Items
No. |
Item |
1. |
Apologies
To receive apologies for
absence.
Minutes:
Apologies for absence were received from
County Councillors Graham Breeze, Ange Williams, James Gibson-Watt,
Sian Cox and Lay Member Gareth Hall.
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2. |
Disclosures of Interest
To receive any disclosures of
interest by Members relating to items to be considered at the
meeting.
Minutes:
There were no
declarations of interests by Members relating to items to be
considered on the agenda.
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|
Comments from the Chair
The
Chair of Governance and Audit Committee paid tribute to Wyn
Richards, Head of Democratic Services, who was retiring after 37
years of service to Powys County Council.
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3. |
Minutes and Action Log
(i) To authorise the
Chair to sign the minutes of the previous meeting held as follows
as a correct record:
(ii)
To receive and consider the Action Log.
Minutes:
There were no draft minutes available to be approved. The draft
minutes of the Governance and Audit Committee (GAC) meeting held on
23 June 2023 were to be formally approved at the 29 September 2023
meeting.
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4. |
Audit Wales - Audit Plan PDF 1 MB
To receive and consider the Audit Wales Audit
Plan.
Minutes:
Documents Considered:
·
Powys County Council – Detailed Audit Plan
2023
Background:
·
The Audit Wales Audit Director (Financial Audit)
presented the Detailed Audit Plan for 2023 to the GAC.
·
It was noted that the Detailed Audit Plan covered
the three primary responsibilities of the Auditor
General:
o
To provide an opinion on the Council’s
financial statements.
o
To make an assessment as to whether the Council had
proper arrangements in place to achieve value for resources
spent.
o
To consider whether the Council utilised the
sustainable development principle.
§
The Auditor General also assessed the
Council’s responsibility to receive public opinion of the
Statement of Accounts, which may include objections.
§
Certification of grant claims.
·
It was noted that Audit Wales could not provide
absolute assurance as to the accuracy of the Council’s
Accounts. The industry standard of materiality was used, which for
Powys County Council (PCC) was estimated to be around £5.5
million for the coming year.
·
The Audit Director noted key risks which
included:
o
No particularly large issues predicted to arise from
the accounts.
o
Testing would be undertaken to ensure the risk of
management override was not present.
o
Areas of the accounts which were based on estimates,
such as the large buildings and land portfolio and the pension fund
liability.
o
Accounting arrangements between PCC and the Global
Centre for Rail Excellence (GCRE) (financial transactions
only).
·
The Audit Lead (Performance Audit) reported that the
following performance audit projects would be
undertaken:
o
Local Performance Audit delivered by a combination
of performance and risk projects.
o
Bespoke local projects specific to PCC.
o
Thematic projects focused on risks common to all
Councils in Wales.
·
Progress was to be reported through regular
quarterly updates to GAC, and via regular contact with
Officers.
Issues Raised by the
Committee and Responses Received:
Issues
Raised by the Committee:
|
Responses
Received:
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Regarding Exhibit 2 - Valuation of land and buildings, there had
been comments in the past around inadequate asset records, would
part of this audit check the asset registers and the associated
physical stock?
Was
there a particular reason why only a small amount of physical
verification was undertaken?
|
The
Audit Director (Financial Audit) confirmed there was an element of
physical verification, although this was small when compared to the
Council’s property portfolio. A level of substantive testing
was undertaken to confirm the existence of the assets listed in the
register.
The
Audit Programme was based on the risk of a material misstatement,
the assessment of the risk that the Council had a property listed
on the balance sheet with a value of many millions in value, which
did not exist, is low. The understanding of the asset register,
specifically the key assets, was built up over several years
through repeated audit activity. Much of the verification work
could be undertaken at the desk using various
technologies.
|
Could we have more explanation regarding the Materiality
statement?
Regarding the thematic review on unscheduled care, there were no
timelines referenced for feedback, where ...
view the full minutes text for item 4.
