terms of the review of the Annual Governance Statement for 2023 mentioned above, the associated action plan set out within that Statement would include the on-going / outstanding items set out within Appendix B along with the consideration of a number of actions that aimed to reflect the issues and challenges now faced by the Council such as:-

•           Review of the Local Code of Corporate Governance and Key Policies and Procedures

•           A review of the Council’s Corporate Risk Register and business continuity

           arrangements

•           Delivering financially sustainability

•           Developing the management of performance and delivery

•           Review of the Effectiveness of the Audit Committee

•           Review of Departmental Plans in the context of corporate priorities and vision

As highlighted above the Statement of Accounts 2020/21 remained subject to the conclusion of the work of the External Auditor.  The External Auditor had indicated a commitment to finalise their work by September 2023 and therefore, subject to the availability of their associated audit completion report, it might be possible to present this to the September meeting of this Committee.  If this was not possible then it was proposed to arrange a special meeting of the Committee in consultation with the Chairman as soon as possible after that date.

RIPA – Regulatory Investigatory Powers Act 2000

Members were informed that this Authority had not conducted any RIPA activity in the last quarter and that it was rare that it would be required to do so.

Whistleblowing Policy

The Committee was informed that, at the meeting of Human Resources and Council Tax Committee, held on 6 July 2023, that Committee had considered a comprehensive review of the Council’s Whistleblowing Policy and procedure, in line with identified best practice and employment legislation.  The review had focused on the Authority’s reporting and investigation mechanisms for dealing with, and responding to, whistleblowing concerns, and the responsibility of those involved in managing disclosures.  The Whistleblowing Policy had been approved for adoption by the Human Resources and Council Tax Committee and had come into effect immediately.

As part of the monitoring arrangements associated with the effectiveness of this policy, relevant updates would be provided to this Committee during the year.

Redmond Review

A summary of the key Redmond Review recommendations was as follows:

•           Formation of a new independent oversight body/system leader

•           Extension to external audit timeframes and increase in fees

•           Review of associated governance and reporting arrangements (Independent Person to be appointed to the Audit Committee and auditor’s annual report to be submitted to a meeting of Full Council)

•           Introduction of a standardised statement of service costs

The necessary actions to implement the above remained ongoing via the relevant responsible body and timely updates would continue to be included in future reports.

In addition, as further progress was announced by the Government, updates would be provided to future meetings of this Committee, which would hopefully set out the necessary practical steps to implement the recommendations made as part of this review.

After a short discussion, the Committee NOTED the contents of the report.