Issue - meetings

Cllr R C Evans

Non-Key Decision

Councillor R C Evans, Cabinet Member for Council Finance & Governance presented the joint report of the Chief Finance Officer and the Deputy Monitoring Officer.

Under the Accounts & Audit Regulations 2015, the Council was required to produce an Annual Governance Statement, and it was best practice that it was signed by the Leader and Chief Executive of the Council. The Statement accompanied the Annual Accounts.  The Statement included an action plan to ensure that the Council continued to improve its existing governance arrangements. The action plan attached to the 2018/19 statement (implemented during 2019/20) had been reviewed and updated and was appended to the report.

The Annual Governance Statement and Local Code of Good Governance outlined that the Council was continually reviewing and improving its procedures to maintain and demonstrate good corporate governance, and that it had in place robust systems of internal control. The Council could be assured that during 2019/20, including during organisational changes, periods of flooding response and the response to the global Covid-19 pandemic, the existing arrangements had continued to support proper governance.  Assurance for the Annual Governance Statement was provided by all areas of the Council including senior management, Members, the Chief Financial Officer, the Monitoring Officer and internal audit.

The Council’s current Code of Good Governance, had been approved on 29 May 2018 to reflect the CIPFA/SOLACE framework including revised principles, guidance and good practice received during the preceding year. A revision of the code would be presented to the Audit Committee during 2020/21. 

RESOLVED – that the Annual Governance Statement 2019/20, attached as Appendix A to the report, be approved and that the information in the report be noted.