Issue - meetings

That the report and Council’s response be noted.

The Chief Executive introduced the report to advise Members of the Council’s recent Improvement Assessment Letter from the Auditor General for Wales and to note the Executive response.  The Letter and response had been endorsed by both Cabinet and the Corporate Resources Overview & Scrutiny Committee.  In welcoming the fact that no new statutory recommendations had been made, the Chief Executive explained that the previously received Letter from Wales Audit Office (WAO) had reflected on the Council’s duties under the Improvement Plan whereas this second Letter was retrospective in commenting on the Council’s duties of annual reporting on performance.

Mr. Huw Lloyd-Jones of WAO confirmed the view that the Council had discharged its improvement reporting duties under the Measure.  Areas were suggested where the Council could strengthen its arrangements to comply with the guidance.  He explained that whilst the Letter provided an assessment of the Council’s report of its performance for 2012/13, changes put in place since that time had greatly improved the format and content of the 2013/14 Improvement Plan and should consequently improve the reporting of performance in 2013/14.  He was satisfied with the Council’s response to the Letter and highlighted the remark that ‘public interest in these types of plans was low so promotional activity should be kept in proportion’.  Following a request for examples of effective feedback arrangements, he stressed the importance of recognising the willingness of the public to provide feedback.

The Chief Executive said that the new Improvement Plan was more effective and had received positive feedback from partners and members of the public.  Although there was a high level of engagement with the public on issues such as housing, education and social care, this was not expected to be the case on matters of general interest such as the Council’s Improvement Plan.

Mr. Lloyd-Jones said that this area of work under the Local Government Measure 2009 was focussed on compliance and recognised the various priorities of the Council in terms of service delivery and financial challenges.

In response to a query from the Chair on the suggestion for more information on the impact of the Council’s collaborative activity, the Chief Executive explained that this was about seeking a better description and was not a view on the Council’s performance on collaboration.

Mr. Paul Williams questioned the value of the Letter as this was a retrospective view.  The Chief Executive explained that consideration of the Letter was a statutory requirement.

RESOLVED:

That the report and Council’s response be noted.