Agenda item

The Head of Corporate Assurance submitted a report presenting the Annual Governance Statement Action Plan Update.

The report provided the Committee with an update regarding the proposed Annual Governance Review (AGR) process that would be used to influence and assist in the preparation of the Council’s Statutory Annual Governance Statement (AGS) for 2023/24. The consideration of the Council’s governance and assurance framework and the preparation of the AGS were key responsibilities of the Committee.

Member discussion arose regarding actions that were included from previous financial years. It was noted that some actions were dependent on external inspectorates such as OFSTED completing a full inspection of Children’s Services. External Audit has assessed the SEND action in the Value for Money (VFM) reporting in which they had assessed the Council’s evidence and formed a view that the action should be downgraded from a key recommendation. This was subject to an internal Grant Thorton consistency panel in which external audit were satisfied with the progress to date.

It was noted that the format could be changed to include an extra column which provided detail on the progress made so far in completing the actions identified.

RESOLVED that the Committee noted the report and progress made against each item listed in the Action Plan.