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5. |
Audit Wales - Work Programme and Timetable - 31 March 2023 PDF 234 KB
To receive and consider the Audit Wales Work
Programme and Timetable – 31 March 2023.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
Documents Considered:
·
Audit Wales – Work Programme and Timetable
– 31 March 2023
Background:
·
Quarterly update of Audit Wales’ Work
Programme and Timetable for PCC, as at 31 March 2023.
Observations and
Recommendations:
·
The Chair noted that the Quarter 4 update had been
superseded by the Quarter 1 update which was contained in the
following agenda item.
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6. |
Audit Wales - Work Programme and Timetable - 30 June 2023 PDF 260 KB
To receive and consider the Audit Wales Work
Programme and Timetable – 30 June 2023.
Additional documents:
- Audit Wales Work Programme and Timetable - 30 June 2023 Cymraeg
Minutes:
Documents Considered:
·
Audit Wales – Work Programme and Timetable
– 30 June 2023.
Background:
·
Outlined the current Audit Wales projects and the
status of the project.
·
2021/22 year was completed, the only outstanding
item was the Asset Report which was due to be presented to GAC once
the Service had reviewed the report for factual
accuracy.
·
Audit Year 2022/23 included thematic projects which
had already started. The Capital Programme Management thematic had
not yet started.
·
Audit year 2023/24 incorporated the Scrutiny
Follow-up follow-on review into the Corporate Governance
review.
·
Page 8 outlined the national Local Government
studies which were planned.
·
Page 13 outlined the national reporting
outputs.
Issues Raised by the
Committee and Responses Received:
Issues
Raised by the Committee:
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Responses
Received:
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The
Audit Lead (Performance Audit) noted the unscheduled care work by
Audit Wales and noted the input from both Local Government (due to
the social care provision) and Health. Despite the crossover,
unscheduled care was within the Health
remit. The fieldwork was complete, and the report was now being
drafted. The aim was to publish the report in September/October
2023. The work was significant as there would be national,
regional and local outputs.
It
was noted that the digital thematic listed in the Quarter 1 plan
was a Local Government digital thematic. However, there was also a
digital thematic which sat within the Health Plan. There was no
single digital review, however the findings of both reports could
be share between Audit Wales teams, such as integrated risks and
positive joint working examples.
The
Audit Lead (Performance Audit) noted that the cyber security review
was considered confidentially due to the nature of the
report.
|
How
does Audit Wales select the areas of focus for the upcoming audit
period? There was scrutiny currently regarding the topic of
emergency mental health, with recent announcements that the police
would no longer be willing to cover emergency mental health
provision. Would this topic be likely to move up the agenda for the
forward work programme?
|
The
Audit Lead (Performance Audit) noted that planning work was
undertaken before reviews, alongside risk assessment. A combination
of factors was utilised to influence which work is undertaken
when.
Performance reports, conversations with relevant
parties.
Local audit work was determined by considering performance
reports, having local conversations with the Local Authority, and
understanding what areas had not been audited recently.
Mental Health had been a topic discussed at Audit Wales. It was
noted that there were a number of
high-level risks at the moment.
The
forward work programme for Health would include mental
health.
When
scoping the work, feedback would be provided in terms of police not
responding to mental health calls for example. With capacity
limited at times, these topics may be planned over a number of years.
|
After the report had been issued by Audit Wales, what work is
then done to ensure that any recommendations had been
actioned?
|
Audit Wales noted that audit reviews of services, for example
the Planning Service, would be fed ...
view the full minutes text for item 6.
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7. |
PCC - Technology Assurance Framework Review PDF 73 KB
To receive the PCC – Technology
Assurance Framework Review Report from the Assistant Director of
SWAP.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
Documents Considered:
·
SWAP PCC – Technology Assurance Framework
Review
Background:
·
The Chair noted that the SWAP Technology Assurance
Framework Review was not providing an audit opinion.
·
The Chair had requested that this item be included
on the agenda for the next meeting of GAC, for Senior Officers
within the ICT and Digital Service Area to respond.
