Issue - meetings

(a)       That the proposed Regulatory Programme for Performance Audit of the Wales Audit Office for the period April 2013 to March 2014 be noted; and

(b)       That the Council’s Improvement Assessment Letter received from the Auditor General for Wales and the Cabinet response be noted.

The Policy & Performance Manager introduced the report on the proposed Regulatory Programme for Performance Audit of the Wales Audit Office (WAO) for April 2013 to March 2014 together with the Improvement Assessment Letter September 2013 from the Auditor General for Wales and Cabinet response.  It was noted that the Regulatory Plan had previously been submitted to the Committee and was included with the report to provide context.

In providing an overview of the key points in the Improvement Assessment Letter, Mr. Alan Morris of WAO welcomed the Council’s new and improved approach to the Improvement Plan and outlined areas where WAO felt that this did not fully comply with Welsh Government (WG) guidance.  He also welcomed the Council’s commitment to improve on the pace of some key issues and further Member involvement in the development of the Annual Governance Statement.  A national report was due to be published on the outcome of the all-Wales Improvement Study on Scrutiny arrangements to which Flintshire had contributed and reference was also made to the Care & Social Services Inspectorate Wales (CSSIW) visit which had identified many areas of good practice on safeguarding arrangements in Flintshire together with a limited number of areas for improvement.  Mr. Morris confirmed that there were no new proposals for improvement and recognised that progress was being made on recommendations previously made.  He said that this was a very positive Letter and acknowledged the value in the Cabinet response.

The Policy & Performance Manager confirmed that the Cabinet response had addressed all the points raised by WAO together with some additional issues.  Work had been undertaken on the Improvement Plan to simplify the document and monitoring was now in place with clearly set targets which meant that this issue was now resolved.  In response to comments on developing the pace of the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP), she stressed that this was a national issue and not isolated in local context.  In summary she said that this was an overall positive report with an equally positive response in terms of improvement.

Councillor Alex Aldridge asked about changes to levels of expectations in local government in view of future significant challenges, and involvement from WAO on the Commission on Public Service Governance and Delivery.  He went on to speak of the role of regulators as critical friends to meet the challenges ahead and the potential for changes in aspirations arising from any reduction in the number of Councils in Wales.

Whilst Mr. Morris recognised the challenges faced by all local authorities, the requirements of the Local Government Measure meant that there were statutory requirements placed on WAO in respect of regulation which meant that prioritisation of additional work was more limited.  Difficult decisions would need to be taken to reduce standards in some services to channel resources at key priorities.  Councils would need to put in place sound arrangements to demonstrate clear evidence on these decisions.  The Auditor General for Wales had given evidence to the Commission, which was available for circulation,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 45