Issue - meetings

(a)       That the Annual Governance Statement 2022/23 be attached to the Statement of Accounts and recommended to Council for adoption; and

(b)       That views on governance will be sought from all Committee Chairs for the next Annual Governance Statement.

The Internal Audit, Performance & Risk Manager presented the Annual Government Statement (AGS) for 2022/23 which provided assurance on governance arrangements and risk management, to accompany the Statement of Accounts.  The report detailed the process for preparing the AGS involving a challenge workshop with the Committee and questionnaire shared with Overview & Scrutiny Chairs and Cabinet.  The Committee was also introduced to Emma Heath, the newly appointed Strategic Performance Advisor.

Following a question from the Chairman, it was confirmed that the mid-year report on progress against areas for improvement was scheduled for November.

In response to comments from Councillor Allan Marshall on reference to standards, it was explained that whilst these were not documented, they reflected the aspirations of the Council and were incorporated into a number of key policies.  Officers agreed to amend reference to the organisation being ‘lean’ to clarify that this was about the resilience of the workforce.

On performance standards, Councillor Marshall raised concerns about the time taken to contact Housing officers by telephone.  The Chief Officer (Governance) shared information on the standards adopted by the Customer Contact Centre which were subject to performance monitoring.  He asked that Councillor Marshall contact him direct so that he could follow-up the concerns.

The recommendations were moved by Councillor Bernie Attridge and seconded by Rev Brian Harvey.

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the Annual Governance Statement 2022/23 be attached to the Statement of Accounts and recommended to Council for adoption; and

(b)       That views on governance will be sought from all Committee Chairs for the next Annual Governance Statement.