·
The SWAP Assistant Director (Specialist Technology
and Digital) noted that the purpose of the Framework Review was to
enable a value-added and fully resourced internal audit plan for
technology and digital going forward.
·
An end-to-end framework review was therefore
necessary.
·
An opinion was not formed due to no detailed testing
being undertaken.
·
It was noted that the audience of the report were
the GAC Members and the Senior Leadership Team, rather than the
Head of Economy and Digital, who was already working with the SWAP
Assistant Director.
·
The SWAP IT Team were already liaising with
PCC’s ICT/Digital Team to address the first audit derived
from the Framework Review, specifically around the Council’s
ICT strategy. The audit would provide a level of assurance to the
Head of Economy and Digital, who would then be able to
respond.
Issues Raised by the
Committee and Responses Received:
Issues
Raised by the Committee:
|
Responses
Received:
|
The
report does not mention artificial intelligence, will this be
included in future reviews/audits?
|
Artificial intelligence was considered an emerging technology.
SWAP would not prevent the Council from using artificial
intelligence, however SWAP would consider the risks involved with
the technology and application, and the technology must be assessed
carefully.
The
SWAP Assistant Director reported that no Local Authority within the
SWAP partnership had yet to adopt a policy on artificial
intelligence.
Work
was ongoing within government and industry which could see
artificial intelligence solutions specifically for local
authorities.
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Page
70 referred to the technical area around the policies. There did
not appear to be clarification on how the responses would be
relayed to staff, and how the adherence to the policies would be
monitored.
Page
73 referred to a timescale of 31st October 2023. It was
not exactly clear in what needed to be undertaken by the
31st of October.
Page
82 – The management response was ‘we will support any
further work required to provide further assurance”. The
timescale given was 30th September. Would this further
work be complete by 30th September?
|
For
Officer response in September meeting.
|
Regarding the details of missing mobile phones and tablets
listed on page 7, are you confident that the data that has been
provided reflects an accurate position?
|
For
Officer response in September meeting.
The
SWAP Assistant Director noted that the review was based upon the
data provided by the Service.
|
In
other organisations, there was still a reliance on machines using
Windows 7 operating systems which were no longer provided security
updates; some software does not run on more modern versions of the
Windows operating system. Were you aware of these instances
occurring when undertaking the review?
Do
you ...
view the full minutes text for item 7.
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8. |
SWAP - Internal Audit Plan 2023-24 PDF 78 KB
To receive the SWAP Internal Audit Plan
2023-24 from the Assistant Director of SWAP.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
Documents Considered:
·
SWAP Internal Audit Plan 2023-24
Background:
·
The SWAP Assistant Director (Powys) noted that the
Internal Audit Plan had previously been presented to Committee for
feedback, with the amended report being presented again to
GAC.
·
The Internal Audit Plan was produced according to
a number of factors, such as risk
assessments, corporate objectives, systems, input from managers,
elected Members and previous work undertaken by SWAP.
·
The risk assessment was contained in page 92 of the
agenda pack, split into four areas:
o
Local, regional, national and core areas of a
healthy organisation.
o
Coverage across the healthy organisation spectrum,
which were deemed satisfactory.
·
Internal Audit Plan was contained within Appendix
1.
·
It was noted that the dates listed were indicative,
due to the unknowns involved in auditing and would be defined as
the scope progresses.
·
The Report also listed the timeframes and resources
required to undertake the audit activities.
·
Members were reminded that the Charter was the
formal document which outlined the purpose, authority and responsibilities of the relationship
between Internal Audit and the Council. The Charter also defined
the framework of how Internal Audit operated.
·
The SWAP Assistant Director (Powys) asked Members to
note and approve the Internal Audit Plan and Charter.
Issues Raised by the
Committee and Responses Received:
Issues
Raised by the Committee:
|
Responses
Received:
|
Regarding the two Levelling-Up planned assignments listed in
Appendix 1, it was noted there were 20 days for each. Were
governance and project management processes in place that could be
applied to every project, therefore, to only require one audit? Was
each project deemed to be so unique that it would require separate
governance and project management processes?
|
The
SWAP Assistant Director (Powys) reported that general learning
resulting from project management and governance internal audit
would be shared where relevant.
