Issue - meetings

That the Annual Governance Statement attached to the Statement of Accounts be approved subject to two amendments:

(i)      To clearly indicate at the start the five sections; and

(ii)     The first sentence under Section 2 to be amended to reflect the involvement of staff and other resources.

The Democracy & Governance Manager introduced a report for the Committee to review and approve the Annual Governance Statement (AGS), which was included as pages 105-119 of the Statement of Accounts.

It was explained that the AGS had in previous years been considered as part of the Statement of Accounts but that a recommendation had been made to consider this as a separate item.  The Democracy & Governance Manager reported on the officer working group set up to prepare the AGS with involvement from Heads of Service in new corporate governance self-assessment arrangements as part of  the process.

Councillor R.B. Jones suggested that the five sections of the AGS be clearly indicated at the start of the document and that the first sentence under the Section 2 include reference to the involvement of employees and other resources.  On the Governance Framework of the AGS, Councillor Jones referred to the importance of the Council’s Priorities and Vision which he felt should be included under Business Planning.  The Chief Executive explained that once published, the AGS would be a matter of record whereas the Council’s Priorities would be reviewed and updated.  The first two suggestions made by Councillor Jones were noted by officers and agreed by the Committee.

RESOLVED:

That the Annual Governance Statement attached to the Statement of Accounts be approved subject to two amendments:

(i)      To clearly indicate at the start the five sections; and

(ii)     The first sentence under Section 2 to be amended to reflect the involvement of staff and other resources.