Agenda item

(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, and the final outcome was awaited, however Mr. Morris felt that scale was not a factor as some smaller authorities had proved to be efficient and well run.  Whilst progress had been made on collaboration, he felt that more could be done and work by WAO would ensure that firm arrangements were in place prior to any decision on collaboration.  WAO colleagues were also looking closely at financial management arrangements with closer working between financial and performance audits.  Representations were being made to WG to allow more flexibility so that WAO resources could be targeted on specific areas of need within Councils.

Councillor Robin Guest pointed out that the Cabinet response made no mention of the WAO comments on the lack of Member involvement in the Corporate Governance Working Group on the Annual Governance Statement.  The Policy & Performance Manager explained the technical nature of the officer working group and said that as part of various agreed improvements to the process, the Audit Committee now had a greater degree of involvement and that findings from the working group would be shared with the Audit Committee.  Mr. Morris said that WAO welcomed this change and would monitor as part of routine work.

In response to further queries, Mr. Morris acknowledged that the setting of Improvement Objectives was a complex arrangement involving a range of factors, further challenged by the current financial climate, however further progress was needed.  On Improvement arrangements, he welcomed the pace of progress made this year on a number of issues and said that WAO would continue to monitor the development of arrangements and progress on achieving targets whilst recognising that the MTFP was a major challenge for all Councils.  When asked about the impact of budget cuts on WAO, Mr. Morris stated that resources were being carefully targeted within the statutory framework.

The Head of ICT & Customer Services said that significant improvements had been made to the approach to Improvement Plan monitoring as demonstrated in the report later on the agenda.  In response to WAO comments on financial planning, exemplified by the recent Local Government Settlement and budget gap, he outlined the different workstreams within the MTFP reported to Cabinet in October 2013 which set out the strategy to progress through challenges ahead and said that Member workshops with further detail on programmes were scheduled for December 2013.

RESOLVED:

(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.