It
was noted that the planned assignments related to Theatr Brycheiniog and
the Montgomeryshire Canal Project, and the planned audit approach
was slightly different for this year. Audit could be undertaken at
the end of the project, whereas for the planned assignments in
question, time had been allocated within the Plan to support the
Council through all aspects of the delivery of the project. It was
noted that the process was more agile. Information which could be
relevant to other areas would be shared by the SWAP Assistant
Director (Powys).
|
Regarding Page 4 of the Report relating to employment, there
were several bullet points relating to audit coverage over the
period. Should it be considered that another bullet point is added
regarding an assessment of the New Ways of Working hybrid-working
approach? There were comments made by the Head of PPPP at the
previous GAC meeting relating to the issues of home working for the
Service, whilst other Services reported working well via the fully
virtual-working approach.
|
The
Cabinet Member for a Connected Powys noted the need for a cautious
approach when deciding on the range or boundaries of a specific
element of the audit plan. It was further noted ...
view the full minutes text for item 8.
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9. |
Fraud Report PDF 72 KB
To receive a report on fraud from the Head of
Finance.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
Documents Considered:
·
Quarter 1 Fraud Report.
Background:
·
The Report highlighted the ongoing areas of
investigation and review, including the rebills and overpayments
raised which were recoverable.
·
Projected gains and savings which would have been
made by stopping the progression of applications.
·
The Senior Investigator noted that improvements had
been made to the report following previous Members’ comments,
regarding fraud overpayments.
·
Review of NDR, alongside Welsh Government
grants.
·
Council Tax review undertaken.
·
A Fraud module had been prepared following
translation, the Whistleblowing Policy which was to be mandatory
for all staff was finalised and awaiting translation.
·
Codes of Conduct to be finalised by Legal
Services.
·
Work was ongoing with Recruitment regarding vetting
of candidates.
·
The Chair noted that the Fraud Team asked for
comments and suggestions for areas of focus.
Issues Raised by the
Committee and Responses Received:
Issues
Raised by the Committee:
|
Responses
Received:
|
Regarding the Council Tax reduction scheme, there were 9 ongoing
investigations. Were the Fraud Team reviewing whether the paperwork
and systems were correct, as there were a
number of possible fraud investigations with no
outcome.
|
The
Senior Investigator noted that as the public could report fraud,
the Fraud Team were required to investigate all referrals despite
the possibility that no fraud had occured. The Fraud Team ensured that cases could be
reviewed using data already held in the Council’s information
systems, to ascertain whether the referral had substance and thus
required progression.
|
How
were vexatious complaints handled and monitored? Was there a system
in place to deal with these issues?
|
The
Senior Investigator reported that Powys County Council had not
experienced issues with repeated complaints. Often referrers would
contact the Fraud Team expecting a response to their referral,
despite Data Protection laws forbidding the disclosure of the
information.
If
there were internal vexatious referrals, this would be highlighted
to the Human Resources Service Area.
The
Head of Finance noted that where processes reveal findings,
reflection on such processes would be undertaken to drive
improvement. It was reported that Income and Awards Officers met
with Senior Officers to discuss potential issues with the view to
change processes.
Complaints were dealt with according to the Complaints
Procedure, which were logged.
|
How
much time did Officers spend responding to reported incidences of
fraud, versus the time spent by the Fraud Team investigating fraud
proactively?
Point 2.2 of the Report mentioned promoting and raising
awareness of the Fraud and Money Laundering Policies. An update on
how the exercise went, including feedback from staff using the
policies would be helpful.
|
The
Senior Investigator noted that it was difficult to understand and
quantify the time taken during proactive and reactive fraud
investigation. Prior to 2014, for example, most of the
Council’s work was reactive especially around areas such as
benefits. It was reported that half of the work undertaken by the
Fraud Team was used to gain a greater understanding of how
proactive work could be increased.
