Issue - meetings

To receive the Annual Governance Statement.

The Audit, Governance & Procurement Lead Manager presented the Annual Governance Statement which was a requirement of the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 and should accompany the Annual Accounts.

The Annual Governance Statement (AGS) for 2023/24 had been developed based on the requirements of the regulations and CIPFA/Solace guidance.  The statement included an action plan to ensure that there was continual improvement to the existing governance arrangements.

The action plan which accompanied the 2022/23 statement had been reviewed and updated to reflect current progress.  Any actions still in progress from the 2022/23 plan had been incorporated into the 2023/24 action plan.

The AGS and the Local Code of Good Governance outlined that the Council had a robust governance framework in place but that it should continually review procedures.   The Audit Committee were assured that during 2023/24 good governance arrangements were in place.

The AGS fed into the work of both Internal and External Audit and was compliant with external agencies such as Ofsted and the CQC. 

The report gave details of where the Council had excelled and gained awards and reported on good governance activities.

It was the opinion of the Audit, Governance & Procurement Lead Manager that the council’s current arrangements gave a reasonable level of assurance.

Upon being put to the vote, it was unanimously:

RESOLVED – that:

a)    the Annual Governance Statement 2023/24 be approved; and

b)   the contents of the report be noted.