Issue - meetings

That having considered the findings of the report and on the basis of the discussion, the Chair and Vice-Chair develop a compact action plan to progress actions to inform future development of the Committee.

The Chair presented the results of the self-assessment undertaken by the Committee in December during an online workshop following the completion of questionnaires.  The overall results would feed into preparations on the Annual Governance Statement for 2022/23 and the Committee’s Annual Report.  The Committee was asked to consider the findings from the assessment and actions identified to address areas in need of improvement.

Allan Rainford asked about Audit Wales resources to add assurance on the delivery of value for money arrangements.  Gwilym Bury advised that there were no current plans to change arrangements for performance audit work.

In praising the approach taken to the workshop, Rev Brian Harvey said that a key area was clarification on how the Committee could influence service delivery across the Council without duplicating the role of Cabinet and Overview & Scrutiny.  He felt that this could involve more informal discussion and training to enable the Committee to fulfil its role.

On effective public reporting to stakeholders and local communities to improve transparency, Councillor Bernie Attridge suggested better use of technology to improve public engagement, for example on budget-setting.

In summarising, the Chair said that the aim was to develop an action plan for the remainder of this year focussing on ensuring value for money, widening public consultation and transparency, learning together in an informal way, identifying ways to improve the impact and effectiveness of the Committee through feedback and ensuring that points raised by the Committee were progressed through engagement with Cabinet Members, Overview & Scrutiny and the Leader of the Council.

She proposed that she and the Vice-Chair develop a compact action plan from the findings of the report and the assessment from December to form the basis for future development of the Committee.  The proposal was moved and seconded by Councillors Attridge and Banks.

RESOLVED:

That having considered the findings of the report and on the basis of the discussion, the Chair and Vice-Chair develop a compact action plan to progress actions to inform future development of the Committee.