A
series of proactive reviews and data matching were undertaken,
which was repeated cyclically. ... view
the full minutes text for item 9.
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10. |
Treasury Management - Year End Report PDF 71 KB
To receive and consider the report of the
Cabinet Member for Finance and Corporate Transformation.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
Documents Considered:
·
Treasury Management – Year End Report
2022/23
Background:
·
The Head of Finance noted that there was not much
change since reporting the previous quarters.
·
The Authority aimed to achieve the optimum return on
its investments, whilst being mindful of the security, liquidity and low risk appetite regarding security
of investments.
·
Interest rates for investments remained lower than
borrowing rates.
·
The use of cash reserves as opposed to borrowing
remained a prudent and cost-effective means of managing treasury
activity.
·
The Head of Finance noted that bank interest rates
had increased.
·
The Council continued to hold some surplus funds in
deposit accounts which had this year attracted a level of interest
not seen in recent years.
·
Investment returns on inter-Authority lending had
increased.
·
It was noted there were no changes to the credit
rating for the Authority’s position in the last
quarter.
·
Section 3.9 outlined the Capital position, which had
also been reported via the Capital Report.
·
Inflation was continuing to severely impact the cost
of schemes, particularly the material and construction costs which
were still significantly higher than in previous years. Mitigations
included cutting back on certain schemes to reduce
costs.
·
The Finance Team had continued work with the
Council’s treasury advisors to reschedule borrowing where
possible.
·
It was reported that with the increase in gilt
rates, the last two LOBO loans were redeemed. Whilst there was a
slight increase in costs until financial year 2023/24 as a result,
it was anticipated that a discounted saving of around £1
million over the period of the loans could be made.
·
Debt rescheduling opportunities had been limited due
to the current economic climate, as existing borrowing rates
remained lower than current rates.
·
Finance costs related to the revenue stream (Section
3.32) were still within reasonable limits. The Head of Finance
noted that this would likely be further challenged by future Audit
Wales work. It was noted that some English Authorities could not
balance their budgets, therefore requiring Section 114 Notices to
be issued, which the Council were mindful of.
·
Sundry Debt was still high, although the figure had
reduced from £16.13 million at the previous quarter, to
£11.64 million at year-end.
·
Deep dive into Adult Social Care debt was ongoing,
once completed the report would be presented to Cabinet and shared
with GAC.
Issues Raised by the
Committee and Responses Received:
Issues
Raised by the Committee:
|
Responses
Received:
|
The
Cabinet Member for Finance noted Appendix A regarding the economic
background and the forecasts, and further noted that 2022/23 was an
incredibly difficult year due to the economic situation. It was
noted that 2023/24 would likely be as or more difficult, due to
high levels of wage and general inflation relating to food costs,
despite energy inflation reducing.
The
Cabinet Member for Finance also highlighted the interest rates
table for 2023/24, which showed an interest rate of 4.5% for June
which was already out-of-date. It was further noted that the
Cabinet Member felt that the Treasury Management team and function
worked effectively ...
view the full minutes text for item 10.
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11. |
Annual Self-Assessment Report and Annual Governance Statement PDF 154 KB
To receive and consider the report of the
Leader and Cabinet Member for an Open and Transparent Powys.
Additional documents:
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12. |
Annual Self-Assessment Report PDF 2 MB
Additional documents:
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13. |
Annual Governance Statement PDF 1 MB
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14. |
Sustainable Powys - Update
To receive a verbal update from the Head of
Finance.
Minutes:
Documents Considered:
·
A verbal update was provided by the Head of
Finance.
Background:
·
Sessions with Senior Managers undertaken.
·
Information shared based on what options other
Authorities were exploring.
·
Sessions undertaken on the organisational culture,
to help Heads of Service and Managers to involve and support
Officers in moving towards new models of working.
·
Communications work and support to be sourced
externally, messages sent to residents regarding Sustainable Powys
were noted as being fundamental for its success.
·
Roadmap developed with timescales.
·
Member briefing in July undertaken and further
workshops planned.
·
Analysis and collation of data, identified
‘quick wins’, established sprints to action
these.
·
Assessment of the Integrated Business
Plans.
·
Into Spring 2024, to bridge the £10 million
gap in the budget.
·
Budget model to be updated.
·
To refresh the Medium-Term Financial Strategy
alongside the other work of Sustainable Powys.
·
The Head of Finance noted the earlier comments
around digital exclusion, investment had been made over a number of
years, to ensure future generations were served effectively
regarding access to digital services.
Issues Raised by the
Committee and Responses Received:
Issues
Raised by the Committee:
|
Responses
Received:
|
The
Cabinet Member for Finance and Corporate Transformation noted that
the public perception was highly important relating to Sustainable
Powys, and how the Council provided services to
residents.
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|
It
was noted that artificial intelligence (AI) could be useful for
residents and in improving the financial sustainability of Council
services when used correctly. It was reported that Durham County
Council used self-service portals utilising AI. How could the
Council ensure that all generations of people were not excluded, to
be able to access digital services going forward?
|
The
Director of Corporate Services noted that many households across
Powys had already signed up to digital services, around 66,000
registered accounts out of a population of 133,000. It was noted
that there were areas where services could be improved or changed
to maximise the use of AI tools, whilst retaining the value of
human involvement in good customer service, for example.
The
Director of Corporate Services also noted the draft People Strategy
which would be presented to Members once staff were consulted. The
Strategy could help equip the workforce to adopt and utilise new
technologies.
The
Director further noted the recent Sustainable Powys workshop with
Members, which discussed the challenges of housing, especially for
young people, the outward migration from Powys, apprenticeships and
graduate schemes. Although the Council would have less money to
spend on the redesigned services which may look different to
before, the services could provide a better service.
|
The
Chair asked the Head of Finance how benefits of Sustainable Powys
would be tracked, specifically the quantitative and qualitative
benefits? Was there a methodology for tracking the
benefits?
|
The
Head of Finance responded that previous challenge of the Council on
reviewing the impact of previous cost-saving measures had already
provided learning. As options were developed, the Council must be
clear from the outset what would be recorded and monitored to
effectively report on the benefits realisation ...
view the full minutes text for item 14.
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15. |
Working Groups PDF 52 KB
To receive feedback from the
following Governance and Audit Committee Working Groups:
·
Capital –
29.06.2023
Minutes:
Documents Considered:
·
Governance and Audit Committee – Capital
Working Group Report 29-06-2023.
Observations and
Recommendations:
·
The Committee received and noted the report of the
Capital Working Group held 29 June 2023.
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16. |
Self-Assessment Action Plan Update PDF 114 KB
To receive an update on the Self-Assessment
Action Plan from the Scrutiny Manager.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
Documents Considered:
·
Governance and Audit Committee Self-Assessment
Action Plan.
Background:
·
A verbal update on the Governance and Audit
Committee’s Self-Assessment Action Plan was provided by the
Head of Democratic Services and Head of Finance.
Issues Raised by the
Committee and Responses Received:
Issues
Raised by the Committee:
|
Responses
Received:
|
The
Chair noted Item 1.2 which related to public engagement and how the
Committee could involve the public in future meetings. The Chair
felt that it would be difficult to find ways in which the public
could be engaged on governance and audit business, and sought
suggestions.
The
Chair also noted the skills audit of GAC Members needed to be
reviewed, specifically around digital and scrutiny questioning
skills.
|
The
Head of Democratic Services noted that the Council’s
Communications Team were able to provide support with GAC
communications, such as sharing meeting recordings and to highlight
the work of the Committee.
|
It
was noted that the Self-Assessment Action Plan mentioned GAC Member
training. Was a training log or training plan available which could
list each Member and the training received?
|
The
Head of Democratic Services confirmed that a training log was kept
which outlined the training received by Members.
|
Member training was noted as being an element of the Annual
Report for individual Councillors. It was understood that each
Councillor’s online profile recorded their
training.
|
|
The
Director of Corporate Services noted that the Council had already
attempted to increase the awareness of public participation in
local democracy and scrutiny, such as the “make a
suggestion” function for Scrutiny Committees. It was noted
that GAC could be more difficult to follow compared to the items
considered by Learning and Skills or Health and Care Scrutiny
Committee.
The
Director of Corporate Services asked the Audit Lead (Performance
Audit) whether there were any specific Local Authorities that had
best practice examples.
|
The
Audit Lead (Performance Audit) agreed that much of the information
discussed at GAC could be quite technical, which may be a barrier
to public participation. However, it was noted that the
accessibility of the meeting, rather than its contents, would be
more relevant for the people who wanted to attend GAC anyway. The
content of the meeting was a separate issue which resulted from
agenda development.
There were no specific example Local Authorities, however
earlier work by Audit Wales on scrutiny arrangements were
transferrable, such as ease of access to live meetings and
recordings, advertisement via social media channels and accessing
agendas. Indicators for wider public participation could be drawn
from both the number of viewers watching the live meetings and the
recordings.
|
Page
386 (of the agenda pack) noted internal audit reporting was agile
which resulted in reports being received slightly quicker. However,
there were occasions when internal audit reports were slow to be
presented to GAC, after which time the subject had lost
relevance.
|
The
Chair agreed with the comments made by the Member, and noted that
it would be helpful to improve the pattern and timeliness of
reporting, including responses ...
view the full minutes text for item 16.
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17. |
Work Programme PDF 91 KB
To consider the forward work programme
(attached) and consider whether any additional items should be
included.
Minutes:
Documents Considered:
·
Governance and Audit Committee Work
Programme
Issues Raised by the
Committee and Responses Received:
Issues
Raised by the Committee:
|
Responses
Received:
|
Due
to the high workload of the GAC currently, could more sessions be
scheduled so that that the regular items and quarterly reports be
received and considered, with a supplementary meeting to receive
items such as updates on Sustainable Powys, Working Group reports
and action plans?
|
The
Chair noted that she was unsure whether the Member’s proposal
would be feasible, however was open to discussion on the issue of
workload. The Chair noted further whether a meeting was required
for October due to the length of meetings, and the volume of
agendas.
The
Head of Democratic Services reported that the number of GAC
meetings had increased to eight per year. There were regular agenda
items such as quarterly reports, however there were also additional
reports from Audit Wales and SWAP which needed to be received and
considered by the GAC.
The
Head of Democratic Services also noted that a review of the
frequency of agenda items being considered by GAC may be helpful.
There were other methods to consider reports which could be
explored, rather than scheduling more meetings which can become
difficult with conflicting meetings.
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The
notion of reducing the number of agenda items by increasing
meetings was welcomed, however it was noted that this would be
challenging for Members to balance with other
commitments.
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The
Chair agreed with the Member’s comments and noted that a way
forward without increasing meeting frequency would be
needed.
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The
difficulty in attending all meetings and other Committee
commitments, employment and personal
life, whilst contributing effectively was noted.
Increasing meeting frequency may be suitable for some Members.
However, for those Members that had other employment, attending
additional meetings would be challenging, and risked omitting
Members who relied on employment alongside their elected Councillor
duties.
It
was acknowledged that when Officers were required to produce
reports for the Committee, this in-turn would reduce their capacity
to undertake the other duties of their role. Shorter meetings that
were more focused were more productive.
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The
Chair agreed and noted the Member’s comments.
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Actions:
·
To move the Statement of Accounts item from the
September to November meeting.
·
To add an item to the agenda to receive the
presentation from the Head of Workforce and Organisational
Development.
·
Noted that the Committee had discussed the issues
relating to large agendas, and that the Chair would explore
alternative arrangements with Scrutiny Service Officers to reduce
agenda and report volume.
Observations and
Recommendations:
·
It was noted that a presentation from the Head of
Workforce and Organisational Development was to be received by
GAC.
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